Citi Greece: The digital work card was harmoniously integrated into the bank’s new hybrid work model

The Citi Hellas bank proceeded to fully integrate the digital job card into its operation from the first day the state implemented it in banks and supermarkets. In particular, as Kostas Tsalikis, Human Resources Director, Citi Greece and Regional Director of Human Resources Services, Citi Western Europe, Middle East & Africa, explained to APE/MPE, the immediate application of the card is due to the fact that it was integrated into an already digitized work environment that existed in the Bank, which includes a series of good work practices, innovative human resource programs and policies that have shaped a balanced work environment over time. As Mr. Tsalikis mentions, “Citi with almost 60 years of uninterrupted presence in Greece is constantly looking for opportunities to ensure a supportive, healthy and at the same time flexible working environment, fully harmonized with the Greek legislative framework.”

In this context, Citi is the first Bank in Greece to introduce a series of innovative employee engagement and retention programs, having previously received important distinctions in local and international competitions and award events. “For example, the wellness@Citi program, an innovative occupational wellness program, developed in Greece about a decade ago, was a real innovation in working life. Also, actions to include and highlight the value of diversity as well as policies to prevent and combat of violence and harassment in the workplace have been structural components of Citi Greece’s broader human resources strategy for years, forming a lasting imprint of the Bank on the Greek labor market, making it one of the strongest Employer Brands”, he adds.

Mr. Tsalikis underlined that the immediacy of the Bank’s response to legislative changes is largely due to the maintenance of an environment of harmonious labor relations, based primarily on respect for the employee. “This fact, combined with a strong culture of organization of working time at the different hierarchical levels of the Bank, offers fertile ground for full and smooth harmonization with the legislation whenever there are changes in the labor map of the country”, he says.

Citi has already announced from May 2022 a new hybrid work model called “How We Work”, with Greece being the first, worldwide, to join this program. In the context of this program, employees are given the opportunity to work up to 2 days a week, voluntarily, remotely with the provision of logistical infrastructure and coverage of teleworking costs, while ensuring the employee the right to disconnect.