Ministry of Finance Dictate on Promotion Policy

This is the news item published in valued Newspaper Economic Times on 26.12.2011
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/state-run-banks-told-to-discard-fast-track-promotion-policies/articleshow/11248127.cms
This is small victory for bankers who have been cheated by Bank Management .

State-run banks told to discard fast-track promotion policies.

Now bank management will not be able to recruit as per their whims and fancies, they will not be able to promote as per their sweet will or reject as per their whims in the name of merit, and they will not be able to earn wealth in the name of recruitment, promotion and transfers.

Provided

Unions and Association (who are called as protectors of bank officers but who are real enemy of bankers)  stop dancing as puppet of management and decide to extend support the new guidelines , of course after some modification on some issues like  lateral movement among banks , bank officers will get justice though late.

Hitherto top executives of almost all public sector banks were working as dictators by choosing flatterers for key posts and by giving humiliating treatment to devoted and talented seniors. They  say young officers will prove better and hence picked up freshers directly from campus of their choice for the posts in scale II, scale III and above.All officers were young when they were recruited , they forget this while choosing young for promotion. Arbitrarily and unjustifiably indeed, top executives sidelined the matured and experienced officers of two or three decades to serve their vested interest. 

Now government has realized that increasing trend in volume of bad assets is primarily due to bad Human Resource Management. Government has rightly now suggested all banks to discard merit channel which gives scope for misuse of discretionary powers.I hope this policy if implemented honestly will restore the pride of bank officers and help in improving the overall health of banks.


After all, Health of Banks depends not on youth power or youth energy, but on mental power, maturity, experience, honesty of officer and ability to assess value of customers while taking lending decisions. Best Lending decisions are best taken not on the basis of financial parameters only but based on creditworthiness of the borrowers and which can better judged by matured bank officer only.

I submit hereunder copy of news item published in Economic Times.

The finance ministry has directed state-run banks to do away with their separate promotion policies, a move strongly opposed by the officers' unions. The fresh guidelines aim at removing the anomalies across public sector banks and addressing severe manpower shortage by creating a common pool of managers. 

This spells the end of fasttrack and super fast-track promotions at managerial levels in some public sector banks, including the country's largest lender, State Bank of India. The new guidelines will allow lateral movement across banks without any remuneration issues, a finance ministry official said. 

"The guidelines will also ensure that there are eligible candidates across all verticals in all 21 state-run banks, which is a big advantage when it comes to succession planning," said a human resources head at a Mumbai-based bank. The 2.5 lakh strong All India Bank Officers' Confederation has, however, slammed the revised guidelines. 

"The government should realise the situation is different in each bank and it cannot force its policies," said TN Goel, senior vice-president of the confederation. As per the guidelines, an employee will have to work in all verticals of a bank before being promoted to the middle management level. 

"Specialists recruited in banks will however have to spend at least five years in their area before being moved to other functions," the finance ministry official said. Further, in a case where a relaxation has been provided on the basis of merit, the same officer will not be eligible again, the official said. 

The guidelines run contrary to the recommendations of a panel, set up to look into human resource issues at state-run banks, which had recommended that the banks should develop mechanisms for identifying star performers and to track their performance for fast-track growth. Headed by former Bank of Baroda chairman AK Khandelwal, the panel had suggested that such a move will act as a motivational and retention tool, besides creating a leadership pipeline.