Branch banking: the new paradigm

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: relatively large tenure of the top management (of minimum period of two years). This paved the way for younger and more dynamic set of senior executives getting entrusted with the task of steering the course of events for such banks. This also left them with adequate time to leave their imprint on the organisation. The government has also provided for a performance bonus for a bench-marked target achievement. Grossly inadequate though, in financial terms, contrary to what the private and foreign banks top officials get, it still manages to introduce an element of recognition of good deeds done.

Simultaneously the wings of an unintended power centre represented by the staff unions were clipped fairly adequately on account of some planned and calibrated measures and some fortuitous developments. This left the present crop of top functionaries of these banks to concentrate more on banking work than on such frivolities like the staff canteen menu.

Parallel to these, positive developments like staff rationalisation and initiation of state of the art IT support system were gradually put in place taking advantage of the relative dwindling of the collective bargaining power of these staff unions. All this paved the way for a fusion banking model, incorporating the best of both the private sector and public sector banking models, like solid branch network anchored around a strong IT backbone. Aided by these positives, the chiefs of these banks have displayed rare spunk in facing challenges of the market place and turned out year after year extremely satisfactory performance. Little wonder that the chiefs of such banks like SBI, PNB, BOB, BOI and Union Bank are exuding confidence in their private and public discourses.

Now, the obvious question is about the road map now for them. For one, these banks have still not fully encashed the true economic potential embedded in their branch network especially in rural and semi urban areas. In the context of a global food shortage looming large, this network can be leveraged to increase the agricultural production and productivity, dissemination of technology, backward and forward linkages, etc.