High pressure environment in banking industry!, ETHRWorld
The banking sector operates under a high-pressure environment where most employees face significant stress due to continuous changes in technology, organisational structures and labour market dynamics.
These factors, while reshaping jobs, impact both working conditions and employee health. Given the importance of human resources as the driving force behind organisational success, particularly in the banking industry, managing stress has become essential to maintaining employee wellbeing and performance.
In this regard, a recent survey of 1,655 Bank Relationship Managers (RMs) across India, around key trends in sales pressure and basic knowledge gaps, by 1 Finance Magazine has revealed interesting insights:
- 84.3 percent of Bank RMs rated the extent of sales pressure exerted on them to sell financial products to be 3 or more (on a scale of 5, 5 being the highest),
- 57.56 percent of RMs agree that they’re told to mis-sell financial products,
- 51.52 percent of RMs say that they’ve experienced the fear of getting fired due to not meeting sales targets and,
- 26.83 percent of RMs were at some point in their career put on a performance improvement plan.
Kanan Bahl, Chief Editor, 1 Finance Magazine, said, “Bank RMs are being made to sell products they do not themselves understand. This ultimately makes them render poor quality advice to customers. The end user is at a loss.”Small finance banks stand out with the highest job satisfaction!
Source: 1 Finance
As per the survey, small finance banks stand out with the highest job satisfaction, as 75 percent of their employees rated their satisfaction at 4 or above.
In contrast, large private sector banks have the lowest levels of satisfaction, with only 33.56 percent of respondents giving a rating of 4 or higher.
Medium and small private sector banks show moderate levels of satisfaction, with 46.53 percent and 43.79 percent of employees, respectively, rating their satisfaction at 4 or above. Public sector banks fall somewhere in the middle, with 40.74 percent of respondents indicating higher satisfaction levels.
“We need a barrier entry for Bank RMs. Both the securities and banking regulators should work cohesively to introduce similar norms, such as minimum experience, NISM certification and educational requirements, as are there for brokers and advisors in the industry,” Bahl added.
Also, 73.17 percent of respondents have never been on a PIP; such a high number ideally indicates a robust and competent human resource, but given the figures regarding mis-selling, unrealistic targets and job satisfaction, little can be said about robustness and competence of the workforce.
Additionally, 61.74 percent of the respondents belonging to large private sector banks have agreed to have mis-sold a financial product or service or been asked to do so, closely following them at second place are medium private sector banks as 58.42 percent of respondents belonging to this segment have also responded with yes for this question.
This along with low job satisfaction amongst employees presents an alarming picture of working culture at large private sector banks!
Lack of clarity within the employees
ETHRWorld spoke to a few RMs who shared that while training has been good from an education point of view, generally they are not well educated from the bank’s perspective.
For instance, one of the RMs, who requested anonymity, explained, “The targets we receive are typically set on a monthly basis, and these targets are not always achievable. Management tends to assign higher goals so that, at the very least, we hit the minimum required.”
This practice of inflating targets creates a constant sense of insecurity amongst the RMs, as they fear that they can lose their jobs at any moment.
The RM further said, “In many cases, the targets given to us are simply unachievable, and we know it, but unfortunately, management and HR often turn a blind eye to our struggles, acting more like puppets of the higher-ups.”
A few RMs said that support from the HR department is also lacking. Though, in a very few cases (2 out 10) they have received help from HR, but for the most part, wellbeing and upskilling initiatives are reserved for senior executives, such as Business Heads. The people working directly with customers on the ground like the RMs are often left out of these programmes.
Source: 1 Finance
The picture was so bad for a few RMs that they claimed to have gotten into depression, or left their jobs. One of the RMs we spoke to said that he would never even recommend anyone to get into this industry.
Even when targets are missed by 5-6 percent, they are put on PIPs. RMs claimed that sick leaves, casual leaves are just for the sake of it.
Not only this, another RM who again requested anonymity, shared that their day starts with making calls, achieving targets in the first half, visiting at least 3 to 4 customers on a regular basis and then finally reporting back to the office with a success rate as told by the management.
Also, 80 percent of the products are not in favour of the customer as claimed by an RM, but just because it’s their job, they have to sell it. During the very start, the freshers are tortured to such an extent that they themselves resign.
So clearly, as RMs described, the banking sector is operating under a high-pressure environment where unrealistic targets, job insecurity and inadequate support are the norm now.
To truly address these issues, the industry needs a fundamental shift in how it manages and supports its employees. As stated, introducing clearer entry barriers for RMs, better training and more realistic targets could improve job satisfaction and customer outcomes.
It’s actually time for the industry to rethink its approach and prioritise the mental and professional wellbeing of its workforce before the damage becomes irreparable.
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