“What is Takaful?” “What sets it apart from conventional insurance?” “Is it a gimmick?” are common questions one hears socially and at workplace. Therefore our ED-Operations Mr Akber D Vazir proposed that the subject be presented and discussed among senior management and branch heads to put them in a position to answer these questions knowledgeably when raised.

Accordingly, on 28th June 2007, Mr Vazir opened the discussion by summarising major areas of difference between Insurance and Takaful and mentioned that our Managing Director Mr Tahir Ahmed, accompanied by our ED-Finance Mr Atiq A Mahmudi, had visited Malaysia in 2005 to acquire first hand information on working of Takaful. Mr Vazir went on to say that as Chairman of Insurance Association of Pakistan Mr Tahir Ahmed was actively involved in deliberations with SECP and other concerned authorities to seek approval for setting up a ‘window operation’ for existing conventional insurance companies.

This introduction was followed by detailed presentation on Takaful by Mr Tahir Ahmed when he explained very clearly various definitions used in Takaful, and gave historical background and current world scenario on the subject. The two presentations generated several interesting questions from the audience, which were answered by our Managing Director.

Our head of LZO, JEVP Muhammad Ikram has been elected as Chairman of Lahore Insurance Institute for 2007-8. He has various plans to give fillip to the insurance industry and during his tenure plans to arrange foundation courses for insurance agents which will improve quality of agents in the market; and for the underwriting staff he intends to organise preparatory classes for ACII exams. Seminars and workshops headed by reputed insurance professionals will also be organised during the period, and a major milestone will be establishment of Insurance College, foundation for which has already been laid in November 2006 by our Managing Director and Chairman of IAP, Mr Tahir Ahmed.

The Careline products; HomeCare, ShopCare, ShopCare+, SelfCare and SelfCare+ were launched this year in the Annual Sales Conference with a view to expand NJI’s reach in the consumer insurance market. The untapped Consumer insurance market worth billions of Rupees offers great potential for our marketing and sales officers and the catalyst to spur growth in this sector is hardwork, dedication and development of innovative means to sell these products to our potential customers.

In order to encourage our marketing and sales force, the management decided to launch the 1st NJI Sales Challenge from July 15, 2007 to October 15, 2007. This 90-day Sales Challenge has been designed in such a manner that every participant can hope for and win a prize. The mega prize for the best sales officer will be a certificate, a memento and a paid vacation to Dubai and above all, recognition as vital asset for the company. The cash prizes and awards will be commensurate to the amount of premium generated and these awards will be given on the basis of highest premium generated in each category. All permanent marketing and sales officers, those on contract appointment and trainee development officers can participate.

NJI Sales Challenge 2007 was launched during the Careline Underwriting Guidelines training session in Karachi and Lahore at the same time (conducted by Mr. Azfar Arshad JEVP – Operations) with the help of state of the art Video Conferencing System. This was the first ever video conference held at NJI. This session was held at the Head Office where all the representatives from various branches had gathered and interacted with the Lahore Zone Team. During the session Mr. Tahir Ahmed, our Managing Director was invited along with Mr. Akber D. Vazir, Executive Director Operations. Mr. Tahir Ahmed announced the qualifying criteria and the prizes for the various awards for the Sales Challenge during the session. The qualifying criterion is in the table across.

During the sales challenge, to support our marketing and sales officers, NJI plans to launch advertising campaign for the Careline products through print and electronic media. This advertising campaign will be launched during the month of August 2007.
It is hoped that this opportunity of winning exciting prizes and above all recognition, will be taken-up by all NJI marketing and sales officers as a challenge, in the customary NJI spirit. So who would be NJI’s James Bond with a license to sell? Let’s find out in 90 days!

Special Bulletin: Operations Department – Head Office

Chaudhry Sardar Ali - Head of NJI Multan Zone

Chaudhry Sardar Ali, the Head of our Multan Zone, is one of the long-serving members of our team at NJI, having been with the Company for 44 years.

By his own description, he “belongs to a middle-class zamindar family in the remote Mailsi district of Multan.” As a little boy he was concerned by the illness and suffering of his fellow villagers and in his heart wanted to grow up to be a doctor so that he could help them. By the time he finished school and was 18 years of age, his family circumstances made him seek a job. NJI interviewed and inducted this youth as Junior Clerk at their Multan Sub Office in 1964.

A decade of diligence and desire to learn and grow, rewarded him with charge of the Multan Branch from his retiring boss Mr Musharaf Ali Khan. “At the time, the premium of the branch was Rs 1.0 million”, recalls Chaudhry Sardar. “Today Multan Branch alone produces Rs 11.88 million written premium.”

On assuming the charge of Multan Branch, he not only worked on developing the branch but also expanding the network in the area. Within next six years, four new branches were opened at Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan and Sahiwal leading to the creation of Multan Zone in 1980.

Except Sahiwal, the three additional branches exist even today and are headed by competent officers. Mr Ali acknowledges their competence and contribution in achieving zonal premium of Rs 103 million in 2006, when another branches was added at Dera Ghazi Khan. Together they aspire to give to the company Rs 173.50 million in 2007.

“It is with good planning and sheer hard work that I achieved this growth and network of branches in my jurisdiction. I am gratified that this has met with appreciation from my superiors which has encouraged me to increase my pace of progress with confidence. NJI is my first and last employer and I have never had even a second thought about anything else, but my sincere services to the Company.”

From Junior Clerk to Senior Vice President has been Chaudhry Sardar’s achievement and in the course of this journey he has developed clients in the cotton spinning mills, power plants, fertilizer factories, cotton ginning plants, solvent plants, sugar mills and marine business from importers and exporters. He has given equal time to inducting and developing good marketing officers.

His thirst for knowledge and qualification led him to obtain Bachelor in Arts even at the age of 52 years. Feeling the deprivation of education in his youth, he has ensured that all his children are well educated and is proud to say that his boys and girls hold Masters degree in their chosen faculty.

For the young he has this advice, “Work with sincerity in a good institution like NJI and then leave the results to Allah Subhanam wa Taala” He also believes that, “inner satisfaction is a precious blessing of God! Wabista reh shajar se umeed-e-bahaar rukh!”

HR RETREAT AT MOMBASSA
HR Retreat was organised in Mombasa, Kenya, from 13 – 15 June 27, 2007. Objective of the retreat was to share HR best practices within AKDN.

This was an excellent opportunity to meet diverse group of people across AKDN and to build a strong network. The session started with inaugural speech by Mr Luis Olivares, Imamat/AKDN HR Director, who highlighted the importance of the event, keeping in view the AKDN’s growth agenda.

The two day session was really fruitful and great learning experience on a single platform. It was an interactive event involving participants through presentations, syndicate group exercises, etc. This was really instrumental in building momentum and realigning ourselves to take HR agenda forward.

The whole idea was to integrate all companies/institutions under AKDN’s umbrella to move faster towards AKDN’s growth strategy, as currently 70,000 people are employed by AKDN and will be around 100,000 employees by 2010.

We will be working towards AKDN’s branding, making it as an employer of choice to attract more talent in the network.

The HR community of AKDN on local level will meet once in two/three months to share and learn practices from each other.

Everybody in the retreat made a valuable contribution making the event a great success.
- SVP-HR Syed Abid Waseem

Managing the Front Desk
Front Desk being the first point of contact for any visitor or caller, a session was organised for those at the front desk in Karachi branches and at the Head Office. Main functions such as good service to customers/visitors, projecting good image for NJI and equally importantly keeping cordial relationship with colleagues was discussed. The session was concluded with role play of difficult situations to encourage participant involvement and bring learning to the fore.

In-house Training now also at Lahore
In-house training concept came to NJI in August 2004 when Mr Tahir Ahmed joined the company. We made a start with core insurance topics delivered by experienced underwriters in a properly equipped training room. Enthusiasm and participation in the activity has grown steadily, and recently we also started in-house training for our Lahore-based staff.

The inaugural at Lahore was made on 1st June 2007 by SVP Karim Merchant and JSVP Ishtiaq Ahmed who together comprehensively covered Engineering Insurance. On the occasion Lahore Zonal head JEVP Muhammad Ikram welcomed the trainers and the audience and said that with knowledge imparted and support of excellent professional team in NJI, he expected to get a good share of engineering and bond business in the market.

JEVP Uzair Mirza conducted couple of sessions on Bankers Insurance on 17 and 18 June which too generated interest for procuring business for this product.

Going by the success of the sessions, an in-house training calender for Lahore has been chalked out and will run parallel with similar one in Karachi. We hope to create synergies through experienced underwriters conducting training on technical subjects for learning needs of junior to middle level officers. Soft skill subjects are also included where expertise on the subject is available within the organisation. Having made a start, we hope to improve our methods and substance with feedback from participants and trainers.

SEMINAR ON TAKAFUL (ISLAMIC INSURANCE)

Insurance experts, at a seminar organised on 16th May 2007 by the Lahore Insurance Institute (LII) and Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said that the promotion of Takaful, the Islamic mode of insurance, would ultimately help in promoting savings in the Islamic world besides enhancing Islamic funds and bonds like Sukuk.

The speakers at the seminar included President LCCI, Mr Shahid Hassan Sheikh, Director Insurance at the SECP Mr Shuaib Sufi, the Principal of Hailey College of Banking & Finance Prof Dr Khawaja Amjad Saeed and Chairman of LII our Mr Muhammad Ikram.

President LCII said that Takaful, the Islamic system of insurance was based on the principles of collective protection, mutual cooperation and collective responsibility. He hoped that the seminar will help remove misconceptions about the Islamic insurance system. He went on to say that “The history of Islamic insurance dates back to the second century of Islamic calendar when Arab traders were expanding their activities in India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Central Asia.”

Mr Zubair Mughal, Director of Centre of Islamic Banking and Islamic Economics informed the audience that Islamic financial market worth of US $ 260 billion could prove a big booster for the Takaful companies. He said that there were three models of Takaful companies in the world, ie Mudaraba model (Sudan), Wakalah model (Malaysia) and Wakalah Waqf (Pakistan).

SECP Director said that Takaful, in which risks and gains are equally shared by the insurer and insured, will soon be introduced in Pakistan under Sharia-compliant Takaful Rules 2005. Principal of Hailey College and our Ikram Sahib also spoke on the occasion.

Being the first conference on the subject in the Middle East it had an ambitious agenda and large list of speakers. Special mention needs to be made of inspirational presenation on “Building and sustaining a high-performance sales culture” by international motivational speaker, Anthony Morris. He is productivity coach for financial services and has presented in major financial planning / insurance industry events in all five continents.

The Conference provided opportunity for picking up practical tips and tapping potential for bancassurance, as well as discussing challenges in overcoming different dynamics and mindsets of the banking and insurance fraternities and finding workable solutions.

Having made a start and a platform for networking, the organisers future events will be looked forward to with interest.

Summer Vacations
Summer vacations bring smile and stress for your children, all at the same time. Reason for smile is the thought of great fun during the long vacations, while bulky homework puts stress on their little minds with thought of having to complete them before school restarts.

It is the time for you to take the responsibility and plan activities with the help of your children. Choose activities carefully and inform the final plan to your children, to grab their interest. If you include any trip in your plan, keep your travel to minimum. A single-destination visit to grandparents/ parks/ picnic-point in another town may not cause major stress, but a long messy road trip to visit many places, may be a nightmare.

If possible involve your children with the holiday packing, crafts, baking and cooking. These are fun activities which will keep their little minds too occupied to think about getting into trouble, and their little hands too busy to make mischief. Your children may also have some interest in going shopping, in which case help them to decide in advance who to buy for, what to buy and how much to spend. It would be nice if you help them select appropriate gifts for family and friends, and include a surprise gift for them too!

For working parents, it is often hard to take time out of their busy office schedule to travel. These parents can plan a walk, or a trip to a playground, perhaps play indoor games. You may tell them history / moral stories of your school life to help them learn good values. You may visit museums, historical places and exhibitions, as these play a vital role in building confidence and knowledge. At the same time fix time for their studies and monitor them. You may need to motivate them to complete their homework before schools reopen.

Continue to emphasise on your family traditions and normal family routine as much as possible. De-emphasise television when they are studying and when they do watch, select sports / entertainment channels.

Now-a-days Summer Camps by reputable institutions are also a good source of learning social skills and some sports such as swimming, you may like to consider them as well.

All in all, have a great time with your children during the summer vacations!
- Azam Khan, Senior Manager, MD’s Secretariat

MANAGER’S TOOLBOX

Prod People to be Prompt
One of the greatest frustrations about holding meetings is getting people to turn up on time. Some ways to control tardiness:

• Start on time - no matter who is missing. If you don’t, you reinforce tardiness

• Put the most important items, or those of particular interest to potential latecomers, first. If these items are last, attendees won’t see a need to arrive on time

• Look to other members to apply peer pressure

Break it Gently
Writing a refusal letter? Keep these points in mind:

• Start in neutral. This will help the reader see you as a person. Try, “I have carefully considered your request for...”

• State your reasons before you refuse, otherwise, the person won’t bother to read the rest of the letter. Don’t make statements such as “Company policy prohibits...” Describe the policy fully.

• Without being too negative, state your refusal directly in terms the reader can’t misunderstand.

• End positively. As you close, don’t restate the refusal, use cliches or apologise, just say something that will make the reader feel good about you and your organisation. Example, “I know your fund raiser will be a success.”

Long Service Awards at Lahore & Faisalabad

10 and 25 Years Service Awards
16 of our colleagues from Lahore and Faisalabad received Long Service Awards on 23rd May 2007 at the Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore.

On the occasion JEVP and Head of Lahore Zone, Mr Muhammad Ikram said that there was 371% growth in written premium at Lahore since his taking its charge in 1995. He went on to say that, in the last decade recovery of outstanding premium, settlement of major claims and recovery of stolen vehicles were also note worthy achievements of the Zone, together with proper checks and balances to ensure quality and profitable business from sales units and branches under the Lahore Zone.

SVP, LZO Mr Mahboob Parevz spoke about ‘growth’, stressing that it meant production of quality business which was only possible after analysing all important factors prior to covering a risk. He also appreciated support of the management in providing qualified professionals at the Head Office for underwriting, reinsurance and claims, which he said was the key factor in the growth rate of the company.

Managing Director Mr Tahir Ahmed highlighted the excellent growth of the company in 2006 and spoke about the business strategy for LZO. He then presented Awards to Officers with 25 and 10 years service in the Company and the recipients were:

25-years Award:

Lahore: Mr Shahzad Tabassum, Mr Tasleem Adil Khan and Mr Muhammad Sharif.

Faisalabad: Mr Abdul Rashid.

10-years Award:

Lahore: Mr Qaiser Nawaz Bhatti, Mr Muhammad Riaz, Mr Muhammad Jamil, Mr Asif Ali, Sheikh Muhammad Jamil, Mr M Farooq Khokhar, Mr Umer Farooq, Mr Zafar Iqbal, S Muntazir Mehdi Naqvi and Mr Mughees-ud-Din.

Faisalabad: Mr M Athar Bhatti and Mr Farooq Azam Janjua.