The SBI management, while implementing the VRS, will have to simultaneously announce a confidence-building and long-term promotion and human resource development (HRD) policy with a view to ensuring that the officers of intrinsic merit with a consistently good track record do not take the VRS route. This step is bound to send positive signals to officers of this category who might be seriously contemplating to opt for the VRS, for exploring greener pastures. The SBI management is conscious of this serious threat, and it was for this reason that it was somewhat reluctant to take the kind of initiative that the other nationalised banks took in pushing the VRS through. Over the years, SBI has groomed and honed the talent of its personnel through its strong training system. The rank and file of almost all the new generation private sector Banks are products of SBI.

This speaks volumes of the bank's contribution to the Indian banking industry as well as to the financial system. The worrying question is whether the SBI management will do something dramatic to retain its talented personnel or allow them to decide their own course. It will be a tactical blunder if the management allows the latter to happen. SBI has already lost a lot of its experts to its competitors, and, therefore, can ill-afford another exodus through the VRS route. The management may also not find it easy to stop this exodus because the voluntary nature of the scheme and the attractive monetary package that goes with it are loaded in favour of skilled and specialist staff who are seriously planning to quit, to explore the whole new world of opportunities that is on offer today.

Despite SBI's strong organisational strength and training system, its management of human resources has left a lot to be desired, particularly in the post Talwar-Nambiar organisational scenario when one witnessed erosion of organisational culture with meritocracy taking a beating. The SBI leadership of Talwar-Nambiar vintage gave way to a "leadership" of shorter tenures and mediocrity. Self-interest took precedence over organisational interest. A "Do-what-you are told to do or else" kind of a syndrome was all pervasive. The bank's well defined promotion policy was systematically floundered by the framers themselves! Umpteen number of IIT-trained graduates turned astute bankers and others with consistently good track record were side-lined, because the whole process of higher grade promotions was not dealt with organisationally. In short, SBI failed to harness the abundant talent to its advantage. It is a pity that an organisation like SBI has not been able to realise the critical importance of recognisingintrinsic merit and rewarding the performers.

What is generally observed in the last decade or so is that the whole system of higher grade promotions has become lopsided with too much concentration of power in the hands of a few in the corporate office. This arbitrariness and insensitivity at the corporate level have dealt a severe body blow to the rank and file of the organisation.

Given this scenario, the SBI management may have to do something very dramatic to regain the confidence of its key personnel. This is the surest way of preventing the flight of its talented personnel through the VRS route. SBI has the organisational wherewithal to correct the past mistakes and resurrect itself as a world class bank. One would hope that for the long-term health of the organisation, the bank's present chairman, Janki Ballabh, who has vast exposure to both domestic and international banking operations and deputy managing director, Y Radhakrishnan, who is himself a committed HRD practitioner, will work towards correcting the course of events.

What remains to be seen, however,is whether they will be able to act fast enough to stop the imminent exodus of officers before January 31, 2001, the deadline set by SBI for closing the scheme.

SBI has strong fundamentals and core competence to challenge any bank in the world when it comes to the question of providing professional banking services, but this can happen only if it succeeds in keeping its key personnel motivated by adopting a consistent and transparent promotion and HRD policy.

(The author is a former SBI senior executive and an Ahmedabad-based management consultant)