Focus GenNext: State Bank of India looks to reboot its HR strategy

SBI plans to engage a management consultant to develop a long-term HR strategy focusing on employee engagement, talent acquisition, and digital transformation

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India’s biggest lender and one of its largest employers could soon be using artificial intelligence (AI) to aid its hiring practices, right from screening candidates to onboarding new employees, and is looking to devise a life cycle-based framework with a skill upgradate pathway to keep them engaged through their working careers.  

 

A generational and aspirational shift in its employee base, along with the rapid rise of digital banking, is compelling the State Bank of India (SBI) to relook at its Human Resource (HR) management practices and build a ‘future ready’ organisation with a rich talent pool. The bank is clearly betting that more engaged employees with updated skill sets and a sense of purpose in their career trajectories, could translate into greater traction with customers.  

 

To get the ball rolling, the bank, which aspires to be among the top 10 global banks in terms of market capitalisation over the next five years, has decided to engage a management consultant to develop a five- and 10-year HR strategy. The consultant is expected to advise on aligning the state-backed lender’s HR policies and processes with its overall performance goals, and benchmarking with industry best practices.

 

The consultant’s mandate includes studying and reviewing SBI’s current HR strategy, operating model and technology landscape, with an indicative timeline of 18 months to complete the project, according to the bank’s document calling for expressions of interest from human resources consultancies.

 

A senior SBI executive said that over the past decade, there has been change in expectations of people joining at entry level – clerical as well as probationary officers. “Their approach to a career with the bank is different. It is more opportunity-based than a long-term commitment. Hence, preparing career development plans has assumed significance,” he noted.

 

Moreover, enhanced competition in every banking segment – including retail, industry and agri lending — and the rising share of digital and information technology tools, have heightened the need for imparting new skills and re-skilling existing staff. The bank is hiring more professionals with domain-specific skills and experience, be it in risk management, digital and cyber management. Many of them come at middle and senior positions. Their integration with systems and the organisation’s ethos needs special attention, the executive said.

 

The bank has cited growing expectations among employees for inclusive, agile, and purpose driven workplaces. This, it said, necessitated a realignment in SBI’s HR strategy to create enhanced value creation through the Employee Life Cycle Management (ELCM) framework focusing on every stage of engagement — from talent attraction to post-retirement transition. 

 

“At the bank, the aim has always been to introduce and promote policies to ensure employee satisfaction and enhanced productivity,” the bank added.

 

For SBI, having nearly 2.36 lakh employees and three lakh pensioners & family pensioners, ELCM is critically important to ensure smooth functioning of the bank’s human resources across all stages from hiring to retirement. “It (HR Policy) is vital for the operational success and employee satisfaction and offers several key benefits that contribute to the overall success of the organization,” the lender said.

 

The transformation plan also envisages revamp and digitisation of recruitment processes. The consultancy is expected to define digital and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled talent acquisition models from screening to on-boarding by diagnosing the existing processes. It would also be benchmarking talent acquisition and AI practices across peers to identify gaps and leverage points, SBI said.

 

The management consultant would identify skill gaps and capabilities through skill diagnostics, a review of the existing talent management strategy, and an assessment of the processes and technology for adequacy and future readiness. 

Mandate for consultants

• Prepare 5-year and 10-year HR strategies
• Identify skill gaps and capabilities through diagnostics
• Advise on digitisation of recruitment process
• Review talent management strategy
• Suggest AI-based talent acquisition models