According to a senior official at HDFC Bank, this move is designed to adapt to the evolving dynamics of the workplace while prioritising the needs of its workforce. The decision was communicated to employees via email on 6 May, underscoring the bank’s commitment to transparency and employee welfare.

This announcement marks a significant shift aimed at enhancing employee flexibility and facilitating smoother transitions within the organisation. Furthermore, through this move, the private bank aims to mitigate the challenges posed by high attrition rates and foster a more agile and employee-friendly work environment.

Under the updated policy, even probationary employees will benefit from the shortened notice period, aligning with the bank’s mission to empower its workforce. Additionally, employees may request early exits, potentially being relieved in less than 30 days with the approval of their reporting manager, further enhancing flexibility during career transitions.

This initiative from HDFC Bank mirrors a broader industry trend, with ICICI Bank having made a similar adjustment in 2020. While HDFC Bank now joins ICICI Bank in this endeavour, other institutions such as Kotak Mahindra Bank and several public-sector banks continue to maintain a 90-day notice period.

This strategic move reflects its proactive approach to talent management in the ever-evolving banking landscape. By prioritising employee flexibility and well-being, the bank seeks to enhance productivity and adaptability, positioning itself for continued success in the future.

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Last year, a video from HDFC Bank went viral, showcasing a senior manager publicly berating his team for not meeting targets. This abusive behaviour is not an isolated case. Recently, similar incidents involving private banks such Bandhan Bank and even a public sector bank, Canara Bank, have come to light again, painting a grim picture of a workplace driven by numbers, devoid of empathy, and where personal time is seen as a luxury. The absence of accountability for such behaviour allows it to cascade down, perpetuating a cycle of stress and hostility.

“The relentless pursuit of numbers can lead to a culture of fear and anxiety, ultimately diminishing productivity.”

Ramesh Shankar, seasoned HR leader

Why are private banks, in particular, breeding grounds for such intense pressure? The answer is a complex web of factors, with unrealistic targets, communication breakdowns, and leadership shortcomings at its core.

Crushing targets, stifling communication

Every interaction becomes a transaction, the pressure to perform overshadowing the human element. This, unfortunately, is a reality for many in private banking. Ramesh Shankar, a seasoned HR leader, aptly points out, “The relentless pursuit of numbers can lead to a culture of fear and anxiety, ultimately diminishing productivity.”

Stringent sales targets are a cornerstone of performance in any organisation. However, in private banks, these targets often morph into unattainable benchmarks, leading to a culture of fear and anxiety.

Further intensifying the pressure is the fierce competition within the banking sector. New players and fintech startups are challenging the established order, forcing traditional banks to constantly prove their mettle. This relentless pursuit of performance translates to a culture of urgency, where results are expected not just annually, but quarterly or even monthly.

“The influx of new players in the market has intensified competition, forcing banks to adopt a more aggressive approach, which often translates into pressure on the workforce,” says Satyajit Mohanty, VP-HR, Dabur India.

“When there’s a lack of accountability or repercussions for toxic behaviour, it can cascade down the organisational hierarchy, perpetuating a cycle of stress and hostility.”

Nihar Ghosh, senior HR leader

Leadership by intimidation: A recipe for toxicity

Leadership styles play a pivotal role in shaping organisational culture. “Respectful environments foster dignity, while others inadvertently cultivate toxicity,” highlights Nihar Ghosh, a senior HR leader. Recent incidents serve as stark reminders.

Recent incidences serve as stark reminders. The issue escalates when such behaviour emanates from the upper echelons of management. Senior leaders, tasked with setting targets and driving performance, inadvertently set the precedent for acceptable conduct within the organisation. “When there’s a lack of accountability or repercussions for toxic behaviour, it can cascade down the organisational hierarchy, perpetuating a cycle of stress and hostility,” cautions Ghosh.

Furthermore, the relentless focus on short-term gains, driven by investor demands, creates a myopic approach.

“The focus on short-term gains has become ingrained in the banking sector, driven by the need to satisfy shareholders and investors. Listed entities are particularly vulnerable to this pressure, as they are beholden to quarterly performance reports and shareholder demands,” Mohanty emphasises.

Long-term employee well-being and sustainability take a backseat as employees prioritise immediate profitability.  Compounding this issue is the communication gap between management and employees.  Many managers lack the skills to provide constructive feedback, resorting instead to intimidation tactics. This not only erodes employee morale but also stifles innovation and critical thinking, crucial ingredients for long-term success in a dynamic financial landscape.

“The influx of new players in the market has intensified competition, forcing banks to adopt a more aggressive approach, which often translates into pressure on the workforce.”

Satyajit Mohanty, VP-HR, Dabur India

The perfect storm: Young leaders, shifting values

The changing demographics of leadership also contribute to the problem. Younger managers, lacking experience in handling complex situations and managing pressure, often clash with older generations who value stability and respect. Additionally, the evolving values of some company promoters prioritise aggression and results over traditional values of loyalty and respect for employees. This shift can lead to a culture that prioritises immediate results over employee development, hindering long-term talent retention.

“This generational shift in leadership has resulted in a clash of values and management styles, with older generations valuing stability and respect, while younger leaders prioritise innovation and results,” asserts Mohanty.

The path forward: Beyond the pressure cooker

The onus falls on private banks, and the banking sector as a whole, to implement effective strategies to create a healthier work environment. This involves holding individuals accountable for their actions while incentivising respectful behaviour. Regular performance reviews can be used for course correction and support, focusing on development alongside goal achievement. Training managers in emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and effective communication can equip them to navigate human behaviour and build a supportive environment.

“Addressing these issues requires a collective effort,” emphasises Ghosh. “From senior management to frontline employees, everyone must be committed to cultural transformation and behavioural change.” By prioritising people alongside profits, private banks can move beyond the pressure cooker and create a sustainable work environment that fosters employee well-being and long-term success. After all, a thriving bank isn’t just about numbers; it’s about empowered and motivated people working towards a shared vision. This can be achieved by fostering a culture of open communication, where employees feel comfortable raising concerns and offering suggestions. Additionally, investing in employee well-being programs, such as stress management workshops and flexible work arrangements, can significantly improve employee morale and productivity.

In conclusion, the pressure cooker culture in private banking is a complex issue with deep roots. However, by acknowledging the problem and implementing targeted solutions, banks can create a work environment that is not only profitable but also fosters a sense of purpose and well-being for its employees. This shift towards a more sustainable and human-centric approach is not just ethical but also essential for long-term success in today’s competitive financial landscape.

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The primary aim of this move is to tackle attrition within the bank. The bank underscored the significance of motivating its extensive ground workforce, which constitutes 90 per cent of the total manpower, particularly amid heightened attrition rates in recent years.

Following the release of its January-March earnings on Saturday, 19 April, 2024, the bank disclosed a substantial 37.1 per cent growth in net profit. This surge was primarily fueled by a one-time gain resulting from the sale of a majority stake in HDFC Credila, an education loan company. Despite this gain, the bank also allocated floating provisions amounting to Rs 10,900 crore, effectively offsetting the impact of the stake sale gain.

Sometime back, on 9 May, 2023, the bank allotted 4,561,966 equity shares of Rs 1 each to eligible employees under the Employee Stock Option Scheme.

After this allocation, the bank’s paid-up share capital increased from Rs. 5,583,443,980 to Rs. 5,588,005,946. The stock options were granted at market price, as per the SEBI (Share Based Employees Benefits and Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2021.

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About 1,50,000 full-time and part-time workers from 57 countries working for various multinational organisations were surveyed to find out which organisations score well in terms of gender equality, social responsibility, corporate impact and image, as well as talent development.

While RIL is in the 20th position on Forbes’ World’s Best Employers Rankings 2022, Samsung Electronics is on the first position.

On the second, third, fourth and fifth positions are Microsoft, IBM, Alphabet and Apple, respectively.

The fifth to 12th positions are also bagged by American companies, while German auto company, BMW is on the 13th position, followed by Amazon and Decathlon on the 14th and 15th positions.

The only Indian company to make it to the top 100 is RIL with its workforce strength of 2,30,000. It is ranked above the German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand Mercedes-Benz and the American beverage brand, Coca-Cola, and also Honda and Yamaha from Japan and Saudi Aramco.

India’s HDFC Bank is on the 137th position, while Bajaj is on 173rd. India’s Aditya Birla Group ranks 240th, Hero Motocorp ranks 333rd, Larsen & Toubro ranks 354th, ICICI Bank ranks 365th, HCL Technologies is on 455th position, State Bank of India is on 499th, Adani Enterprises on the 547th and Infosys on the 668th position.

The Forbes’ ranking list reveals that employees’ top priority is purpose-drive work, followed by higher salaries, enhanced benefits, career-advancement opportunities and work-life balance.

The 800 companies that received the highest total scores are the ones that have made it to the final list, which is Forbes’ sixth annual World’s Best Employers.

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About 90 of the new branches will be in metro and urban areas, and the rest will cater to the rural and semi-urban areas of the State.

Presently, HDFC’s network of 709 branches and about 3,200 ATMs has reached all the districts and the over 280 talukas of Maharashtra. About 1,375 business correspondents and 15,116 business facilitators are part of the network.

The credit to deposit ratio is reportedly more than 100 per cent in 29 districts, while the total advances in Maharashtra stood at over Rs 3.28 crore in March 2022. Its deposits were at Rs 4.35 crore. As a result, its market share is 13 per cent in terms of overall business.

Last month, the Bank made headlines when it opened its all-women branch in Kozhikode, in the northern region of Kerala. About 21.7 per cent of the Bank’s total workforce comprises women right now. The Bank is now working towards improving the figure to 25 per cent in the next three years. The Kozhikode branch is another step towards fulfilling this target and also upholding the Bank’s commitment to diversity.

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The Bank intends to hire 750 to 1000 people under the programme, who will be focussed on providing a better customer experience, and will be placed across all geographies in the country.

Eligible candidates, who wish to pursue a career in the banking industry are first required to take an online test or an assessment as part of the selection process. Following this, they will have to appear for a personal interview before being selected.

Only those between 21 to 26 years of age by the end of Jan 2022 may apply. The candidates need to be full-time graduate having scored at least 50 per cent in graduation or should be a final year student awaiting results. The applicants should not have any relative working at HDFC Bank or enrolled as part of the Rising Bankers or Future Bankers programme at HDFC bank. Candidates with any pending legal cases against them in any court of law will not be considered.

The online test will assess the candidates on English language, quantitative ability, personality and sales aptitude.

“We have institutionalised a service-first culture at HDFC Bank. To ensure that we are able to deliver on this promise we are looking at different ways to build our talent pipeline. The Rising Banker programme is one such avenue that will enable us to nurture fresh talent today to develop them as young leaders of tomorrow”

Vinay Razdan, CHRO, HDFC Bank

The Company is looking for people who are high on communication skills, relationship building skills, are willing to learn, are goal oriented, are sales oriented and possess integrity.

Once selected, the participants’ eight-month training will include five months at the state-of-the-art facility at Amity Global Business School campus in Noida, where candidates will attend residential classroom sessions followed by three months of paid internship at HDFC Bank.

Post completion of the programme, participants will also have an opportunity to get a full- time employment with HDFC Bank. These new recruits will be hired as customer experience and customer-care executives and can expect to get an average package of three lakhs per annum.

“We have institutionalised a service-first culture at HDFC Bank. To ensure that we are able to deliver on this promise we are looking at different ways to build our talent pipeline. The Rising Banker programme is one such avenue that will enable us to nurture fresh talent today to develop them as young leaders of tomorrow,” said Vinay Razdan, CHRO, HDFC Bank.

On completion of the programme, participants will receive a PG Diploma in Customer Experience Management from AGBS. The Course fee will be Rs 2.2 Lakh excluding taxes. The applicants will also be charged a minimal fee for the online assessment, which will be charged by the third-party provider and not the Bank.

The post HDFC bank to hire upto 1000 in next 2 years appeared first on HR Katha.

The learners will be trained through live lectures and instructor-led sessions, which will be conducted by senior HDFC bank executives over a period of 12 weeks. The Bank has partnered with a skill and talent-development corporation to create this customised learning programme for HDFC. The aim of this partnership is to provide the BFSI industry with skilled and meaningful talent in the area of data analytics and data science.

“We are launching a programme customised for HDFC Bank called ‘data digits’, a certification programme in data engineering. This programme has been curated to create a comprehensive training module, which highlights key skills such as data analytics and Big Data fundamentals among others, while additionally honing visualisation skills for business insights. With this partnership, we are confident of creating the perfect launch pad for those wishing to pursue a career in data science,” shares Ranga Subramanian, SVP-HR, HDFC Bank.

With the changing needs of the customers and technology disrupting the banking sector, the need for tech and analytical talent has increased in the banking sector. This initiative will help the industry to build readymade talent, which was otherwise heavily dependent on attracting tech talent from other sectors.

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Capgemini, Cognizant, Natwest, Indus Valley Partners, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and other big names participated in addition to Deloitte, Xiaomi and Yes Bank. OYO, Reliance Retail, Schindler, Grasim, Accenture Strategy, Aditya Birla Capital Group, Amazon, Arcesium, Hero Motocorp, Schindler and Bharat Serums were among the 40 new recruiters this year.

The Foundation for Organisational Research and Education or what is popularly known as the FORE School of Management has successfully placed all its PGDM students successfully too. Rs 41 lakh per year was the highest salary (international) offered. The average salary package was Rs 14.04 lakh per annum, with Rs 21.5 lakh being the highest domestic salary offered.

Deloitte, Xiaomi, Dell Technologies, Axis Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Panasonic, TVS and Hyundai Motor were among the leading recruiters.

According to the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) data, the academic year 2019-20 saw 342 out of 351 students who graduated being placed with a mean salary of Rs 10.1 lakh.

Meanwhile, the Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), Greater Noida also witnessed 100 per cent placement for the 2020-22 batch. The highest annual salary offered for an international job was Rs 24.67 lakh. The average salary offered went up 16.23 per cent in comparison to the previous placement season. The average salary offered was Rs 9.38 lakh per annum, while the highest (domestic) salary offered was Rs 18 lakh.

Most of the offers came from the consulting, information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITeS), accounting for 48 per cent of the total placements, followed by banking, manufacturing and financial services. Amongst the new participants were Yokohama off-Highway Tires, Viacom 18, Dabur India, Bain Capability Network, Kantar, Hitachi, General Mills, Sobha Reality Group and Reliance BP.

At Chandigarh University too, the placement drive saw the highest offer of Rs 52 lakh per annum, which is way higher than the Rs 36 lakh offered last season. About 757 companies made over 7500 job offers.

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The job portal will employ the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based job-matching services and end-to-end employment-related services to help the youth of the city gain relevant employment opportunities.

This is a second version of the Government’s Rojgar Bazaar 1.0 portal launched last August. According to the Delhi government, the platform turned out to be a lifeline for the unemployed population of the city along with the small-scale businesses of the city. He also reported that over 14 lakh job seekers registered on the portal, while 10 lakh jobs were posted on it. Major companies, including Flipkart, Amazon and HDFC Bank have posted jobs on the portal last year.

However, with this version, the portal will see the inclusion of skilling, career guidance, skill credentialing and automated analytics services, for the employment seekers. It will also offer end-to-end employment-related information to people seeking employment.

To cater to the needs of people employed in the unorganised sector, who may not necessarily have access to or any know-how of the operation of the digital platform, the Government also plans to establish physical centres in the city.

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The tech outages had caused the Reserve Bank of India to prohibit HDFC from sale of new credit cards. The Bank had also been told to stop launching any new digital products.

Currently, the workforce strength of the Bank is about 1.2 lakh. It is now planning to establish digital and enterprise ‘factories’ for launching new digital products and services. The improvement of its IT infrastructure is also a part of this technology augmentation and transformation plan.

The move is expected to make the Bank’s services more reliable, secure, scalable and accessible. The objective is also to improve the legacy infrastructure with advanced tech, decouple the current systems and become more competent.

The Bank has reportedly been discussing with the RBI about lifting the ban that has been imposed on it and resuming the offer of new digital products and credit cards. The Bank will be working on addressing the issues that resulted in outages and come up with meaningful solutions.

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Kaur joined Sterlite Power in 2017 and this is her second promotion at the firm in a period of four years. She joined Sterlite Power as an HRBP leader, but within seven months she was promoted as the head of HR for global infrastructure.

Backed by close to 18 years of experience in the HR domain, Kaur has worked with brands, such as Hero MotoCorp (Earlier Hero Honda Motors), Wrigley India and Jubilant FoodWorks.

After completing her PGDM in HR from Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resources Development in 2003, Kaur started her career as an assistant manager with Hero MotoCorp (formerly Hero Honda Motors). After three years, she moved to Wrigley, which has now been acquired by Mars, a consumer goods company, as an L&D specialist, where she handled the L&D function at the firm and recruitment of mid- and senior-level positions.

After working with Wrigley for two years, Kaur moved to HDFC Bank in 2008 as a senior manager HR and completed a successful four-year tenure at the company. She also served a small stint of less than a year at Heidelberg Cement in 2012.

Kaur, who holds a BA Hons. in Economics from the University of Delhi, became the AVP-HR at Jubliant Foodworks in 2013, and spent close to four years with the Company.

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The Bank is already setting up vaccination camps in collaboration with the local administration. It has tied up with multiple hospitals, such as Apollo, Manipal, Shalby, Miot and Billroth across the length and breadth of the country to provide vaccination, isolation facilities and basic medical checkup.

The facility for e-consultation with doctors has also been made available via Apollo 24/7, MediBuddy and PharmEasy Apps. For delivery of medicines, the PharmEasy App can be used by the staff. These apps also provide access to psychologists empanelled by the Bank to handle mental health and stress-related issues of the employees.

Ashima Bhatt, group head – CSR, infrastructure and finance, HDFC BANK, points out that the primary concern of the Bank is the welfare of its employees. Therefore, “we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that they and their loved ones receive the best possible help and medical care. Not just for their physical well-being but for being able to cope with stress too,” she shared.

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In a letter addressed to the employees – HRKatha has got a copy of the letter – Jagdishan wrote that the last financial year was all about the collective strength of the Bank and ensuring proper functioning.

He wrote that employee safety was a great concern for the Bank and that it had been working with the concerned authorities to devise ways to improve vaccination for the frontline staff of the Bank.  He took the opportunity to urge other eligible colleagues to get themselves and their families vaccinated.

In the letter, Jagdishan also reassured the employees that like last year bonuses, promotions and increments will follow their normal routine.

His letter said, “Business objectives should be driven keeping in mind the 3Cs that I wrote about in my last communication to you. It is Culture, Conscience and Customers. Continue to keep the humility quotient (HQ) high and make it part of your DNA. I have committed myself to be part of the ongoing cultural transformation and I urge each one of you to inculcate and espouse the same mantra down the line.”

Here is a copy of the letter:

My Dear Colleagues,

Warm greetings to all of you.

Let me start by simply saying Thank You. Thank You for your efforts during a year which was unprecedented in the history of mankind. I cannot but express my eternal gratitude to the HDFC Bank family for going beyond the call of duty. Each and every one of you and your brave families who stood by the Bank are an Inspiration for me.

It is this spirit of going the extra mile that has enabled us to close the financial year on a satisfactory note and enter the new financial year with hope and optimism. Our Q4 results were declared on Saturday and the financial performance has been shared with all colleagues and is also available on our website. Thank you for your contribution.

As we begin the new financial year, I would like to put forth some thoughts that I have in mind.

The last financial year was all about the collective strength of the Bank which ensured that we were able to serve our customers, take care of each other and achieve business objectives. I take immense pride in reiterating that WE ALL are the face of the Bank. Our brand is defined by each and every employee. This will continue to remain our guiding spirit in the time to come.

At this time, your safety and that of loved ones come first. I urge all eligible colleagues to get vaccinated. And also encourage others at home and office to do the same. We are working with the concerned authorities to devise ways to improve vaccination for frontline banking warriors. This includes conducting vaccination drives at our offices which have already started off in many places. Please do follow all the safety protocols as advised from time to time. And ensure that you, your family and our customers stay safe.

Our efforts to provide emotional, physical and social wellbeing support to all employees will continue this year too as we face the second wave. Rest assured the Bank will stand by every employee during these trying times and we will emerge stronger.

When we said last year, that your bonuses, promotions and increments are safe, it was a small token of our appreciation. And a commitment to stand by our employees. This year too, the Bank will follow its normal practice in so far as compensation cycle is concerned.

In the current financial year, there will be some pandemic related challenges for sure. The beauty of this organisation is the ability to rally around, tap the opportunities and grow. The story of the Bank will not be any different in this financial year and in the coming times. In my mind, the broad macro opportunities continue to present themselves across the retail, MSME and Corporate Banking for a Bank like us and across geographies’ like semi-urban and rural markets. We will continue to invest our resources to grow in the identified segments / sectors and geographies.

Business objectives should be driven keeping in mind the 3Cs that I wrote about in my last communication to you. It is Culture, Conscience and Customers. Continue to keep the humility quotient (HQ) high and make it part of your DNA. I have committed myself to be part of the on-going cultural transformation and I urge each one of you to inculcate and espouse the same mantra down the line.

I also want to take this opportunity to touch upon the recent technology problems with some customers facing intermittent access issues with respect to Net Banking/Mobile Banking. It would have certainly raised some questions in your mind. The queries from our customers, posts on social media and media stories on ‘technology issues’ facing the Bank may have got a few of you to think: “Is there something wrong with the Bank and its IT systems?, Why are we facing frequent technical issues?’. Don’t we have any detailed answer to give to our customers on what is wrong?”

I shall try and offer a perspective below which hopefully will answer all of the questions and allay any misgivings that some of you may harbour. Possibly, this will also enable you to confidently respond to queries from customers.

Please remember, your bank is one of the leading banks in India because of the strong technology backbone that we have built over time. Without this foundation, it would have been impossible for us to grow our market share year on year across business segments and service millions of customers in real time consistently year after year. This world class Indian bank has been built on technology. Yes, we have faced technical issues and we humbly accept that. We are working towards improving ourselves.

On the technical issues, it is important to understand the sequence, the reasons and the remedial measures we have taken.

November 2018: Crash of the New Mobile Banking App.

Reason: We faced an unprecedented demand to download the new mobile app. We have learnt and since refined our processes of managing the mobile banking app and has never faced any such challenges later. After the Nov 2018 initial launch, we have upgraded our mobile app seven times over the last two years and in all these instances it has been a smooth affair with no downtime or customer inconvenience whatsoever.

December 2019: Outage with Mobile Banking App

Reason: All banking systems are complicated and interconnected and each component has to work efficiently for us to deliver our promise to our customers. In this instance, one of the vendors system upgrade patch issue was faulty and the same has been addressed adequately. We have and will continue to reinforce vendor patch application.

November 2020: Outage at Data centre

Reason: A third party human error lead to the downtime. To remove this risk completely, we have taken several actions to mitigate such instances in future.

March 1, 2021: Net Banking/Mobile Banking downtime

Reason: The issue here occurred on account a faulty signature on our HIPS (Host Intrusion prevention software). This was an issue acknowledged by the manufacturer which impacted several global clients as well. The faulty signature resulted in slowing down response on Net banking and mobile banking. This has, since, been rectified.

March 31, 2021: Net Banking/Mobile Banking downtime

Reason: The issue occurred on account of a hardware component failure in one of our database servers resulting in a slow response to some of our customers. A large number of our customers were able to carry out their NB/MB activities in this period and we saw only a marginal dip in the number of transactions that day.

To put things in perspective, in the last 28 months, we have had 5 instances of downtime. Every instance has hardened our resolve to do better keeping our customers in mind.

The Country has embarked on a tremendous digitization drive across all sectors of the economy. And we shall rise to the occasion as we usually do by implementing cutting edge technology solutions across all lines of our businesses. We have grown over the years consistently and have ambitious growth plans for the future.

In this backdrop of continuous growth, we have embarked on a scale changing technology adoption and transformation agenda to help drive our ambitious future growth plans. Our aim is to “Keep Systems ALWAYS ON. ALWAYS SECURE. AND PERFORM at SCALE”. While we execute this Technology Transformation agenda, there will sometimes be pain and outages beyond our control. We must doubly resolve to reach out proactively to our customers / stakeholders and explain the path that we are traversing to make their experience with us smoother, faster and better.

Some of the specific initiatives that we have embarked on in our Technology Transformation Agenda include:

1. Infrastructure scalability: We have invested heavily in the scale up of our infrastructure to handle any potential load that we will encounter for the next 3/5 years. We are also in the process of accelerating our cloud strategy to be on the cutting edge leveraging best in class cloud service providers.
2. Disaster Recovery (DR) resiliency:
3. We have strengthened our process of monitoring our Data Centre (DC) and have shifted key applications to new DC.
4. DR switch over for Disaster recovery resiliency has been completed for key customer facing applications including automating DR switch over for key applications.
5. Enhanced monitoring capabilities have been put in place to manage our Data centre operations and Resiliency processes.
6. Security Enhancements: We have strengthened our firewalls further. We have to be scanning the horizon for potential security issues and be ever prepared to face them. We haven’t had any security issues in the past. But this is always an important area of focus and action plans are underway for further robustness.
7. Monitoring mechanisms. An enhanced application monitoring mechanism has been put in place across the board to enable us to keep our IT systems Always On.

Please note that we have always raised the bar when it comes to delivering customer experience. It is in this context, one has to see the advisories and strictures by the regulators calling for accelerated adoption and process changes. We are working with them closely to overcome the current situation. We are considered the Gold standard in Banking and have proven capabilities to help drive the country’s growth and offer the best to the customers. There is complete alignment in the objective to keep HDFC Bank on the cutting edge to maintain our leadership through raising the bar and setting new standards. We are happy and ready to rise to the occasion, do whatever it takes to be one of the leading banks in the country that contributes towards nation building.

To conclude, we are not perfect. But, our challenges are not insurmountable. We see them as opportunities that are being presented, for us to strategize, invest, re-skill and prepare to achieve greater heights in every business segment we are in and serve our customers better.

We at HDFC Bank, have never failed when we set our collective minds to something, and we are sure we will succeed in meeting this challenge too. Together we will and we shall.

The best is yet to come.

Stay Safe.

Regards,

Sashi Jagdishan

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Vinay Razdan, group head – HR, HDFC Bank, assures, “We have followed all government mandated guidelines to ensure a safe working environment for our employees and customers at our offices and bank branches.” He appreciates the “exemplary perseverance, professionalism and dedication” shown by the Bank’s staff while serving millions of customers through these challenging times. He says, “Covering the cost of vaccination for our employees and their dependent family members is a small gesture from the organisation to express our gratitude to our employees.”

Ashima Bhat, group head, HDFC Bank, emphasises that the Bank considers its employees as front-line workers, who worked hard and undertook risks to ensure that essential banking services were available to all customers even during the lockdown. Bhat is full of gratitude for the dedicated employees and says, “For their health and safety, we are ensuring that our employees and their dependent family members are inoculated and protected from COVID-19.”

HDFC Bank took several measures to ensure the well-being of its employees during the lockdown, by partnering with leading healthcare providers and medical practitioners. In addition to maintaining strict safety protocols at its branches and offices, the Bank also ensured the psychological wellbeing of its employees and their family members through various online initiatives.

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Ghaneckar says, “This role has been created to ensure a structured approach to talent management and leadership development.”

Apparently, this is a new role created by the BFSI giant under the leadership of the CHRO, Vinay Razdan. Ghaneckar will be responsible for quality assurance in HR aspects, such as engagement, organisational development (OD) and culture, diversity and inclusion, as well as employee value proposition. Employee wellness and communication are also amongst the responsibilities under the CoE (center of excellence) role.

Previously, she was the CHRO at Raheja Universal, one of the leading real-estate builders and developers in Mumbai. Having completed a two-year tenure there, her replacement is yet to join. However, Ghaneckar says, “ We have closed the position, and this will be somebody who has worked in this sector for a long time.”

A front runner in the BSFI sector, HDFC Bank has 88,253 permanent employees as of 31 March 2018 and has a presence in Bahrain, Hong Kong and Dubai. Ghaneckar will bring to the table her experience and expertise gathered over her 26 year-long career, across industries and functions.

Having begun her career in front-line sales, Ghaneckar grew into business management in the initial eight years. Changing track, she then moved into the leadership consulting space with Manford Allianz for five years.

Before Raheja Universal, she was employed by Raymond for eight years. She joined as group leader & OD head, then moved on to being apparel and retail HR Head and finally CHRO for the lifestyle business.

Ghaneckar holds an MBA from the Institute of Management Education (IME), Pune, and has completed an OD certification course from the National Training Lab (NTL). She is a change and culture evangelist and a budding authoress.

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Razdan, a senior industry professional with over three decades of experience, has moved from Idea Cellular, where he was the chief human resources officer. He joined Idea Cellular in 2006 and in the last 12 years, he spent with the telecom company, he spearheaded several transformational initiatives.

An XLRI alumnus, Razdan has worked across sectors from FMCG to information technology to telecom and now BFSI. He started his career with ITC and spent around 12 years with the company. In 2000, he moved to HCL as associate vice president HR and later joined Idea Cellular as CHRO in 2006.

Aditya Puri, managing director, HDFC Bank, says, “Razdan’s impeccable credentials and proven leadership abilities leave us with no doubt that he will be an excellent addition to the Bank’s leadership team.”

“Razdan’s impeccable credentials and proven leadership abilities leave us with no doubt that he will be an excellent addition to the Bank’s leadership team.”

Razdan says, he is equally excited to join the company. “It’ll be my endeavour to ensure that HDFC Bank continues to be the employer of choice for millions in the country.”

As on June 30, 2018, HDFC Bank’s employee strength was 89,955. This includes a network of 4,804 branches, across 2,666 towns and cities in India. The network also comprises 3 overseas branches in Hong Kong, Dubai and Bahrain.

Razdan is a football aficionado, and also enjoys playing cricket and table tennis.

The post Vinay Razdan joins HDFC Bank as CHRO appeared first on HR Katha.

Indian Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam, which is now three years old, has achieved 100 per cent placement for PGP batch of 2016–18.

The average salary for the batch is Rs 12.07 lakh per annum (LPA), while the median stood at Rs 11.70 LPA. For the top half, the average salary was Rs 14.14 LPA and the top quartile has been offered an average package of Rs 16.29 lakh per annum.

Around 18 per cent of the students received PPO/PPIs based on their performance in the summer internship and corporate competitions.

Around 42 companies, including ICICI Lombard, HDFC Bank, KPMG and Amul, participated in the campus placement.

ICICI Lombard and HDFC Bank offered roles in product management, analytics, and sales & marketing; Amul hired for sales & marketing, while KPMG hired for their government advisory and strategy & operations consulting practice.

Overall, 44.4 per cent students got offers in sales & marketing, followed by 11.1 per cent in consulting. Around 8.9 per cent students will pursue their career in general management. Finance, analytics and strategy also hired 6.7 per cent of the students, while functions such as product management, FinTech and operations each hired 4.4 per cent students. Human resources was yet another function that offered 2.3 per cent students jobs in this sector.

Prof. M Chandrasekhar, director of IIM-V says, “The students have once again done us proud by their stellar performance in the placements.”

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Today, organisations have become more conscious about the physical health and wellbeing of their employees. Sound health is important for employees to be more productive, both at work and at home. Organisations have introduced policies catering to employee wellness, such as free medical checkup, yoga in between office hours, gym and sports at other times.

Working towards employee wellbeing, HDFC bank organises ‘Josh Unlimited’, which is a sports competition for its employees. This event is organised every year by the Bank in different cities in the country. The sixth edition of ‘Josh Unlimited’ has been launched at Srinagar. This year, the competition will be organised in 29 cities across India.

This annual sports competition consists of sports, such as cricket, football, badminton, athletics, carrom, chess, volleyball, box cricket, lagori and table tennis. The employees can participate in multiple sports.

The event is one of the largest for employees of HDFC Bank in the country. In 2016, the event was organised in 27 cities over a period of five months, and saw participation by 17000 employees of HDFC.

In the launch event at Srinagar, more than 400 employees and their families participated, from Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama and Sopore.

This sports event increases employee engagement, employee wellbeing and team spirit.

Speaking about the event, Naina Panse, head-employee engagement, HDFC Bank, said: “As a responsible corporate citizen, we encourage all our employees to make sports, a part of their lives, and provide platforms, such as Josh Unlimited to enable this. Through this event, employees working at different locations come together for a day of friendly competition. Josh Unlimited helps them build team spirit and camaraderie in a more informal setting.”

Zubair Iqbal, circle head- Jammu & Kashmir, HDFC Bank said, “I am excited to be part of Josh Unlimited in Srinagar. Physical activity is an important aspect of our overall health and wellbeing. I am happy that we have this excellent platform at HDFC Bank, which gives us the opportunity to participate in various sporting events. I hope to see many of my colleagues and their families during the course of this competition.”

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Indian banks are now cutting jobs owing to digitisation and also poor performance. Though banks are calling it normal attrition, the fact is that the employees are not being replaced.

Yes Bank has recently reduced its staff by 10 per cent, which is around 2500 employees.

According to the Bank, these are performance-linked actions taken on a periodic basis to improve efficiency and productivity.

HDFC Bank has also reduced its workforce over the three quarters to March, 2017. The staff strength was reduced by over 6000 people, and none have been replaced yet, as the Bank is focusing on rebalancing its capabilities due to the increase in digital transactions.

Even State Bank of India has slowed down its hiring this fiscal. Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman, SBI had said that the Bank will not be hiring much. “On the clerical side, there will not be any recruitments, while on the officers’ side, there will be some towards the end of the year,” she said.

Around 11000 people retired in the last fiscal and the Bank had recruited around 13000 people in the same period.

Technology and automation seem to be taking over traditional jobs. Few banks, both public and private, are trying robotics for certain operations, which could reduce manual workers in the future.

It is expected that banks will squeeze their team strengths even further as they try chatbots and other intelligent machines.

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HDFC Bank has launched a training centre in Nagpur to provide necessary training and skill to youths, so that they become job-ready.

More than 13,000 youths from Nagpur and Bhandara will undergo skill training and career counselling at the centre. The bank will also help in finding relevant employment opportunities in retail, apparel, tourism and hospitality sectors for more than 3,000 youths.
The focus is to help the youth from rural areas to be job ready with relevant skills.

More than 12 million people join the workforce every year, but the skill training capacity of the country is just 4 million. Lack of necessary skills and training is producing unproductive youth workforce. The country needs to invest in skilling the workforce to see the desired economic growth.

Nusrat Pathan, head of corporate social responsibility, HDFC Bank, said, “As a socially responsible corporate, with the launch of our training centre in Nagpur, we aim to make more youth job-ready by counselling them on career opportunities and providing skills training needed for employment. This will enhance the employability of the youth to help them get meaningful employment opportunities. This in turn will further allow the nation to leverage the young population that India has. The initiative is in line with one of our core values–sustainability–where the objective is to create sustainable communities.”

The bank has partnered with different organizations to provide counselling services and training. An NGO, Friend Union for Energizing Lives (FUEL), will offer career counselling services, while Orion Edutech, which is a partner of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), will train and certify the youths.

Apart from guiding the youths in choosing and pursuing different career paths and giving them training, the bank will also help them to connect with various industry partners for scholarships.

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Private equity firm Multiples has made a controlling investment in PeopleStrong through a combination of primary and secondary investments. The deal is estimated to be around Rs 400 crore.

In February, HRKatha had reported on the possibility of this merger.

PeopleStrong an HR Technology and Solutions company boasts of over 175 customers spread across all major industries. It claims to have an order book of upwards of Rs 500 Cr and that it has been growing at a CAGR of 60 per cent for over a decade.

With the current round of Investment, employees will continue to hold significant minority equity with the rest held by Multiples and HDFC, which remains a key shareholder. This should be one of the largest deals in the fast-growing HR technology industry, both in size and scope. An official communiqué states that fresh infusion of capital by Multiples will be used to further strengthen PeopleStrong’s technology offering.

Multiples has over US$1 billion under management. Some of its current investments include multiplex company PVR, e-tailing focused logistics company Delhivery, apparel brands and textiles major Arvind, housing finance company Vastu and leading power exchange Indian Energy Exchange.

Renuka Ramnath, founder and CEO, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, says, “Human Resources is the single most differentiator to create value in any enterprise, and as such occupies a central place in the minds of CXOs.”

Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC, says. shared “It is always great to see entrepreneurial ventures from India scaling up and taking off for their growth journey. PeopleStrong has created an interesting story globally as the HR Technology company from India and we are delighted to be part of it.”

Pankaj Bansal, Co-founder & CEO, PeopleStrong comments, “With this round of investment, we embark on the next level of growth towards creating version 3.0 of PeopleStrong and we are all excited to have Multiples and HDFC fund with us as we go ahead.”

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