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.