“The purpose of this article is to discuss on the topic of Talent Management in the Public Sector Banks in India.
The talent in an organization refers to the employees and their knowledge, skills, experiences and competencies etc. Talent management in an organization is the ongoing process of analyzing, developing and effectively utilizing the talent to improve business value and to achieve the organizational goals. Everything done to recruit, retain, develop, reward and make the employees perform forms the process of talent management.
In India, the banking sector is dominated by the Public Sector Banks. There are, at present, 26 Public Sector Banks, with 73% of market share of assets and 83% of branches.
With the financial reforms during early 1990s, followed by implementation of high-end technologies by the public sector banks during the last decade, the talent management in these Banks has become a very challenging issue. For the organizations like Banks, the employees are the best assets. The process of talent management, which is in practice, in the public sector banks (PSBs) may be discussed in the following steps.
The Various Steps in Talent Management in PSBs
- Workforce Planning:
Banks plan for the number of officers/clerks etc. required at the beginning of the financial year, depending on the business plan of expansion (new branches/offices to be opened), number of employees likely to retire during the year, etc.
- Recruitment:
Based on the number of vacancy decide, Banks recruit in different Scales/Grades through IBPS (Institute for Banking Professional Selection). IBPS conducts written test, interview etc. for the new recruits on behalf of the PSBs (except SBI) in a very transparent manner & allots the new recruits to various banks based on merit and the candidate’s choice.
- Promotion:
Internal vacancies are filled up through promotions to the higher grade, normally based on the last 3 years annual appraisal, written test/GD/Interview as applicable. The promotion is fairly done on merit basis.
- Training & Performance Support:
Banks provide training to the new recruits/existing employees in the Banks’ own training colleges (called Staff Training Colleges) or through external training by nominating employees to various training institutes like NIBSCOM, Noida, NIBM, Pune, IDRBT, Hyderabad, Banker’s Training College, Mumbai. Banks also nominate employees for various Seminar/Workshops/Trainings conducted abroad.
Banks also publish all their circulars, manuals, job cards, policy documents, banking news etc in the bank’s Intranet site which helps in keeping employees up-to-date. Some banks have even implemented a separate knowledge portal or eLearning portal which can be accessed by the employees from the office through the Intranet and also from home through the Internet.
In order to promote business knowledge, Banks also encourage their employees to do courses like JAIIB & CAIIB (from Indian Institute of Banking & Finance, Mumbai) and grant additional increments on passing these examinations. Banks also reimburse the examination fees & offer one time honorarium (a fixed amount) to the employees for passing various diploma and certificate examinations in banking (from IIBF, Mumbai). Some banks also offer reimbursement of exam fees (along with an honorarium amount) to employees who pass examinations like CISA, CCNA, CCNP etc.
- Compensation & Benefits
Banks offer competitive pay packages to attract the best talents. The pay scale is fixed for various grades/scales. Apart from Salary, the employees are also paid for leased accommodation (or HRA), Leave Fare Concession (LFC) every 2 years, Conveyance, telephone at residence, furniture at residence, pension (now new pension scheme), newspaper, medical expenses, etc.
Banks are also offering additional incentives for recovery of NPAs, meeting the targets of selling of insurance policies, etc.
Conclusion:
Gone are those days when an employee in a PSB was retiring from the same bank after serving the bank for 30 to 40 years. With enough options for career, today an employee leaves a particular public sector bank just because some other bank offers him/her posting near his/her home town or a private bank offers a better pay package. Some employees even after putting their service for 15-20 years in a public sector bank may switch to academic profession or join a consulting firm for better opportunities. Statistics reveal that the attrition rate in Public Sector banks in recent years is quite alarming. Public Sector Banks need to understand the prevailing dynamics & align their policies to include faster promotion, transfers as per Employees’ choice, better incentives & recognition for good work in order to attract the new talents to their banks as well as to retain the talents. There is lot of scope for the public sector banks to manage their talents more professionally.” – Srihari Subudhi – New Dhelhi, India
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