The competitive environment of Nigerian banking and financial services has changed dramatically. From the heyday of financial services and the banking boom of the 1990s, when the country was dotted with more than 200 financial institutions – commercial banks, investment banks, community banks, mortgage banks, finance companies – to the new order in which the country has fully progressed into the era of universal banking with 24 banks operating in the country (Sanusi, 2012). Nigeria's faltering economy and banking sector experienced a systemic crisis in 2009, triggered by the global economic crisis, followed by the collapse of the Nigerian stock market. After the 2009 stock market crash, in which 70% of value was eroded, many banks allowed banks to diversify into non-bank financial assets. The UB model was introduced in 2001 as part of a comprehensive reform and consolidation program by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the leadership of former CBN governor, Professor Charles Soludo. As a result, Nigerian banks have been consolidated through mergers and acquisitions, with the minimum capital base increased from N2 billion to a minimum of N25 billion. This policy reduced the number of Nigerian banks from 89 to 25 in 2005, and subsequently to 24 (Sanusi, 2012; CBN Economic Report, 2013). One of the banks that have obtained the universal banking license is FCMB – First City Monument Bank. Under the new model, licensed banks were authorized to carry out the following types of activities: commercial banking (with regional, national and international scope); merchant (investment) banking; specialized banking services (microfinance, mortgages, interest-free/Islamic banking); and development finance (Sanusi, 2012). In response to this climate of change and evolution, an attempt has emerged to raise the perceived value of human resources for banking. Banks began to explore innovative strategies to attract professional and highly motivated executives; this was in addition to massive workforce development programs to reskill existing workers