Talent hunt in RBI: The Hindu Business Line
The Hindu Business Line, September 10, 2014
Letters
RBI talent hunt
This refers to the report
“Reserve Bank to pick talent via UPS-like test” (September 9). In the present
scenario, the move to go for common-cadre of officers in RBI and making
recruitment process more broad-based and professional is in the right
direction. But, the hurry with which the RBI top management is trying to
implement the well-intended measures may make its own path slippery. Till a
decade back, RBI used to learn from its own experience and make corrections
midway. The present move gives an impression that RBI has not learnt any lesson
from the failure of its ‘Executive Interns’ experiment*.
One option to minimize damage
could be to allow the existing staff(within certain age limit and having needed
qualification) to migrate to the new cadre after testing their ‘fitness’
through an appropriate evaluation. Better still would be creating a Financial
Sector Service on the pattern of IAS and Tata Administrative Service(accepting
the better features of both) which could be common for financial sector
regulatory organizations and public sector banks including State Bank of India.
Such service should first absorb the existing talent within the organizations
and go for further recruitment after two or three years depending on need.
M G Warrier, Mumbai
*Please read my previous letter
published in
The Business Line, July 21, 2010
Letters
Executive interns in RBI
This refers
to the report “RBI to hire 200 executive interns'' (Business Line, July 20).
Although on the face of it, the proposal may seem like a normal HR initiative
at infusing young blood with expertise and enthusiasm at a lower cost, no
in-depth analysis may be needed to find that this is a short-term remedy being
tried out for a long term problem.
Sooner than later, the RBI, government and public sector
organisations will have to wake up to the reality that their recruitment,
training, placement and compensation strategies need thorough overhaul and this
they have to do taking their existing employees into confidence.
A long-term solution may have to be found for the HR-related
problems, including the inability to hire experts at market-related
compensation.
The Government and public sector organisations may have to
consider how best the ‘cost-to-company' (C to C) principles can be integrated
into their existing recruitment, training, placement and career progression
policies. This may involve the following:
Taking the existing employees into confidence with an assurance
that the changes will only improve the working results of the organisation and
they will get an opportunity to share the benefits and new job opportunities
and so long as they are prepared to learn new things/upgrade their skills, the
infusion of ‘experts' will not eat into their career progression opportunities.
Inter-mobility of executives in all cadres among comparable
organisations. For instance, a banking/financial sector service could be
evolved for institutions including those in the private sector and regulatory
bodies in the financial sector.
A transparent guidance for remuneration package based on paying
capacity/need for skills for different sectors. Proposals like the present one
by RBI of shifting to C to C to reduce costs will send wrong and unhealthy
signals.
M. G.
Warrier
Mumbai
(This
article was published in the Business Line print edition dated July 21, 2010)
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