Women-run PSU bank may face HR challenges

Experts are of the view that the target of getting the bank up and running in 8-10 months is a big task

The budge proposal of setting up a women-run bank may face the challenge of availability of talent and willingness to work in a smaller location. In addition, getting talent in such a short notice-as the finance minister proposed to set up the bank by October will be a arduous task.

P Chidambaram, in the budget speech, put across a proposal to have a bank that lends mostly to women and women-run businesses, that supports women self-help groups (SHGs) and women’s livelihood, that employs predominantly women, and that addresses gender related aspects of empowerment and financial inclusion. He proposed to set up India’s first Women's Bank as a public sector bank

"The target of getting the bank up and running within the next eight to ten months is quite a big task, in terms of getting women on board. While talent is available, convincing them to join this new venture in such a short duration is expected to be a challenge," said a Mumbai-based HR consultant with a global human resource consultancy.

The Khandelwal committee, which was set up to address the human resource challenges of state-owned banks, while acknowledging the manpower shortage banks are facing had observed that over the next few years, 80 per cent of general managers, 65 per cent of deputy general managers, 58 per cent of assistant general managers and 44 per cent of chief managers would be retiring. The Reserve Bank of India has termed 2010 to 2020 as the ‘decade of retirement’.

The FM had said that he hoped to obtain the necessary approvals and the banking licence by October, 2013, and indicated that the bank would be inaugurated shortly thereafter.

Further, while it was said that majority of employees in this Women's PSU Bank would be women, experts said that some diversity would be preferred in any organisation. Kamal Karanth, Managing Director, India of global human resource consultancy Kelly Services said that from an HR point of view, some diversity is good in any organisation. "Though it is a unique concept, the concerned officials would have to be mindful of factors such as security," he added.

The proposal mooted by the FM has not mentioned the geographical location of the proposed banks. Whether it would be set up in a metro city with branches in other smaller towns or solely in Tier 2/3 cities is not known. This could lead to some challenges, said experts. Sangeeta Lala, Vice President of HR firm TeamLease Services said that there would be implementation challenges in the initial phases as it is still not clear whether this bank would be set up in a metro or Tier 2 city. "To get the right women talent, it is necessary to mention whether it would be in a metro city or other towns," she said.

To attract talent at a short notice, attractive compensation with good career growth was the key, said consultants. According to a New Delhi-based recruitment consultant, at a time when such women may have to work in tier 3 towns in close proximity to women-run SHGs, a good salary package coupled with good professional progression would be necessary. "How the government run bank would be do that, in terms of offering competitive salary as compared to a private bank, is a big question, right now," the consultant said.