Total Failure of HR Policies of Public Sector Banks - Hardly any good candidates wants to join PS Banks

by

Rajesh Goyal, Executive Consultant, AllBankingSolutions.com

We recently came across the results of an online survey which is shocking, as we always thought that situation is not this bad.   We give below the results of that on line survey posted at pagalgay.com (a  popular website for the young candidate preparing for various competitions)

View Poll Results: WHICH BANK YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN IN YOUR BANKING CAREER?
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA (RBI)		63	49.61%
NABARD		7	5.51%
SBI		16	12.60%
IDBI		6	4.72%
PNB		1	0.79%
BOB		3	2.36%
CANARA BANK		0	0%
ICICI		0	0%
OTHER THAN THESE		1	0.79%
IN WHICHEVER I MAY GET SELECTED!		30	23.62%

The above survey gives a good indication about the perception of the young candidates in the job market about certain banks.  It is understandable that such candidates do not prefer private banks like ICICI because of job security issues and recent controversies etc.  However, it is a really matter of concern that leading banks in public Sector like PNB, BOB, Canara Bank have also fared so badly.   However, the perception about SBI is far better than any other public sector banks.  It may be due to the fact they have better HR policies and  even the existing employees of other public sector banks envy the employees of SBI group.   This should be an eye opener for the HR Departments of public sector banks as to the perception of the candidates. 

The above also shows that even if some candidates join public sector banks like PNB, Canara Bank etc initially as they may not have any other job opportunity, they are likely to resign the moment they get even slightly better job.  Thus, attrition rate will remain very high in public sector banks like PNB, BOB and Canara Bank. 

In the reaction to the above survey, some of the readers have commented which gives some insight about the candidates preparing for various competitions.  They say, that a newly recruited PO gets somewhere Rs.24000/- whereas in Central Government an officer gets Rs.30,000/-+.  Moreover, bank officers have to work for six days a week and till late hours, whereas in central government you work for 5 days a week.  Bank job also comes with frequent transfers and financial risks etc etc.

Now questions arises whether top executives like CMDs and EDs of public sector banks are aware of such perceptions.   We are sure none of the HR departments would have shared the results of such survey with CMDs, and they will even  try to suppress this report or dismiss it as irrelevant.   With our experience of over 30 years in the banking, we feel that top management is totally ignorant and continue to live in their own paradise circled by a team of HR people who just believe in flattery i.e. oiling in layman's language.  

There is a need for realising the truth by CMDs of these banks, and take  drastic steps or else soon these public sector banks will be full of officers / workman who join such banks only as a last resort and thus will never contributes his / her best for the organization.