“There was a time when Probationary Officers were at par
with IAS Officers. Even O.P. Bhatt preferred being a Banker than a Babu”. When
any officer joins the Banking Industry (especially the Public Sector ones), he
or she usually gets to hear these words from the Chief Guest at the induction
ceremony. We have not been able to get over the rhetoric and actually find out
what has changed since those glorious days. And in that timespace, the fall of
Bankers from that pedestal has coincided with the rise of the Indian Administrative
Service and the rest of the service industry. Some customers would say its
KARMA while the younger lot is ignorant about that supposed past thereby
forming an opinion based on the experience. This post of mine is with respect
to the Wage Revision Talks that have captured the imagination of the entire
Banking Industry but has got very little footage beyond that. I am not getting
into the specifics of the negotiations per se but my focus here is more on the erosion
of perceived value of the Bankers, need for hard bargaining, out of tune
service conditions and indifference towards the needs of the Banking Industry.
When I talked about the KARMA a few sentences earlier, I
meant that there was a time when the Banker used to be the king. The customers
often were at the mercy of the work ethics of the banker they were dealing
with. The customer had nowhere to go and customer service was a jargon unheard
of. This was not unique to the Banking Industry alone but almost the entire
Public Sector and Government establishments. Moreover, there were no computers then
to fast track the service delivery mechanism. Gradually though, the landscape
started to change and the role of technology started to assume
significance. The mushrooming of private
sector banks coincidentally also happened during that period. Retaining
customers and acquiring new ones became much more arduous all of a sudden. That
is when the roles got reversed. The Kings suddenly found themselves dethroned
and the funda of CUSTOMER IS KING took a long time to find acceptance. This PARIVARTAN took time and by that time many customers
got wooed by the private sector Evangelists. Private Sector had a young
workforce while the average age in public sector banks were much higher. Naturally, adaptation to technology and customer orientation took time and in fact that
process is still on. It is not to say that Bankers then did not serve their
customers well rather it would be apt to say that the very definition of
customer service changed. Expectations had risen many fold and continues to
rise further. Customers can easily pit one Bank against the other on visibles.
What is hidden goes unnoticed often.
Where the private Banks score over Public Sector Banks is
the removal of entry barriers. Private Sector Banks lay the red carpet before a
prospective customer and go all out to lure him in through the Entry Gate. Once
the conversion is complete then even the customer doesn’t mind paying a premium
if he sees that his work is happening in the normal course. We humans do tend
to stick to status quo that provides a comfort zone and so only a handful
actually walkout through that very gate later on. The ones who walk out usually are found sitting in a Public Sector Bank. A Public Sector
Banker, on the other hand, is more conversant with the regulatory or the so called THE RIGHT WAY of
doing things. This obsession scares away some customers from the gate itself. But,
the customers who have enjoyed a long relationship with a State run Bank won’t
sever their ties because TRUST is the most important factor for them. It is
important for Banks to not discount the trust factor under the compulsion of
competition. And I am afraid the reverse is happening instead. Even the Public
Sector Bankers now appear to be salesmen trying to sell A,B,C….Z to them. Of course,
being competitive and coming across as a one point solution provider is the
crux to survival these days but the Private sector Banks have specialised cells
to cater to each from sourcing to recovery. A Banker in a village is still the "Babu" but for rest of the world he is just another one in the crowd. Not that tags
matter much but the stature in the society is important if we are to attract
the best talent to the industry. The workforce can rebuild the image through
quality service while the Government needs to recognize the contribution on
real terms as well.
Now, coming to the negotiations and the very need for it in
this age, let me start by saying that it feels like a slap in the face when one
reads about the hard bargaining going on for a paltry hike of 9.5% after five
years. Take any industry for that matter; the annual raise an employee can
expect under normal circumstances is around 15-16%. And here the Bipartite
Settlement for peanuts happens every five years and even then the negotiations
go on and on. Such negotiations seem more like an attempt at keeping the
tradition alive especially when the final settlement happens on unrealistic
terms after so much of delay. The time factor and compensation package statistics
from other industries for similar job descriptions should automatically get
functioned into the formula by which the raise is decided. There should not be
any need for negotiations of epic proportions at least to that extent. Bankers
have become like beasts of burden and the associations or unions have lost their
teeth as well. More than negotiations, a market based approach is needed to
make up for the lost ground.
Taking it further, we also need to revisit the service
conditions and salary and perks bit of it. A uniform annual increment for all
is alright but taking into account the increasing workload, a variable pay
component should be added as well. The one who works gets an increment of Rs.X
and the one who doesn’t work gets Rs.X and lots of time at leisure in addition.
The one who works, his work never ends and the one who doesn’t, well he retires
SMART as well. The institution progresses because of the work horses and they
should be incentivised for their contribution in order to motivate others as
well. Just to point out a couple of other issues, firstly, LFC provisions allow one to
avail the benefit twice in two blocks. Funnily, a couple who are also
colleagues do not get their individual quotas. Now, how about the man saying
“Boss…. today my wife has worked really hard…eh..so I would take it easy!!!!”. Secondly, Probationary Officers who were like IAS officers once are still not entitled to
travel by air in this age when even the interviewees in lot many places get air tickets reimbursed. If
the industry itself is not giving value to the Officers, how can we expect it from an
outsider??? Now a days, it is all about packaging. The awe for a certain
profession is mostly by the CTC or the lifestyle that it provides. It may not
be the right way but is the popular way these days. MOVING WITH TIMES should be
the central theme of Charter of Demands.
Lastly, let me come to the issue that is paining every heart
that beats for the Banking Sector and that issue is of course the indifference
of the powers that be to the voice of workforce. There are number of forwards on social media
which highlight the importance of the Banking Sector and the contribution of
its workforce. Whenever any Government needs to earn brownie points through its pet schemes like Financial Inclusion or Aadhaar, they turn to this machinery for help. Financial inclusion, for instance, could have also been done through the Postal Department given the fact that that Department
carries out Banking operations as well. Moreover, it also has presence in far
flung areas and basic postal business it not the same any more. Just consider a
Bank Employee and the kind of work he or she has to do. Banking, Cross selling
of hundred other products, Government Business, Welfare schemes of the
Government and on top that bear the risk burden of the transactions as well. If
the Government can dole out handsome proposals via the Pay Commissions, the
Consolidated Fund of India should also be shared with the employees of the
Banking Sector who play a huge part in implementation of the manifesto. This is an extreme thought on my part but the sentiment is not. It is
alarming to see the media preferring to ignore the agitations. They spent one
month on the IAS officer’s suspension and do not shy away from organising
studio discussions on kindergarten admissions or exam stress levels. But the
voice of this important constituent of the service sector fails to evoke a
reaction. Can’t expect a common man to have any clue regarding what is going on
and so it is perfectly alright if they ask their Banker this Wednesday-“teen
din ki chutti…kya mast naukri hain!!!!!”
