The ‘People’ Element and Service Quality at the Zimbawe Banking Corporation (2003-2005): Debunking the Effectiveness of the Bank’s Internal Marketing Strategy

This study sought to establish the effectiveness of the ‘people’ strategy at ZIMBANK, that is whether ZIMBANK employees (people) were effectively trained and motivated and whether they were in a position to offer quality service to the bank’s customers compared to its rivals. A number of key literary sources that hinged on services marketing and marketing of financial services were consulted on which the theoretical underpinnings of the paper were grounded. ZIMBANK Kwekwe and Kadoma branches were used as a single case study which used the quantitative technique to gather data namely the questionnaire. Data was collected from selected employees of the Kadoma and Kwekwe branches of ZIMBANK and a sample of ten employees was selected from the two branches, five from each branch. The probabilistic sampling procedure was used to choose bank employees. The results of the study revealed that the ‘people’ strategy at ZIMBANK was ineffective as evidenced by poor communication between management and employees, poor salaries and working conditions leading to low levels of staff morale, and inadequate on the job training.