Mumbai, July 18: At HSBC, you don't just walk the talk-you walk the walk too. Take today: the ground floor branch office of HSBC at Fountain in Mumbai is buzzing with activity, and nobody misses a beat even when senior manager (western India) Rohit Bhargava put in an unscheduled appearance. Every one knows Bhargava is just ``walking-the-job''. ``Walking-the-job is a tool which is imbibed in HSBC's culture and it enables one to keep a direct contact with employees,'' says HSBC's Bhargava, pointing out that there is no fixed agenda for when a manager can or must walk-the-job. Adds HSBC manager HR planning and policy, John Curicatt: ``Walking-the-job is common lingo at HSBC, and new recruits are briefed that they must `walk the job'.''While walking-the-job was formally defined a few years ago as part of the bank's global philosophy, it has now become part and parcel of HSBC's culture. Though literally, it implies a boss taking the rounds of an office premise to keep tabs on subordinates and employees,walking-the-job has evolved into something much more at HSBC.``While walking the job, I know exactly who is doing what. However, I do not keep a fixed time. Being around at different times takes the employees off-guard-so they are not prepared with ready answers. I talk to the employees and get to know if there is any problem and how that can be sorted out,'' says Bhargava.
He adds a caveat: ``However, this is not intended to disturb employees if they are busy with customers. An employee is free to tell me that he cannot talk now as he has to attend to a customer-which is fine, as the customer comes first.'' The ultimate aim of walking-the-job therefore, now boils down to recognising that the customer is king and that the quality of service must always improve.
Nor does walking-the-job only mean writing a note in an individual employee's appraisal on the basis of walk-about observations. It also means that the boss' door is flung open-and not just figuratively-for any colleague or employee to come infor a direct heart-to-heart talk. It is thus a method which helps breaks walls between peers, employees and the bosses.
``Instead of telling my secretary to bring me a particular file from a particular drawer, I myself go and fetch it. I thus walk-the-job,'' elaborates John Curicatt. This way, Curicatt says, he gets an opportunity to judge the atmosphere outside his cabin-and also hold short professional chats with employees outside.
``In case one has to pass an urgent official communication to a colleague, instead of sending chits across through the office boy, we make it a point to walk across to the particular person's cabin and deal with the issue on a direct basis. By doing so, we not only avoid delays, but also keep misunderstandings at bay,'' says Curicatt. So has walking-the-job had an impact on the quality of customer satisfaction -the cornerstone of a bank's performance? Bhargava plays safe: ``While it is difficult to measure the improvement in levels of customer satisfaction, we positivelybelieve that walking-the-job has had a major say in it.''
In India, HSBC has 26 branches with seven in Mumbai alone. Of the 26-branch network, the British Bank of the Middle East (BBME) has three branches-however, HSBC plans to merge BBME with itself, and is currently awaiting regulatory approvals. Currently, HSBC employs close to 2,000 staffers in the country. Many of whom, right now, are walking-the-job.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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