RBI rolls out HR reforms

Winds of change are blowing across Mumbai’s Mint Road.

The headquarters of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the most prominent address on this road, is going in for a complete overhaul of its promotion and appraisal system, a first in the bank's 75 years of existence.

To begin with, the bank is injecting transparency in the performance appraisal system of its officers by allowing them to review their reports. It has also decided to put in place a mechanism to redress employee grievances.

“Accordingly, every appraisee officer will have to acknowledge on his/her report that he/she has seen the same. A copy of the report will be made available, if so desired by the appraisee officer,” the central bank said in an internal circular issued recently.

The immediate trigger for this action is a Supreme Court order, which called for transparency in performance appraisal of Central service officers. This move is also influenced by an incident a couple of years ago when RBI dismissed three of its officers. The decision caused disquiet among its staff, who said the dismissed officers were not given an opportunity to defend themselves, a violation of the principle of natural justice.

RBI now wants to make a complete break from the past. It has set up a redressal mechanism to hear appeals from officers on communication of the entries made in their performance appraisal reports, the circular said. An unsatisfied officer can appeal against the marks awarded and also the remarks in the report made by his superiors within 15 days.

With the performance appraisal report being recorded and made available on demand, promotions would be more transparent now, said some RBI officers.

Unlike Central government organisations, seniority has only a limited weightage in promotions at the central bank. Equal weightage is given to performance of the last year and an interview while considering a candidate for promotion. Some officers have expressed their reservations to this system as a bad interview could neutralise good performance of an year. RBI is also considering a change in this system.