Absa Bank Kenya Recognised as a Top Employer for fifth consecutive year
He noted that bank continues to be intentional in strengthening its employee value proposition with an emphasis on meaningful work, effective leadership, building continuous learning and development opportunity, and comprehensive wellbeing support.
Strong results were also recorded in Ethics and Integrity, with Absa achieving a score of 99.49%, outperforming the global benchmark by 1.45% and the industry benchmark by nearly 2%. Photo/Courtesy
By Ruth Sang
Absa Bank Kenya has been certified as a Top Employer 2026 by the Top Employers Institute (TEI), making it the fifth year in which the bank has received this award. This certification followed an independent evaluation of Absa’s people practices across the key human capital indicators that assure its great success in creating and maintaining a high-performance workplace environment through data-driven strategic using the external validation and great focus on engagement and sustainable business growth.
Outside Kenya, the Absa Group operations in Botswana, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia, and Mauritius have also been recognized as Top Employers. At the group level, Absa scored 93.66%, increasing its score from 90.15% in 2025 and far surpassing the global majority of 85.9%. All six markets scored above 87%, with Kenya improving 4.94 percentage points from the previous year. Proof of consistent certifications within different countries also highlights healthy strength and consistency by Absa’s human capital strategy within Africa’s financial services sector on a global standard.
The Top Employers Institute is the leading authority in HR certification, benchmark, and advisory services, which covers up to 125 countries and regions in the world. This certification programme is a result of evidence from the HR Best Practices Survey, which assesses organisations under six core areas: People Strategy, Work Environment, Talent Acquisition, Learning, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Wellbeing.
Speaking about the award, Absa Bank Kenya Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Abdi Mohamed indicates the award as testimony to the commitment and resilience characterizing the bank’s workforce. The award further indicates profound culture of the organization founded on teamwork and collective commitment towards placing employees at the center of all operations across Kenya and the broader African region, according to him.
The assessment noted exceptional performance in quite a number of areas with Absa recording perfect marks of 100 percent under Business Strategy, Leadership, and Performance. This points to a high level of alignment between strategy, leadership execution, and organizational outcome. Strong results were also posted by the bank in Ethics and Integrity where it scored 99.49 percent which was 1.45 percent above the global benchmark and almost 2 percent above the industry benchmark.
Absa’s Work Environment score increased to 98.41 percent, placing the bank more than 10 percent above the global benchmark and close to 8 percent above that of the industry. The highest year-on-year improvements were recorded in offboarding, which rose by 18 percent, diversity, equity, and inclusion at 11.34 percent, rewards and recognition at 8.78 percent, sustainability at 7.35 percent, and employer branding at 5.28 percent.
According to Absa Kenya Chief People Officer Mumbi Kahindo, changing expectations in the workplace have heightened the evolution of the employer-employee relationship. The fact that this is the fifth consecutive recognition gives a clear picture of how the bank’s culture and people’s practices have matured over time, which the chief shares with the rest of the organization as a collective effort, collaboration, and resilience.
The advances recorded in the assessment of 2026 were propelled by a much more intentional, data-led approach to understanding employee experience. Absa has continued to enhance how it listens to its people using stronger benchmarking and analytics to measure trust and engagement. These insights have informed targeted interventions across the employee lifecycle, grounding their cultures in openness and accountability.
Mr. Mohamed affirmed that, in line with the group’s strategy, Absa remains focused on being customer obsessed by equipping its employees to consistently deliver high-quality service. He noted that bank continues to be intentional in strengthening its employee value proposition with an emphasis on meaningful work, effective leadership, building continuous learning and development opportunity, and comprehensive wellbeing support.
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