Young talents in Bangladesh need to focus on exposing their strengths and success stories through self-marketing to climb up the corporate ladder. The world is an extremely busy place and nobody has the time for anybody else, says a senior official of Standard Chartered Bank.
Madhavi Lall
“Bangladeshi people are very modest,” says Madhavi Lall, regional head of human resource for India and South Asia of Standard Chartered, at an interview with The Daily Star on a visit to the country.
Job aspirants should make a two-minute self-summary of themselves to share their strengths and capabilities to interviewers, says Madhavi. By identifying key priorities and putting them into sentences, they can later repeat the summary in an interview, she adds.
Madhavi, who holds an MBA in human resources management and a master's degree in Mathematics, says, “The youth must have a very strong 'can-do' attitude and dedication to succeed in their working lives.”
Standard Chartered in Bangladesh, which is ranked one of the top fifteen countries by investment commitment and financial performance across the entire Standard Chartered network, employs nearly 1,400 local staff.
The bank essentially follows the 70:20:10 mode of learning: which means, 70 percent learning should happen 'on the job', whereas 20 percent through other people and interaction and 10 percent through classroom or e-learning, says Madhavi.
At Standard Chartered Bank the thought process is that learning and development is more than just classroom inputs because an adult learn more by doing than the classroom work. Employees learn and develop through short-term assignments, cross-functional business exposure, reading books and projects assignments, says Madhavi.
Employees at the bank are also required to generate an online 'Individual Learning and Development' plan with input from their supervising managers. They can choose from a variety of learning courses mentioned on the online database or alternatively, consult the Organisation Learning Department for any specialised training. This helps to generate greater ownership and accountability of the plan, says Madhavi.
“We usually spend 2 percent of our payroll cost across-the-board for training and development purposes,” says Madhavi. “Our main HR objective is to empower line managers because they ultimately impact people,” says Madhavi. “We always try to empower them so that they are motivated and engaged to work.”
The company introduced a “cultural guardian” programme last year where a senior member eases the entry of a newly joined into the cultures, norms and functions of the organisation, says Madhavi. The bank follows a leadership and team management framework called KFCI (Know Me/ Focus Me/ Care about me/ Inspire me) -- an approach that helps in interactions with staff to build engagement and enable high performance within teams. This helps in providing people with a sense of direction and involvement. It is a tool that creates a strong bond among the teams, says Madhavi.
Madhavi, who has been with the bank for over 10 years, says the retention and engagement of talent will be the main challenge for the corporate world in the near future. So, the bank always strives to retain talents by providing 'total rewards'.
“If you want to retain people, you have to make their lives happy and easy.”
The bank's employee turnover rate in Bangladesh is nearly 10 percent, which is significantly lower than industry standards, says Madhavi.
The employees of Standard Chartered in Bangladesh are also highly engaged in their work as the Gallup study, which surveys employee engagement, shows it gets a score of 4.25 on 5.
The bank also runs various schemes, particularly at entry levels, to build its leadership cadre. One such scheme is the International Graduate Programme. MBA holders from premier colleges are recruited and put through a structured 18 to 20 months programme. The purpose of the programme is to “build generalist and leadership skills”. With time, as the young graduates realise their strengths and develop organisation maturity, they may opt for specialist roles than generalist ones.
Standard Chartered in Bangladesh also recruits freshers for officer level positions, like customer service, credit risk and priority banking, by publishing circulars on its web page and going campus.
“But our first priority is to recruit internally for mid and senior level positions.” The regional head of Standard Chartered says over 30 Bangladeshi professionals are currently working outside, across the entire standard chartered network. And more Bangladeshi talent will be given foreign assignments in the near future because of their fabulous performance, she assures.
News Source: The Daily Star