Bank still has to work hard to get talented people, says HR head.
Unfazed by the sub-prime turmoil that began a year ago and was followed by retrenchments, the StanChart group in India, comprising StanChart Bank, Scope International (captive BPO) and other smaller subsidiaries, has, in fact, added around 4,100 employees over the last eight months.
These new recruitments, of which StanChart Bank (India) alone accounts for 2,500, have taken the group’s strength in India to around 20,000, says Tracy Clarke, Group Head of Human Resources.
“It’s a pretty tough time,” admits Clarke, but is quick to point out that since the group is strong in China and India, “it’s a bit early to predict anything”.
“The mood is that of anxiety in London (where the group has 1,800 employees) and New York. However, in India, the case is different. While the job market is getting tougher, and attrition rates are falling, we are certainly not seeing a high level of anxiety,” says Clarke.
However, she acknowledges that as a result of the bearish sentiment globally, the compensation packages at the top-end of the bracket are undergoing a change with a major component (both cash and stocks) being doled out as “deferred payment”.
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“Shareholders expect this move in the current climate,” she says. As for employees at the lower-end of the chain, “the market is still very competitive and the component of fixed pay remains intact”, she adds.
Clarke says, “It’s obvious that in a slower growth environment, the salary growth will be lower… in such an environment we are becoming more discerning about how we differentiate among employees when it comes to making a choice about the talent we wish to retain.”
As a part of this strategy, StanChart has initiated the Great Manager Programme in a bid to help managers focus on the basics, which include “know me, focus me and inspire me”. The reason for this, explains Clarke, is that according to the bank’s research, manager-employee friction remains the “single-biggest factor” for most staffers leaving the organisation”. She, however, adds that the attrition level at around 20 per cent is lower than the industry attrition rate, which hover around 30 per cent for the retail banking business.
But hasn’t the Lehman bankruptcy case left a problem of plenty as far as bankers are concerned, with many of them on the lookout for a job? Has it not skewed the case in favour of employers?
Clarke disagrees. “The best still have the bargaining power… We still have to work hard to get these people. However, our clean track record helps us.”
Another fallout from the global crisis, notes Clarke, is that consumer and employee frauds increase during such cycles since many of them would be seeing hard times. “To work around the issue, we have our compliance (Code of Conduct) programmes, which keep consumer and employee behaviour in check,” she says.
Finally, she notes that while the days of heady compensation are over, the real effects will be seen over the coming months. “Indian employees are very alert to the happenings. Our job, meanwhile, is to keep on attracting and retaining the best talent, while simultaneously increasing employee productivity and efficiency. It’s time for HR personnel to step up their play,” she concludes.