(‘X’
PLUS ‘Y’ IS GREATER THAN BOTH ‘X’ AND ‘Y’ – DO YOU AGREE?)
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by
Pannvalan
A person’s true
worth must be assessed not basing on his appearance, age etc. His
character comes first. His knowledge, experience and skills come next. Then,
his aptitude and attitude are to be looked into. Lastly, special achievements
if any must also be taken into account. Only by doing this, the overall
assessment of a person can be said to be fair and complete, in an organizational
context.
In Public Sector
Banks, total craze and unbridled obsession to pamper and promote juniors are
visible everywhere. Often, it is done at the cost of the seniors.
The reasons
adduced by the management are:
The present
day youngsters are better qualified.
They are more
tech-savvy than their seniors.
They are very
agile and more dynamic.
They are more
goal oriented.
They have
longer innings left in the organization.
Before going into
the extent of truth and substance in these arguments, I shall ask one simple
question.
‘Isn’t it true that ‘x’ plus ‘y’ is greater than
both‘x’
and ‘y’, provided both ‘x’ and ‘y’ are positive integers?
Here, ‘x’ means
experience and ‘y’ means being young.
Now, let us
compare the advantages and disadvantages of promoting seniors and juniors.
Advantages of being a senior
Seniors by
and large are better experienced and have greater exposure to various
dimensions of banking and geographical regions.
Their problem
solving abilities in different situations and contexts are well documented.
They are
already well fit into the organizational culture.
Their
character and conduct are known to the management.
They possess
more loyalty to the organization, because of their long association with it.
They accept
greater responsibilities without any hesitation.
As they
belong to the older generation, they don’t indulge in manipulation and
exploitation of the bank, for their personal benefit (there may be
negligible exceptions).
Disadvantages of being a senior
They have
more commitments in personal life.
Many of them
do not show interest in promotions, after a particular age, say 50 years.
They are not as flexible as the management expects them to be, even if they
are very honest (Here,
‘flexibility’ means pliability).
Since many of
the seniors have been bye-passed by many top level managers of the day, the
management fears that the seniors cannot be ‘controlled’ by their
young bosses easily.
Advantages of being a young person
As compared
to their seniors, those who joined very recently are young and dynamic.
They are
better qualified academically.
Since they
are raw hands, they can be moulded as desired by the management.
Since they
have a long career ahead, they can be groomed to shoulder higher
responsibilities in future.
They are more
tech-savvy.
Disadvantages of being a young person
They are raw
and inexperienced. They have to a go a long way to learn the practical,
statutory, regulatory and legal aspects of banking.
Because they
are fresh and better qualified, they behave rudely and arrogantly.
They have
very high and unreasonable expectations.
They do not
have loyalty to the organization that has invested huge amounts in
recruiting, training and developing them.
Past
statistics stand testimony to the high degree of attrition among the newly
recruited persons.
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Now, I proceed to
demolish the assumptions, myths and calculations of bank managements while
selecting, placing, pampering and promoting the youngsters, at the cost of
elders.:
S No
Assumption/Myth
Reality
About Seniors
1
Seniors
are slow, lazy and inefficient and they resist changes. They do not
move with the times and after reaching certain position/level, they
become stagnant/obsolete.
This is a
sweeping generalization.
While it is true that seniors have greater commitments in their personal
life, they have never resisted changes. Most of the seniors continue to
be exhibit enthusiasm in adopting new practices and perform well. They
not only adapt quickly to any technological and organizational changes,
but they themselves have been the vanguard of many changes and
innovations. They are good at using appropriate strategy and reaching
the goals, by virtue of their long experience and the varieties of
skills acquired by them over a period of time. In very explosive
situations, they are the ones who are sent by the management to defuse
the situation and bring it under control. In case of customer
complaints too, they are deputed to the scene of occurrence to pacify
the customer, investigate the case and to help the management to take
suitable remedial action.
2
They are
less tech savvy.
Majority
of the seniors have learnt the modern developments in banking and
information technology. They have demonstrated their prowess and
succeeded in utilizing their knowledge and skills for the betterment and
growth of their organization. Customer has no complaints with regard to
seniors in timely delivery of services and satisfying most of their
needs and wants using latest technology.
3
They are
less mobile.
This is a
big lie. In fact, they are the ones who are posted to remote and far
flung areas, regardless of their age and family commitments.
4
They are
inflexible and rigid postured.
It is the
management that has taken them for granted. Because of the existence of
the entry and exit barriers in India, the seniors are treated shabbily
and unjustly, as they cannot exit the organization easily. Not yielding
to undue pressures from the management shall not be called
inflexibility.
5
They are
very expensive to the organization.
Salaries
and Allowances paid to staff rise with their experience and it is a
universally accepted principle. But excepting mere wages, the money and
other resources invested in young staff by the banks are very huge and
simply incomparable.
6
They
develop vested interests, in course of time.
This is a
baseless accusation. For the mistakes committed by somebody, blame
shall not be laid on the entire bloc of seniors. Alright, what is the
guarantee that the youngsters also will not develop vested interests in
future? We see many young employees also abusing their position, to
promote their personal interests – business or otherwise.
7
As they
move close to their retirement, their contribution comes down gradually.
This is
also not true in all the cases. Many staff members at the fag end of
their career continue to show the same degree of enthusiasm that they
showed when they were young. In fact, they produce greater output and
shoulder higher responsibilities with absolute ease and total
confidence, as they gain more and more experience in the bank.
S No
Assumption/Myth
Reality
About Juniors
1
They are
young and dynamic.
The very
fact that they are young does not mean that they are quick in disposal
of papers that come to them. Similarly, due to lack of deep knowledge
in banking, they are slow in taking decisions and owning responsibility
for what they do.
2
They are
better qualified.
Unfortunately, the qualifications of the newly recruited staff in
Clerical and Officer cadres are not at all connected to banking. Many of
them having professional qualifications do not have intention to stay
long in the bank. The high degree of attrition among them provides
ample evidence to prove this.
3
They are
tech savvy.
It is
true that they are more tech savvy, because they belong to the present
generation. But, sadly they do not utilize all their computer skills
for the organization. We can see many youngsters speaking on their
mobile phones frequently and for long time during business hours,
mindless of the work accumulating on their desks and the customers
queuing in front of them. They watch live cricket telecast on their
smart phones/tabs during office hours. They listen to music by putting
on head phone and live in some other world, when the pressure of work is
mounting. They do not realize the urgency of anything and takes things
so casually.
4
They are
more liberal and forward looking.
Except
planning for their own growth, they do not have vision for the future of
the organization. Since they are new to the banking industry itself, it
is not their fault.
Whether
one is conservative or liberal cannot be judged that easily. What was
considered wrong, immoral and unethical in the past may appear right,
fair and acceptable to the present generation. Therefore, for them,
ends justify the means.
5
Their
output is greater.
In
reality, their output is less, owing to these reasons.
They
mostly stick to the office hours for working and are not prepared to
work on holidays.
They
avail maximum leave.
Their
learning process is not yet complete.
They
prefer posting in urban and metropolitan centres only.
They
wish to specialize in a few areas only.
They
are not strong in their language and communication skills.
Their
leadership qualities are yet to be tested.
Many
of them lack inter-personal skills and have adjustment problems too.
Because of this reason, they are unable to get along smoothly with
their teammates (colleagues and subordinates).
They
show impatience and want shortcut solutions for each problem.
They
do not want to touch certain jobs which they think are below their
dignity and which they dislike.
Since
they are calculative and convert everything in monetary terms, they
reject those jobs that are less rewarding.
5
They are
more mobile.
It may
sound strange, but it is true. More than the seniors, these juniors do
not want to be posted/transferred to far off places and outside their
home state. They try their best and manage to get posting to a place
closer their home. Moreover, all the remote, rural and semi-urban
centres are reserved for seniors only. Sadly, the managements also
accept their line of thinking and obey them.
6
Since
they are raw, the management can easily mould them, suiting its
expectations and needs.
By virtue
of their higher academic qualifications and because of their age, the
youngsters exhibit rudeness and arrogance and do not respect the elders,
seniors and their immediate superiors. They keep in direct touch with
top management which also tacitly encourages them to bye-pass their
superiors. The youngsters do not have the quality of teamspirit and are
so selfish. They claim credit for that all the successes. For any
failure, they squarely blame their seniors and other colleagues for
non-cooperation and inefficiency.
S No
Assumption/Myth
Reality
About Juniors
(continued)
7
They are
less expensive to the organization.
Excepting
mere wages, the money and other resources invested in young staff by the
banks today are very huge and simply incomparable.
Since
there are large scale retirements (superannuation) in the next 2 years,
the management is afraid to lose their services. The management
struggles a lot to retain them and is prepared to go to any length to
please them and to pay any price to stop their exit.
8
They do
not have any vested interests.
What is
the guarantee that the youngsters also will not develop vested interests
in future? Nobody can predict now as to how they will shape up and grow
in future. We see many young employees also abusing their position, to
promote their personal interests – business or otherwise.
9
They are
the future of the organization. Therefore, they require full support
and blessings of the management.
The
management throws its full weight behind them and goes the whole hog in
grooming them, at the expense of their seniors.
Result?
After
receiving all the benefits starting from cornering coveted positions and
plum postings to getting frequent trainings (that are out of bounds for
the seniors even in their dreams) and quick and regular promotions, they
leave the organization for better position elsewhere, within a few
years. What a betrayal!
Now, what has to be done?
Without seeing
one’s age alone, the management must weigh the following aspects carefully,
while devising its transfer, training, placement and promotion policy.
Academic
achievements and professional and technical skills
Whether the
employee gives his/her best to the organization?
Knowledge,
clarity of thought and persuasive skills
Proficiency
in Languages and Communication Skills
Roles and
Assignments handled so far
Potential for
further development
Willingness
to accept higher responsibilities and shoulder more risks
Proven
capabilities in leading a team/Managerial Abilities
Honesty and
Integrity
Focus and
keenness in Customer Service
Marketing
Skills and Business development
Whether
he/she is liked by majority of the people who know him in the organizational
context?
Whether
he/she utilizes the delegated authority judiciously and to the optimum
level?
Whether
he/she avoids taking risks with a view to maintain immaculate record?
Multi-Disciplinary Approach versus Specialisation in a single area
Service in
different geographical regions
Espirit de
Corps
and Superordinate Goals
Loyalty to
the organization
General
Character and Conduct
Compliance
with Statutory, Regulatory and Legal requirements
Reporting –
Keeping the higher officials posted with latest developments, concerning all
important matters, regularly
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