A Leadership Development Programme, for the senior management of the country’s nationalised banks, was launched on Monday at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B), marking the beginning of a landmark initiative aimed at supporting nationalised banks to nurture a leadership pipeline that will take on present and emerging challenges. Interestingly, July 19 marks the 50th year of nationalisation of banks.
An initiative of the Banks Board Bureau, this collaborative endeavour is supported by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance; Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), and knowledge partner Egon Zehnder International Pvt Ltd.
Beginning this year, for the next three years, senior management personnel, will undergo 30 days of interventions, over a period of nine months, at IIM Bangalore, to take on current and emerging challenges being faced in a competitive marketplace.
Personal growth, live projects
These will be enabled through exploration of self through personal growth labs, outbound learning, wellness workshops, systematic coaching processes and motivational speaker sessions; and functional development through exposure to new knowledge, emerging processes in the areas of strategy, risk management, digital transformation, and exponential technologies. The participants will undertake a live project.
Bhanu Pratap Sharma, Chairman, Banks Board Bureau, said:
“We expect you to take the programme seriously and give honest feedback with suggestions to improve. People who have a vision can make a difference. In the medium term, the future of PSBs looks positive. The economy is currently in good shape. You can use the ecosystem and leverage your learnings to give a push to the economy. That was the aim behind how the programme was designed.”
For economic development
Prof G Raghuram, Director, IIM Bangalore, said that it was an opportunity for IIM-B as a management institute to contribute to an important sector like banking, as banks can and should, and do, play a vital role in the country’s economy and development. Talking about the issue of competition faced by PSBs from the private sector, he pointed out the need to see how extra strengths of the public sector can be leveraged.
Quoting IIM-B’s motto: तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु ( tejasvi navadhitamastu) , which translates as ‘let our study be enlightening’, he said, “Continue to learn. The learning is not only for you as students, but also for the faculty who are the facilitators of knowledge, who will also learn from the process.”
Prof R Srinivasan, said: “The banking and financial services industry is undergoing rapid changes driven by technology, business model innovations, changing customer preferences and macroeconomic shifts. Employment generation and growth are the two key objectives before the country today. The recent Budget document has set an aggressive target of becoming a $5-trillion economy. The PSBs have a very important role in this growth even as they negotiate the dynamic business environment. The programme seeks to groom the next generation of leaders to assume leadership positions within these banks to drive this growth.”
Prof G Ramesh, said, “The programme is multi-dimensional and has been built on numerous components. It seeks to unleash the full creative potential of the individual through the development of self, team leadership and functional competencies.”