The Hindu Business Line : `Retaining quality workforce key driver for Indian banking'

Banking CEOs attending the 7th Bank Educationists' Conference organised by the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance in Hyderabad on Monday. - P.V. Sivakumar

Hyderabad , Nov. 28

THE powerful Indian banks in the new era of liberalised banking will be those which realise that it is not the organisational structure that drives them but the content and quality of services their workforce provide, according to the President of the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (IIBF), Mr K. Cherian Varghese.

"Managing such employees and financially rewarding them will require banks to reorient their management systems including HRD delivery in ways that lay emphasis both on human competence and responsibility," he said addressing the Seventh Bank Educationists' Conference of IIBF titled `Role of HR in Meeting Banking Challenges' here on Monday.

The main objective of the conference is to review and identify the key HR drivers that will shape the banks and challenges faced by banks and financial institutions in a risk and technology driven environment, the IIBF Chief Executive Officer, Mr R. Bhaskaran, said.

According to Mr Varghese, who is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Union Bank of India, competition in the product and business front has some spill over in HR since lateral movement of specialist staff has become easy.

Stating that such talented people will be in great demand and it might be difficult to retain them in an environment of open recruitment and competition, he said an issue facing bankers is retaining of those who have specialised skills.

Viewing that success in the new era of banking will be directly dependent on the availability of competent and skilled human resources,

Mr Varghese, however, said there is sluggish growth in enrolment by bankers for professional courses.

"Banking industry does not compare well with other industries in terms of upgrading the skills of the existing workforce through education and/or training," he said.

Accordingly, he said, "A challenge in designing education and training strategies will depend on how sensitive and innovative we are to both the occupational needs of people with skills and also to people who lack the core skills necessary for today's technology-driven banking."

Further, Mr Varghese said some of the HR issues that banks will be forced to address in the near future include appropriate compensation, flexible work schedules, outsourcing and offering incentives to retain talents.

Stating that the role of IIBF and other training institutions of various banks assume utmost importance in such a scenario, Mr Varghese said the challenge for training institutes will be to narrow the emerging gap between members of the workforce with knowledge-based skills and those without.

"Banking and finance industry personnel, especially at the executive levels, need to be equipped to operate effectively and efficiently in the global environment. A few broad range of knowledge needs may be identified and delivered by the training establishments and IIBF," Mr Cherian Varghese said.

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