Thursday 23 February 2017

The challenges of SBI - Post merger.

Now that it is official. Merger Gazette notification is out in the public domain. The process gets greater momentum hereafterwards. The whole machinery at the parent SBI and associate bank is buzz with activity.

And HR department is the center of activity. It is pivotal to the entire exercise which is by far the biggest HR integration in the recent memory in any sector. Post merger, the task becomes even more humungous. For any acquisition, takeover or merger to be successful, the seamless integration of human resources is one of the  fundamental prerequisites. Because, human behavior by its very nature is dynamic and is not subject to any objective evaluation or assessment. It is subjective and evasive for accurate measurement. Here comes the challenge for HR people to correctly catch the pulse.

It is said our training system is the best in the industry. It has not only one of the best training architecture but also the biggest, spread across the country. And there is no qualm about this. But the employee numbers are so big after merger that even this well oiled training machinery may find the task of moulding the new entrants onerous. Added to this, cross cultural amalgamation brings with it the legacy and ethos of work culture which may be at variance with ours. This moulding or alignment of the attitudes or work culture whatever one would like to call takes quite a long time and sustained efforts.

It is estimated that the combined clientele strength of the Bank will be almost equal to the population of the European Union. And the business figures? I am not able to comprehend how many zeros the figures will contain.

OMG! It will be a huge, huge, structure to manage and administer. It takes an herculean effort just to administer the day to day affairs of an organization of this scale and magnitude. And to make the elephant dance???. The only thing that could be done is to be prepared mentally and physically to undergo and endure the churn and remain focused and positive. Because there is no option.

The best, the Bank could do under the circumstances is to bring down the number of branches under each region /RM to not more than 25. This enables them to exercise better control and supervision. This reduction in the number of branches may be maintained for say 4-5 years till the Bank feels that the situation is under control and more than ordinary surveillance may not be necessary. Afterwards, it may review the situation.

The situation post merger therefore is daunting and intimidating. And as already mentioned, it will be a gargantuan task to manage and administer the mind-boggling numbers of both the accounts and the people. After all what an account means - it is the person behind the account.

Therefore, in the fitness of things, I opine that the head of our bank should be reckoned for the highest civilian awards - The Padma awards some time in the future.

Really and seriously.

K.N.Krishnan.

Monday 13 February 2017

The Tamilnadu circus.

The Tamilnadu circus has come to a pause, not to a halt with the swearing in ceremony of Palanisamy. The drama that is unfolded ever since OPS broke his silence by saying that he was forced to resign and still in the race for Chief ministership has reached a temporary pause. The developments in the run up to the big event only cast a dark shadow of the money, muscle and mafia power that was in full play much to the chagrin of all the saner elements. These incidents have thrown enormous challenge to democracy and its institutions and raised questions about their efficacy in safeguarding the interests of the subjects. Governance and delivery are far fetched items to expect from these netas.

Politics is about public perception. And the public perception was undoubtedly is against Sasikala and her gang coming to power. In fact there was a groundswell of support for OPS to take the reins. It is not that MLAs doesn't knew this. They know pretty well of this fact. Despite this they struck to Sasikala camp. The money, muscle and power kept these MLAs together despite strong public resentment. And this unity among the MLAs came at a time when Sasikala was convicted and jailed and barred from contesting elections for a period of ten years in DA case by the top court cannot be lost sight of. Supreme Court has to be congratulated and thanked for its decisive and path breaking judgement against corruption though it took 20 long years to dispense the justice.

The narrative of the Tamilnadu is a sad commentary of the degeneration of the polity and an abysmally low point it has reached. This perhaps calls for urgent electoral reforms on a warfoot basis.

What is most disturbing is the fact that, while the money power played so blatantly to manoeuvre and manipulate so glaringly before the entire nation, the system could do nothing and the nation was a mute spectator.

And many say it is only an interval in the drama. And the drama continues.

K.N.Krishnan.

Tuesday 7 February 2017

The allegations of graft.

The charges of graft levelled against Siddaramaiah by BS Yeddiyurappa appears to be too serious to be ignored just as politically motivated. No doubt coming from a politician who is eyeing for CMs post after next assembly election may not be devoid of political mileage. But this doesn't take away the dirt in the allegations. They are too serious to be ignored as political mudslinging. The amount mentioned in the charges is too huge. That he has took commission/bribe in steel bridge project approval needs an impartial inquiry. These allegations deserve a serious look against the backdrop of pushing/hurrying the project despite protests from the citizens and objections from the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Against this backdrop, there is an urgent need for Siddaramaiah to come clean on this. Otherwise the crescendo will only become shriller by each passing day. And it may snowball into a movement to oust him from the throne. The native /original congressmen may be rubbing their hands in glee. And some are even baying for his blood. The seizure of large quantity of gold, cash and other unaccounted /unexplained documents from the residence of MLA close to Siddaramaiah puts the onus on him to prove his nonculpability. And the pot calling the kettle black is another matter. It should not be an excuse for wishing away the allegations.

And the centre, on its part is playing its cards well and with calculated feeding of information available with its agencies to rock the boat of Siddaramaiah. And it is breathing down the neck of Siddaramaiah. It is doing in installments not exhausting all at once. It is keeping some ammunition for and during the election campaign. It is in the act of preparing the pitch for bowling out Siddaramaiah and his team Congress.

K.N.Krishnan.