Placeholder canvas

Retail Banking- Role played by the Fifth ‘P’

Date:

Success in Retail Banking envisages a complex interplay of the following Five ‘P’s

  1. Product
  2. Pricing
  3. Process
  4. Publicity
  5. People

Normally the focus would be mostly on the first Four Ps. However without the active involvement and support/contribution of the last P i.e. People (employees), efforts would not bear fruit to the extent required. The complete network of the branches and staff form part of the Retail Banking network and any initiative would not be a success without their support.   At Lakshmi Vilas Bank, we had put special focus on the “People” factor to ensure that their involvement in all our endeavors is voluntary and whole hearted.

For that to happen, we came out with the strategy of declaring the Bank as a “Happy Bank”. We came out with the slogan “Lets be a Happy Bank”.  The underlying principle is that the people perform best when they deliver happily and voluntarily. Thus a conscious decision has been taken to make the staff “happy” by working on the factors that would bring greater joy to them and also trying to reduce the factors that are irritants and make them unhappy.

To begin with, we introduced a “Happiness Index” within the organization and measured the happiness of all employees’ right from Junior most to Senior most across all cadres. Their happiness was measured on a scale of 1to 10, 1 being the lowest level of happiness. Employees were asked to measure their happiness on the following 4 key parameters that directly affect their happiness.

  1. Job Satisfaction
  2. Attitude of Manager and other staff members
  3. Infrastructural Arrangements at place of work
  4. HR policies

Any employee, who scored less than 5, was considered as an Unhappy Employee. They were spoken to by officials from Corporate Office and the reasons for their unhappiness were found out. Their grievances were redressed to the extent possible. Further the Happiness Scores of different units (like Branches and Regional Offices) were measured and attention was paid to units with low Happiness Scores.

The very fact that the Management was trying to find out whether an employee was happy or unhappy and making reasonable efforts to drive away factors that cause unhappiness created a huge wave of positivism in the organization. Employees felt that they were an important part of the organization and their well-being was being taken care of by the Management. On a lighter note, Trade Unions used to complain that their role was usurped by the Management.

In addition to the above, the following steps too were taken to build up on the concept of Happy Bank

  1. Introduction of HR Helpline: Employees were asked to write directly to the HR Helpline with regard to any of the HR related problems that they faced and the grievances were looked into directly by the Senior Vice President (HR) and addressed to the extent possible. Even with regard to transfer requests, the same were acceded to as far as possible. Where it was not possible immediately, the requests were waitlisted and put into effect as and when feasible.
  2. Introduction of Infrastructure Helpline: Employees were encouraged to write directly to the Admin Dept in Corporate Office with regard to the infrastructure problems that they faced at their place of work. All such issues were promptly redressed.
  3. Conducting of Town Hall Meetings: Town Hall meetings comprising of staff of all cadres, right from Subordinate Staff to Managerial Staff, were conducted at several places and Top Management functionaries had an interactive session listening to their problems/suggestions and also listing out corporate priorities. This step brought in a tremendous amount of unity and inclusiveness among various sections of staff. Even the junior most employees felt important and wanted to contribute actively to the growth of the organization.
  4. Celebration of Birthdays/Other important occasions: Birthdays of all staff members were celebrated at the work place at the expense of the Bank. Other important occasions and festivals too were celebrated by all staff together promoting togetherness.
  5. Making Young staff play an active part: It is an accepted fact that the energy and enthusiasm levels of the younger staff would be quite high. To tap these traits and convert them into positive performance, some specific campaigns like “Young Tarang” and “Digital Army” were conducted.
  6. Apart from young staff, the contribution of Senior Staff too was recognized. People who had put in long years of service were felicitated by the Top Management for their invaluable contribution to the growth of the organization.
  7. Approach in Disciplinary Matters: We adopted a practical approach with regard to Disciplinary Action cases particularly where malafides were not noticed.

All these steps brought in a wave of positivism, unity and inclusiveness among staff. Their trust in the management increased substantially. Their attitude towards work changed appreciably. Overall productivity levels increased. Service levels improved greatly.

In terms of numbers also the change has been drastic. In a 3 year period (2014-17), the CASA percentage increased by 50%. CASA grew at a rate of 30% CAGR. Non Corporate Advances grew by 21% CAGR. Overall business grew 70%. A significant percent of the success should be owed to the positive approach of the Fifth’ P’

Thus, While the first Four ‘P’s are quite important, their efficacy would be greatly dependent on the Fifth ‘P’. We can ignore that only at our peril.

Promoted Post

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related

EAM Jaishankar Meets Ukrainian Counterpart Dmytro Kuleba In Delhi

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar on Friday...

Rajinikanth’s Thalaivar 171 First-Look Poster Drops

In a series of surprising announcements, fans were first...

Orry Faces Backlash After Declining Handshake At Event

Internet sensation Orry, famed for his wild antics and...

From Deepfake Concerns To India’s AI Mission PM Modi Interacts With Bill Gates

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged in a...