Promotion in Banks

Human resource is one of the most important resources in an organisation. An organisation is known by the quality of its employees Organisational effectiveness depends on availability of the right kind of people at the right time as better people achieve better results. Technological improvements and tough competition in global market has necessitated the organisations not only to select the right type of staffs, but also to retain them..
As a part of human resource management, every organisation tries to acquire and retain skilled, competent, and motivated employees. With a view to retaining skilled employees, management offers opportunities for career progression through promotions.
Recruitment in Banks:
Banks recruit people in all cadres i.e. sub staff, clerical, officers and executives. Every bank has a recruitment policy. In most of the banks the ratio of recruitment in officers cadre is linked with the recruitment in clerical cadre, which is 1:3, i.e. for one officer three clerks are to be recruited.
Prior to June 2001 recruitment in clerical and officers’ cadre in public sector banks were done through the BSRB (Banking Services Recruitment Board). The board conducted both written tests and interviews and used to send dossiers of selected candidates to those banks for which recruitment was done. The banks did not have much say in the selection process. However, with effect from June 2001 BSRBs have been abolished and banks are free to have their own selection process. With the implementation of technology banks were saddled with excess manpower. After the introduction of voluntary Retirement Scheme
(VRS) in public sector banks they were advised not to fill up the vacancies arising due to employees opting for voluntary retirement. Banks are permitted to recruit technical and specialized staff for meeting their workforce requirements arisen from implementation of technology.
What is Career?
Career is the goal of life achieved through a chosen pursuit, a profession or occupation. Each person's career is unique and is a life long process. It refers to work related attitude and behavior. Dynamic, potential and growth oriented employees when not allowed to grow in the organisation start alienating and quit. This is a great loss to the institution. Therefore, organisations encourage growth and career development of employees.
Career development is the ongoing process of refinement and acquisition of skills and knowledge. It is professional development, coupled with activities related to career planning.
What is Promotion?
Promotion is reward for competence and good performance. Competence is the ability to use knowledge, proficiency, efficiency, and personal skills in performing a job. Competency of a person comes into light only after working over a period of time to a required standard.
Promotion or career progression is elevation from one stage to another in rank or position in an organisational hierarchy having more responsibility, more status more power and involves a higher level of job responsibility and decision making authority with higher pay or more prestigious work environment. It is matching an individual's career aspirations with the opportunities available in an organisation. It is practical method of utilising employees’ talent, skills and managerial capabilities. Promotion is a way of career progression
Promotion in Banks:
Banks recruit people in different cadres for carrying out various functions. Staff members in a bank can broadly be classified as sub staff, clerical, officers and executives.
Employees in any institution want to progress both in life and in the organisation. They desire to grow with the institution and do not want to stagnate. Stagnation is the silent killer of individuality. Promotion satisfies employees’ various needs such as social, recognition, respect and self-actualisation.
From time to time Government issues guidelines for internal promotion in public sector banks. The Board having regard to the Guidelines of the Government, and Indian Banks association if any, formulates guidelines and eligibility criteria for promotion. It also decides the system and the processes to be employed for promotion from one scale/grade to another. One of the Government guidelines stipulates that officers should have appropriate level of Computer Literacy for promotion to higher grade/scale.
Promotions from one scale to another or one grade to another are done on the basis of merit with weightages for seniority, educational/professional qualifications, etc., and minimum number of years of service put in the feeder grade. Promotion depends on the number of vacancies in each cadre / grade.
Banks have different promotion policy for each cadre of staff. However, the commonality for promotion criteria in all the cadres is

1.Minimum length of service in the cadre. The concept of minimum length of service for promotion from one cadre/ scale to another ensures assured career movement in the Bank.
2.Qualifying the written test (not applicable in some banks for promotion of officers from scale V onwards in executive cadre). Written test is for assessing the knowledge base and the preparedness/ abilities of the candidates for taking up positions of higher responsibilities.
3. Interview for judging personality, approach, ability to face challenges, communication style etc
4.Report on the past performance and potential.

Banks also have a policy for out of turn promotion to those employees who are outstanding sportsmen/sportswomen and those who apprehended dacoits/ robbers etc.
In some banks the concept of "Benchmarking" has been introduced so as to ensure the elevation of the right people in the Bank to man higher positions of responsibility. Benchmarking induces employees desire for increasing their knowledge base and motivates them in achieving higher goals/ challenges. It is a persistent drive for improving performance levels and augmenting skills and productivity.
What is Promotion Policy?
Every organisation has some system or policy for elevation of its employees to higher cadre. Promotion policy is a document that contains important guidelines for promotion from within the organisation and the criteria, procedures and factors for promotion.
It enables employees to know their career progression in the institution. A well-documented and transparent promotion policy not only creates trust in the management but also helps in boosting employees’ morale. It also helps them in sharpening knowledge and skills. Promotion policy can be either

a).Normal or
b).Fast track

Normal promotion policies do not give cognizance to the extra ordinary talent, ability, capability, experience, qualification, maturity level and performance of employees. An employee has to wait for his turn only after completion of a minimum period of service. This results into job alienation and talent migration.
To give talented employees opportunities of climbing organisational ladder faster, organisations have also adopted fast track promotion policy. Talented employees are given out of turn promotion after putting them to rigorous selection procedure. This helps organisation in retaining good performers and reducing the chances of their poaching by competitors.
Impact of Promotion:
Promotion from within the organization is a powerful employee motivator. Internal promotion generates loyalty through the recognition of individual merit and improved morale by fulfilling employees’ need for increased status. It not only has positive values relating to morale, employee’s long-run commitment; reputation of institution, but also helps in taking advantage of the presence of potentially fine staff amongst the lot of the employee. Promotion motivates and rejuvenates employees. It satisfies their recognition and esteem needs.
Conclusion:
Organisational hierarchy has pyramidal structure, which gradually becomes narrower at the top. Therefore, aspirations of all employees appearing in the promotion exercise cannot be met. Thus, every promotion exercise results into both sweet and sour experience once the results of promotion are declared. Those not selected adopt negative and critical attitude, approach and look into flaws in the promotion exercise and negative aspect of management. Their frustration becomes contagious.
It is therefore necessary on the part of management to counsel good, hard and potential workers for avoiding their drooping morale and recharging their energy level. Counseling works as a healing balm on their psychological wounds.
Promotion from within the organisation becomes dangerous when selection is not done on merits, when it is done not on what one knows but whom one knows. When it is done not on the basis of working but on the basis of networking.
Getting promoted to a higher cadre is not a passport to continue at the elevated position. In some organisations when the performance is not found satisfactory, or due to some disciplinary reasons employees are demoted to a position lower than what they were holding. A demotion is a change in class title. Demotion is the reverse of promotion.

TRAINING

Introduction:
In the current global scenario, business environment is rapidly changing. Today knowledge has become an important competitive advantage. Lacking competence and knowledge are the most critical factors restricting the development. The only competitive advantage that differentiates success factors of various organisations is effectiveness of its knowledge resource.
It is the quality of workforce, their abilities, capabilities, zeal, commitment, knowledge and intelligence that plays crucial role in the development of organisation and bringing it on the global horizon. Knowledgeable and trained staff is the power grid of an organisation. It is the responsibility of management to raise efficiency and standards of performance by developing workers.
Importance of Training:
Training is an essential ingredient for improving the quality of work force and their efficiency. It enables employees to acquire new competencies and prepare them to operate effectively and efficiently. It facilitates in bringing out latent talent and incites the inner as well as outer behaviour of the workforce.
Our knowledge is not steady and is ever changing. It becomes obsolete and blunt unless brushed up and sharpened on continuous basis. Therefore, improving or obtaining new skills by employees is must for survival of the institution. This has resulted into the growing need for training and development programmes. The more knowledge the workforce has, the more wealth the organisation would be able to create.
Management’s Role:
Every organisation has to be committed to the development of its workforce and training is an important tool both for the growth of employees and that of organisation. It is a prerequisite for the qualitative development and effective management of human resources. It is the systematic development of the attitude, knowledge, and skill pattern required by employees in performing the job efficiently. It is an investment in human development and the root system of the organisational tree.
Purpose of training:
The purpose and object of training is to enhance knowledge of employees, develop their inner personality, potential and outer efficiency so that they can perform better, operate efficiently and effectively in the changing environment. Training provides theoretical, technical and behavioural knowledge to employees and triggers their thinking process and moulds their behaviour, attitude and aptitude towards job and the institution and plays important role in retaining talent .It provides skills to both new entrants and existing employees in discharging responsibilities and in performing job. In view of the variety of activities now being undertaken by organisations, multifarious training needs of their staff have arisen.
Training to new entrants:
The newly recruited employees can be classified in to two broad categories. Those who are new in the employment market and had no prior experience before joining the organisation, and those who had worked earlier and have switched over from other jobs.
Those who join with no previous experience, start with a clean slate on which nothing has yet been written. They have to learn to have a broad idea of their job, systems, procedures and practices and responsibilities in the organisation.
Those who already had previous work experience have first to unlearn the system, practices, approach and behaviour learnt in their previous organisations and have then to learn and mould themselves in accordance with the culture, philosophy, systems, procedures, and practices of the new organisation.It takes time to unlearn.
Attitude of employees towards the organisation and the job are shaped by the experience during the initial period of joining. Employees take interest in the job when an opportunity to learn is provided to them, when some one is willing to guide, instruct and solve their intellectual impatience and invigorate them; revive their enthusiasm, morale and confidence. Training is the source of inspiration to both new and existing employees.
Skills needed for Job:
Basically employees require following skills for performing job.
1.Technical Skill:
Technical skill is the knowledge about the systems, procedures rules regulations, methods, techniques, and equipments. It is acquired by experience, in house job cards, education and training.
2.Behavioural Skill:
It is the skill related to working with and through people, understanding peoples’ motivation, effective leadership, inter-personal skills for leading, motivating and communicating with the peers, sub-ordinates, superiors and public.
3.Conceptual Skill:
Conceptual Skill is mental ability to analyse, interpret information received from various sources. It is ability to understand the complexity of organization, use of self-knowledge in organisational goals, inter- relationship in various departments, overall policy applications, formation of cohesive groups etc.
Requirements of these skills depend on the position an employee has in the organisational hierarchy. People at the grass root level need more technical skills and less conceptual skill. Whereas, persons occupying higher, top, supervisory positions need more of the conceptual skill and less of technical skill. As one moves up in a hierarchy, decision making and monitoring becomes more and more prominent, one need to have different skills for managing people, managing team, guiding them and taking major decisions. Since organizations are people centric, requirement of behavioural skills is common for the work force at all the levels.
Imparting training:
Since training is a necessity for effective performance and efficiency of institutions, designing training is far more than devising courses. Employees are trained in the following ways: -
1.Orientation

2.On the job training
3.Job Rotation

4.E-learning
5.Self Learning kits
6.Off the job training
1. Orientation:
Immediately after a new entrant joins, he is provided induction/orientation training. In addition of giving him an overall view of the activities of the organisation, corporate philosophy, objectives, job responsibilities and management’s expectations from the him, he is given basic skills in performing the job. Seniors and specialists in the field also address new entrants. The training enables management to understand new employees’ interest, aspirations and attitude and divert their energies in accordance with corporate policy and psychology. Once the induction/orientation training is over training for developing work related skill is provided.
2.On the job Training:
Place of work is the center of learning. Knowledge comes from work, provided one knows how to manipulate it. Under this system the employee is attached to a particular seat and is kept under the supervision and control of expert in that area of operation. He is thus exposed to various aspects of the job and gets hands on training on the job. By observing skills, techniques of trained workers and sharing information, he learns finer aspect of the job and intricacies related to that aspect of working. Experts remove his doubts, if any on the spot.
On the job training sharpens technical skills more than conceptual skills, which is the foundation of knowledge. Unless people are exposed to variety of new responsibilities on a regular basis, their ability to think, visualize future challenges for facing them will not develop.
3.Job Rotation:
One of the objectives of job rotation is to broaden the knowledge of staff. By transferring a person from one assignment to other, he is exposed to various aspects of the work and learns new skills while performing various aspects of job.
Employees learn about different functions when rotated into different positions. Job rotation increases experience, which in itself is knowledge.
4.E- learning:
Developments in the information technology has made it possible to provide knowledge enrichment to all section of employees as per their convenience. The training is provided thorough virtual training and knowledge hubs created on the intranet of the establishment.
Study material on various aspects of job and skill related topics are uploaded on the intranet at regular interval in addition to general topics related to the nature of activities being undertaken by the organisation. Employees knowledge quest is also satisfied by dealing with frequently asked questions (FAQ). Employees can log in the intranet at any time and can go thorough the material and enrich their knowledge. Some organisations have made their intranet site interactive where experts give answers to the quarries raised by employees.
5.Self-Learning Kits:
Many organisations provide professional and technical material to their offices either in the form of a Compact disk or in the form of a book (Book of Instructions). With planned reading an employee can increase his knowledge.
6.Off the job training:
These are basically of two types i.e. Internal and External.
1. Internal:
Imparting training in own training establishments’ falls under this category. In this type of training, employees come in touch with their counterparts working at different locations of the same organisation. The training helps not only in enhancing job knowledge and job-related skills but also helps in building behavioural and relationship bondage.
Sharing of experiences with co-workers gives an insight to the trainees in understanding and appreciating the problems being faced by their counterparts at different locations and how have those been addressed. It thus prepares a person to face unforeseen future challenges .The relationship built also speeds up the process and reduces delay in day-to-day operations where the operations involve inter branch/ interoffice transactions.
For making training effective it is important that the criteria used in the classroom situation resemble as closely as possible the criteria relevant in the working environment.
Training establishments use following methods for imparting knowledge.
a.Chalk and Talk method
b. Group discussion
c. Project work
d. Videos and computer teaching
e. Role-playing exercises and simulation of actual conditions
2. External:
Employees are sent to other institutions for training for specialised functions for which expertise is not available with the in house training establishments of the organisation. In addition to learning new skills and working as a group member in a team, it helps employees in building inter-organisation relationship, confidence and broadens their vision in seeing a problem or proposition from others angle.
Training and Responsibility:
Training is a continuous process. It does not cease just because a person has learned a job well. The most valuable people are those who can take over any number of tasks or responsibilities and do them well and handle multi tasking efficiently and effectively.
Good training requires proper post training deployment of employees and assignment of a reasonable level of responsibility. The responsibility should be in line with the employees’ training and previous experience. Training without any proper utilisation and responsibility results in to poor response to training. In some organisations, those who know and do the job better get less opportunity to learn another. After a time the job turns out to be of a routine nature and the employee either becomes incapable of change or looks elsewhere for other knowledge pastures. Training in new areas of work is a challenge. It provides flexibility of staff that is essential ingredient of an efficient organisation.
Learning and Training:
People in the organisation are to be developed simply for the reason that they are human beings, they have cognitive abilities and thinking capacity. Human being is teachable and can be developed and motivated through sustained efforts. Man can know more and more because there remains at every stage of knowledge some thing unknown. A constantly developed human being becomes an asset for the organisation. Knowledge deprived and stagnated human being is a frustrated person who alienates from the job. He is not only a liability to himself, but also a liability to his organisation.
It is not that the work is great. It is the knowledge behind the work that makes the difference. If the attitude of the work force is good, work is good and if the attitude is wrong, the work is wrong. Wrong attitude reflects drought of knowledge in the work force and improper knowledge management in the institution.
Training modifies knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour and broadens employee's horizon as it focuses on learning the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to perform a job or task or to improve upon the performance of a current job or task.
Training and learning are two different things. When an individual is in school or college he is taught. When he is in service he is on his own. For pursuing career, he has to remain updated about the technical environment, economic development and business requirement of the job.
Training is essentially a skill related learning process. Its aim is to develop employees for job, and to enable them to solve organisational problems. It results into productive work efficiency and inward personal or character efficiency. It stimulates thinking and leads to excellence in action. This is achieved by well-documented training and development process.
Learning is a continuous process. It is a process in which the individual not only gathers new knowledge, but skills, attitudes, feelings, values, experiences and contact that produce changes in his or her behaviour. It consists of change, development, growth and maturation. Part of learning is target oriented and planned activity, while the other part of it is incidental and unexpected. For continuous involvement of trainees in the training programme, trainer has to make the entire method and process of training interesting and has to provide conditions for stimulating the desire to learn more. He should know that learning is selective. “ A man does not learn any thing, he does not love”.
According to Ruskin “ Education is not knowing more, but for behaving differently. ” According to Albert Einstein “ I never teach my people, I only attempt to provide conditions in which they can learn”.
Role of Training:
The role of training is more important. It helps in mutual sharing of resources and expertise in competency building in various areas. Only with the forceps of knowledge, the thorns of doubt can be removed. Learning is a process of that changes beliefs, attitudes, feelings, and knowledge. It is process of growth of latent abilities, personality, system and decision-making ability. It improves methods of performance.
Effectiveness of Learning:
Every one has inherent desire to enhance and upgrade his knowledge. A person learns when he is willing to learn and feels that what ever is being taught is useful to him. Basically learning depends on the learner. Learning is optimum when the environment is warming, supportive and accepting. The learner involves himself with learning activity when he feels safe and assured that his failures would not be laughed at. Learning also depends on intimacy. It is high when trainer has high intimacy with the trainee. It is slow when intimacy is low.
Training Need Identification:
Without competent and efficient human resource, an organisation cannot prosper. Therefore it has to have a well-laid training policy aiming at all round development and skill up gradation for employees. It has to decide the kind of people required to manage organisation. Suitable training leads to enhanced performance of the employees and faster realisation of organisational goals. Training, retraining and redeployment of trained staff is must. Training need identification is necessary for improving individual performance and developing new skills to meet business requirements or for career growth.
What is training need analysis:
Corporate goals, market conditions, competition, new products, future plans future vision and type of inputs and skills required meeting the challenges influence training. Training has therefore to be based on the need analysis derived from comparison of actual performance and market behaviour. On the basis of this analysis, specific job performance skills needed to improve performance and productivity are identified and training needs and methods for overcoming the deficiencies are undertaken.
For effectiveness of training it is essential that the class of employees identified for training should be homogenous, that they should have same level of education, experience and skills. Since the level of knowledge is different at different level there cannot be a uniform design or structure for all category of staff members. Hence different level of inputs and methodology are to be adopted for different level of employees.
For making the training effective and meaningful evaluation of the effectiveness of training is done by obtaining feed back of trainees and observers if any. This helps training system and the management in knowing reactions of trainees towards content and delivery and in identifying the needs to modify the inputs, methodology so that the objectives of training are met.
Training is an art and should be entrusted to those within an organization who has an aptitude for it or who have received special training in the instructions.
Conclusion:
Pumping of any amount of capital does not flourish business and make it profitable. It is the knowledge, backed with imagination and innovation that makes the business vibrant and profitable. It is not the physical asset, but the intellectual asset, which is the driving force for an organisation.
Indian banking is currently poised for far reaching changes. The emerging business profile of banks is basically in non-traditional areas, venturing in new financial products and services. To face competition head on, bank are continuously innovating new areas of operations and improving skills.
Due to technological advancement business of banking is becoming more scientific and systematic. All these have forced banks to provide its work force skills in latest techniques and for this the only probable answer is training and retraining. Effectiveness of training depends on the seriousness of management. When executives, managers attend training programmes with all seriousness it indicates their commitment to human development.
Excellent executives look to the future and prepare for it. One important way to do is to develop and train staff so that they are able to cope up with new demands, new problems, and new challenges and can foresee likely scenario.
Good results can be achieved through a systematic approach to develop workforce through training. Progressive organisations go one step further in their training and development approach. They plan well in advance the new competencies created by technology and the external environment and design training plans, which focus on present and future.
Reference:
Khanna P.K.,” Knowledge Management”, In: Papers from Delegates, Bank Economist’s Conference 2003.

Personnel Inventory System

Introduction:
The future and success of an organisation depends on its ability to match and manage knowledge, experience, skill and talent of its workforce that can bring innovative ideas, perspectives to their work and understand the various niches of the market. An organisation needs people with diverse knowledge, talent, experience and cultural background for facing competition and meeting challenges.
Need for Personnel Inventory System:
For meeting the demand of its products in the market, an organisation maintains detailed inventory of its products. Similarly it also maintains an inventory of its work force required to handle a particular job. The first step in proper planning of human resources is to prepare an inventory of the knowledge, skills, and abilities of each employee. This not only gives an insight to the management in ascertaining competency, ability, readiness and willingness of employees towards shouldering of higher responsibilities but also helps management in finding out shortage or surplus of talented workforce. It helps management in forecasting talent gaps and planning strategies for meeting those gaps and utilising the available talent efficiently.
Personnel Inventory system is the process and method of maintaining data base of employees containing complete personal information about their background, competencies, proficiencies, talent, transactional capabilities, job status, skills attained, pay structure, behaviour pattern, personality traits, performance, preferences, experience, family and socio cultural back ground. The information on various personal and professional aspects of employees is updated at regular intervals. It helps management in utilising right people with the right skills at the right time by tracking their talents, skills and proficiency required for meeting its goals, plans and translating organisation’s vision in reality.
Maintaining Personnel Inventory:
Personnel inventory is a confidential record, which contains observations of superiors about the attitude, conduct, behaviour and performance of an employee. Observations about employee’s behavior that could adversely impact customers and reputation of organisation,
There are many ways to maintain and create inventory. It can be in the form of a simple card catalog or index or on computers with the help of software. Maintaining information on computers with the help of soft ware enables management in taking quick, pointed, scientific and logical decision on various managerial aspects of employee.
Maintenance of inventory depends on the type of organisation and the activities carried out by it. However, broadly it contains the following details.
1. Demographic details:
This contains information about family, mother tongue, marital status, number of dependents, permanent address, health-related issues etc., of an employee.
2.Educational and Skill Description:
It contains both technical and professional qualification of employee, his basic and technical skills, proficiency in other foreign languages, trainings, seminars and courses attended, skill gaps and training needs.
3.Employment details:
Date of joining, cadre /grade /capacity in which joined. Particulars related to previous employment and job responsibilities held.
4.Mobility details:
Postings and experience gained in various departments, tenure of working at different locations if the organisation has establishments at other geographical areas.
5.Honesty:
Observations about the integrity of employee and disciplinary action if any taken against him.
6.Performance:
Performance appraisal ratings, special achievements and assignments if any.
7.Attitude, approach, values and work Behaviour:
Decision-making, risk taking ability, sense of responsibility for performance, drive, interest and potentiality to perform job. Behaviour at the workplace, approach towards superiors, peers, subordinates and customers.
8.Stress Tolerance:
Ability to tolerate stress and keeping cool and maintaining mental equibilirium in adverse situation.
Advantages of Personnel Inventory System:
A). It helps organisation in increasing competitive advantage by;
1. Increasing productivity and profitability by utilising right persons with right attitude for the right job.
2.Strengthening customer service by deploying those who have liking for marketing, public relations, and dealing with people.
3. Minimising work-related problems
4. Reducing employee turnover
B). Workforce Planning;
1. Forecasting talent availability, gaps, needs of the organisation on the basis of emerging challenges in the market and the rate of growth projected by the management.
2. Bridging the gap arising due to retirement, resignation and turnover of employees.
3. Grooming employees for new opportunities that fit their career interests and capabilities.
4. Career planning, career counseling for employees to help them move up.
5. Identifying and grooming internal talent for meeting challenges arising due to globalisation.
6. Leadership development, and succession planning
C). Job Identification:
1. Helps in Internal placement of employees by identifying suitable and right person for undertaking new or additional responsibilities.
2. Helps in identification of suitable employees for managing key positions in the organisation.
Conclusion:
A proper personnel inventory system enables management to utilise its human resources properly. It also boosts employee’s morale and motivates them in giving best out of them, as they know that they will be taken care of.