An Hrd Debit

True, the nascent private sector banking industry is witnessing a large labour turnover. This is something that most banks are learning to tackle. Gelli should know better. His core team still comprises his erstwhile colleagues in the Vysya Bank.

But how does GTB top the exodus list? Gelli blames his competitors: Our training and induction programme is already famous. And we keep rotating our staff internally to make them aware of every aspect of banking. Naturally, our competitors are treating these people as a ready-to-use commodity.

Is he concerned about this? The reply is an emphatic no. Well then, how do we hear that the bank is adopting severe measures to penalise deserters? No, that is not true. We have a system that offers rewards for staying longer, but we don't penalise anyone, counters Gelli.

But hasn't the bank drawn up a five-year contract with employees? Yes, but it also gives them a lot of benefits like soft loans.

Is he sure that these loans are not used as a stick to beat deserters? For example, soft loans turn hard the moment someone decides to leave the bank. The interest rate zooms from 5 to 18 per cent.

"Well, this is news to me. The interest rate is 12 per cent. But I don't know about these problems. Thanks for the frank feedback. I think I better streamline the HRD operations. Sure. Madhu T.