Johannes rises through the ranks at Nedbank Namibia

ELIZABETH JOSEPH
In 1993 a then 23-year-old Johannes Aipanda left his home in the north and moved to the coastal town of Walvis Bay in pursuit of a better life.

Aimed with a Standard 10 certificate and a measure of ambition, he searched for employment.

Within that year Johannes secured his first job and started working as a cleaner and messenger at the then Commercial Bank of Namibia, now Nedbank Namibia.

Now 25 years later, Aipanda has worked his way up through the ranks. His first promotion came with a move to the ledger department of the same branch. In 2003 he transferred to Nedbank Oshakati to work in savings, investment and enquiries.

In 2005 Johannes was once again promoted, this time to a teller. In 2007 Nedbank opened a branch in the town of Outapi and this is where Johannes holds his current position as senior teller.

Johannes was recently honoured at the Nedbank top achiever awards, where he was named one of the top four overall achievers and also took the prize for the best teller. As a senior teller at the Outapi branch, Johannes’ customer service skills have been outstanding for the past few years. In addition to his teller duties, he is also an ATM and treasury custodian for the branch.

Nedbank’s northern region manager, Eugene Cupido, says Aipanda is and exemplary colleague.

“Despite the pressured situation, he manages to remain calm, listen to difficult clients and serves his clients with a smile. He is polite with customers and staff members, and is always willing to go the extra mile. Johannes contributes positively to the branch sales by referring clients to the sales support team and assists his colleagues whenever he can. Although Johannes lives outside Outapi, he reports early to work every day. Johannes consistently follows procedures and conducts his work honestly,” says Cupido.

Aipanda said he is inspired by his wife and children and attributes his success to hard work.

“I work hard not only for myself but for my whole family. If a person loses their job, their whole family suffers. I also believe that loyalty pays and having purpose other than simply money in your work guarantees success,” he said.