A Young Banker Pleads  "Please Save  the Young Talent of Banking Industry

by

Rajesh Goyal   

Yesterday I received an email from one  young banker - barely 10 months in the vast ocean of banking industry.    We keep on receiving complaints or bad experience of many young bankers but do not upload every thing as  I personally feel that they have to certainly undergo certain hardships before you enjoy the fruits of your hard work.    However, reading this email, I felt that this is a true reflection of  the feelings of vast majority of young bankers who have recently joined and are not in a position to switch over to other jobs owing to certain personal problems.   In retrospect when I think of the period of  1980 when I joined banking industry,  I feel I was too caught in this complex banking web and  was able to come out of that only when World Wide Web has come to my rescue!  Now I can share my feelings with other fellow bankers but in 1980s no such platform was available.     In this background I decided to upload the feelings of Mr Rakesh (we are holding up his surname) :-

"Respected Sir,

                       I have joined a nationalized Bank (Bank of India) as an officer 10 months back after resigning from another department in the hope of a better career and a bright future. I decided to work with honesty and full dedication and I am going with my promise but do you know what I am getting as a result of these whole hearted efforts?

Obviously I know that the answer is “no”. All right, Sir let me explain my condition-

Sir, I come to office at 9:30 in morning. After dealing with a number of customers for 7 hours regularly, even after that I am not able to go home before 7:30 p.m. daily. During the whole day due to lack of staff we suffer a lot and every person is burdened. After all this there is a strong pressure of the management to reach the allotted targets at any cost and if not then we are threatened to face the consequences. We are also human beings. We are not just profit generating machines. We are also playing a vital role of service industry by providing service to millions of customers.

Firstly, we are posted away from our homes and now when we will opt for promotions then as a gift of excellence we will be given posting to the farthest place. It is not the case that there are no vacancies in the areas where people want to get posted, instead it is like a frustrating policy of HR department. It is not a bluff, you can inquire it and get verified. Sir, we also have families and we have duties associated with them to perform. With the present situation we may be proven as good slaves of management but bad sons, brothers, fathers and friends.

Now let’s talk of salary. The salary offered to a newly joined officer is at par with a newly joined constable of Punjab Police. This is a fact and you can confirm it. Then tell me what would be the moral situation of a person who has done a master degree and is taking wages similar to a matriculate person. Even in my sector, a person at similar post of mine is taking a lot more salary in SBI.

Sir, I am so much frustrated that if I would get an inferior job near to my home, I will resign from this job because the word officer is just a fake identity associated with us. I am repenting on that day when I left my previous job, which is offering more salary and good working condition than this banking job.

Sir, do something in order to save the young talent of Banking Industry otherwise no one would even dream of joining this field.

Thanking you in anticipation.

A depressed young banker"

This young man, who has joined the banking industry with lots of dreams,  has also sent the copies of letters to PM, Finance Minister, Labour Minister, Chairman IBA, Aaj Tak etc., with the hope that they will do something for him.    He is yet to learn the harsh realities prevailing in India.   in present days at such levels nobody bothers about such letters our politicians, regulators and news channels etc have come thick skinned and are least bothered about the problems faced by general public. 

After reading the above,  there is no need to reiterate that HR policies in the banking industry have been a total failure BUT still no one in the top management has the guts to accept thIS and initiate steps to make major changes as caucus of HR people is too strong.

I feel pity for hard working and honest young bankers.  The worst part in the whole affairs is that even the seniors (I mean bankers in the  50+ bracket) have no sympathy for these youngsters, as they feel envy about the fast promotions that are available to these youngsters.   Earlier a banker used to get promotion from Scale I to III in 15 to 20 years, now the same is available in around 6 to 7 years.  These fast promotions are further complicating the life of young bankers.  With much short experience at each level, youngsters find it difficult to handle various type of activities.    I will not completely blame the senior bankers for such an attitude,  as it is human nature that if you have earned something by hard means, and the same is available to others easily, you tend to be envy.   I wish seniors should understand the changing environment and help these youngsters to settle in the banking industry.   I hope Mr Rakesh will get some seniors in his branch who will make him comfortable in this new job or else there will be exodus of talented youngsters.  I can only wish a good luck to all.young bankers.