talent attraction, development and retention

In 2025, alrajhi bank advanced its Human Resources (HR) strategy with a strong focus on talent attraction and retention to build a resilient, future-ready workforce capable of supporting the ongoing implementation of alrajhi bank’s ‘harmonize the group’ strategy. This approach reflects the Kingdom’s emphasis on creating an environment that attracts and retains both Saudi and global talent.

As the bank further expanded its digital and customer centric operating model, demand increased for specialised capabilities across areas such as digital banking, cybersecurity, data governance and fintech that require specialised talent, hence increasing the importance of attracting talent. In parallel, heightened expectations for leadership development, career mobility, and continuous upskilling alongside responsible business practices including growing ESG and regulatory requirements continued to shape workforce priorities. Against this backdrop, and with sustained emphasis on Saudisation and gender inclusion, alrajhi bank has adopted a holistic approach for talent attraction and retention designed to strengthen organisational capability and elevate overall employee experience.

Driving talent excellence in 2025

During the year of 2025, alrajhi bank structured its efforts around three main pillars that reflect the needs of the bank and the broader Saudi labour market.

• Ensures that the existing talent is utilised across the group through workforce planning
• Strengthens agility by enabling employees to transition roles across business units based on evolving needs
• Allows for career promotion opportunities within the group, which improves retention and employee satisfaction

• Prioritises attracting talent for emerging capability gaps such as digital banking, AI, cybersecurity, risk, data governance and sustainability finance.
• Provides learning workshops and training to upskill employees and their leadership skills to meet the strategic growth demands in the market.
• Promotes a culture of continuous learning supported by digital learning platforms.
• Expands employee training coverage in 2025 and participation rates have exceeded to align with the best global practices.
• Total training hours delivered reached 650,213, an increase of 18.5% from 2024.

• Maps a progressive career journey for employees by developing transparent progression criteria and improving performance management
• Offers competitive compensation and benefits aligned with market benchmarks and employee needs
• Leverages digital capabilities to provide seamless HR experience to its employees
• Strengthens employee wellbeing programmes.

During the reporting period, alrajhi bank continued to focus on effective talent acquisition to meet the bank’s ambitious growth plans. The potential skill gaps due to emerging and non-conventional domains resulted in a two-pronged approach by the HR Group:

alrajhi bank continued to strengthen its established reputation as an employer of choice by showcasing its unique Employee Value Proposition (EVP) at career fairs and through many talent attraction initiatives. These initiatives increased the interest of jobseekers, with the bank’s career website exceeding 15,698,509 visits during the reporting period. alrajhi bank continued to attract and retain top talent in 2025 through a range of initiatives including financial and non-financial benefits, comprehensive training workshops, and an HR policy designed to create a positive company culture across all operations in alrajhi bank.

Talent attraction and retention initiatives

alrajhi Bank utilised a set of focus areas to drive its talent lifecycle framework. This approach was essential for meeting the needs of the changing labour market, bolstering digital and financial service capabilities, and supporting the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

alrajhi bank continues to enhance all stages of the employee lifecycle, including talent onboarding. The bank delivers a positive and engaging first experience for new hires. Upon joining, employees receive a Welcome Kit, an exclusive Staff Banking Account (accessible via the alrajhi app), digital hospitality through the urpay wallet, and personalised support via the Buddy Programme.

During 2025, the bank standalone has hired 1,564 new employees and decreased High-Potential employee (HiPo) turnover rate from 9.51% in 2024 to 5.42% at the close of 2025.

Talent management

The group Human Resource (HR) policy encompasses a comprehensive talent management framework to strengthen the bank’s talent and leadership pipeline and ensure long-term business continuity across all its subsidiaries. The talent management plan focuses on identifying, developing, and retaining specialised skills aligned with evolving labour market demands, with special emphasis on talent identification, succession planning and leadership development. Some of the notable initiatives undertaken are as follows:

identifying critical roles that impact business continuity or pose a risk to the organisation if not filled. All Senior Management roles were assessed to identify if they are critical from a business and regulatory perspective.

Progress made in 2025:

• 251 total roles that were assessed
• 77 critical roles were identified

To ensure business continuity and minimise interruptions, alrajhi group conducts regular succession planning exercises. This strategy is essential for maintaining a continuous supply of required talent. alrajhi bank maintains a structured Succession Planning Policy to ensure continuous readiness for leadership and other critical roles.

Annually, HR Business Partners lead comprehensive talent reviews (with supplementary updates for top-priority roles as required). These reviews focus on three key objectives: identifying critical positions, assessing successor readiness, and building both ‘ready-now’ and developmental talent pipelines. Each potential successor is provided with a personalised Individual Development Plan (IDP) to facilitate their growth into their next role. The Nomination and Remuneration Committee, along with specialised bodies such as the BRMC (for risk-related roles), provides oversight to ensure the entire process remains on track.

Progress made in 2025:

• 208 successors identified for critical roles and development opportunities in the past reporting year
• Future leaders participating in targeted development journeys: 80

A talent assessment exercise is conducted to assess head office employees to identify the percentage of employees with the capability to grow in the organisation.

Progress made in 2025:

• 30% of the assessed employees identified have the potential to grow in the organisation

The bank’s internal mobility platform ‘Nomu’, was launched to enable employees to explore career opportunities within alrajhi group and to expand their skill sets.

Progress made in 2025:

• 41,345 visits on the Nomu platform
• 525 job opportunities listed
• 370 employees’ internally mobilised

Targeted programmes for emerging leaders, mid-level leaders, and executive successors are in place to ensure a consistent leadership philosophy and measurable behavioural impact.

Progress made in 2025:

• 9 development programmes facilitated
• 74 senior management coached

The leadership Transition Development Programme consists of a blended approach of learning with assessments to build a talent pipeline for leadership roles.

Progress made in 2025:

• 40 future alrajhi leaders were equipped to take on higher roles

Our workforce at a glance

alrajhi bank’s human capital remains a key driver of value creation, comprising a workforce of 25,083 employees during the reporting period. Of this total, 78.3% represent full time employees and 21.6% represent outsourced, demonstrating the bank’s ability to attract and retain talent in a highly contested labour market, while remaining adaptable to evolving business needs and shifting role requirements.

The total workforce increased from 23,406 employees in 2024 to 25,083 in 2025. This growth was underpinned by sustained recruitment activity: the bank hired 8,871 employees in 2024, rising to 9,714 hires in 2025, an increase of around 9–10% in annual hiring volume.

The combination of higher hiring and net headcount growth indicates that the bank is not only replacing normal attrition but is also investing in new roles and capabilities to support business expansion and transformation.

Age and employee category distribution

The age profile is largely concentrated, with 37% of employees in the under 30 age group, 61% of employees in the 31-50 age group, and 2% over 50.

Total workforce by age group in 2025 - Group level

Employee turnover for 2025