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.