Striving to achieve world-class performance was the theme for an event laid on by Bermuda Olympic sprinter Xavier James for the Bank of Bermuda staff.

The Rewards and Recognition event, which was held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess last Thursday, saw the 100-metre sprinter talk to the bank's banking department about how to be the best in your sport and how that attitude can be applied to banking.

Among the 200-plus employees present were those from the retail, commercial banking, corporate banking, payments and cash management and e-banking sectors of the business.

The event, which was the first of its kind, focused on having the will and desire to succeed and the need to be a self-starter, having the discipline to prepare for the ultimate challenge and the importance of being able to adapt, and comparing yourself against the best.

"We are looking to be world class in a number of key areas," said the Bank of Bermuda's head of banking Ashley Parker, who organised the event.

"I thought with the timing and with the Olympics on, the message that people will really get is for individuals to strive to be the best and we tried to construct an event around that theme.

"I decided it would be great to have someone come in who has been through that journey to become world class. Xavier James' name came up and I met with him and we hit it off and he worked with us for four to five weeks on the programme which resulted in us holding this event.

"Xavier was terrific and I think it was a lot of fun and the staff really enjoyed it and most importantly the message resonated with them."

Mr. James spoke about his experiences of going from being a football player to undergoing a rehabilitation programme following an injury which helped him to become one of the country's top track and field athletes.

Mr. Parker, an Australian and a big sports fan, drew the parallel with the banking arena, saying it was about finding something you enjoy and are good at and going for it.

"Since we started the programme in February and March our last two surveys have resulted in 95 percent and 100 percent marks for the Bank of Bermuda, putting us in the top echelons of HSBC worldwide and I think that theme and message is starting to permeate its way through the different banking departments that we look after," he said.

Five employees received sales excellence awards and were also appointed members of the bank's sales counsel at the event.