The Hindu Business Line : SBI goes for fast track promotions

Under current service regulations, SBI officers have to cross nine scales before they reach the Managing Director level — where the appointments are decided by the Government/Ministry of Finance.

Chennai , Oct. 8

SBI has instituted a succession planning program to identify fast-trackers for its top management positions. SBI sources said that this was being done to identify younger officers and provide them with sufficient residual tenure to reach the top echelons.

Over the past few years, SBI's top management comprising Deputy Managing Directors ( DMDs), Managing Directors (MDs), and Chairmen have had very short tenures averaging less than two years.

The Government had in fact brought in a requirement that a residual service of two years was required to be eligible for the top post. This rule allowed both Mr Purwar, current SBI Chairman, and his predecessor, Mr Janki Ballabh to supersede a number of their colleagues, while occupying the top slot.

Under the current service regulations, SBI officers have to cross nine scales before they reach the Managing Director level — where the appointments are decided by the Government/Ministry of Finance.

A new officer recruit spends anything from 17 to 23 years (depending on merit and luck) before he reaches the Scale V level (equivalent to Assistant General Manager). SBI sources said that many officers get stuck at this level and spend anything from six to eight years before they reach the Scale VI or Deputy General Manager level. The average age of DGMs is around 51 and that leaves them with another 5 years and two more levels before they can get a shot at the top executive jobs.

Under the new fast track program, about 90 Assistant General Managers, with a good track record have been identified and are being put through a three-stage testing process. The candidates are tested with case studies, an assessment of their competencies in certain attributes such as leadership, initiative, team building skills followed by a group discussion and interview. The entire process is being done with the help of an outside agency — Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

The fast track promotion process will now compress the waiting time at the AGM level to 3 years. The new promotion policy at other levels is also being reworked to give officers a chance to reach the AGM cadre in 9 years instead of the 17 years currently.

This would allow them to reach the DGM cadre by their mid-thirties. An SBI officer couldn't resist quipping that the new policy would now ensure that officers stagnate at a higher level than before.

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