The bank strongly focusses on developing and engaging its young and highly vibrant staff.
In any sector with monotonous and arduous work routines, it becomes crucial to engage people and help develop their growth charts aligned with organisational goals. While the banking and financial industry has since long been perceived as boring, rigorous and mundane, DCB Bank is trying to change it all with its unique and interesting people practices.
The Bank is highly vibrant with the average age of the employees being 34. This makes it all the more important for it to focus strongly on developing and engaging its people. DCB Bank’s head-HR, Hamsaz Vasunia says, “People development and employee engagement are the two most crucial aspects for us,” as she explains the various initiatives they deploy for ensuring their people are well-motivated and enjoy their work life.
The leadership LEAP
One of the signature programmes at DCB Bank is called LEAP, which is a training programme to impart leadership skills to the middle management levels. In order to provide holistic learning, the training encompasses a range of topics, including marketing and product. The trainings take place twice a month, and go on for six months, covering various modules each time. Talking about the model of the programme, Vasunia says that, “Although classroom training may be perceived as old-school now, we believe that developmental training can happen through it. However, it doesn’t happen in a day. It has to be a continuous and well-planned process.”
The top five people from this programme are promoted. The programme is designed such that it develops, tests and inculcates leadership capabilities in people. It is different from any other training or talent development programme as the managers taking part in the programme are put through challenging tasks, such as going to a remote village and teaching the villagers an employable and sustainable skill. Employees from across functions participate in these tasks and receive a huge amount of exposure through the same.
“It is a unique test of their leadership skills, as each one is working their way to promotion while performing the tasks as part of a group. The challenging tasks help us discover hidden potentials in our people. Moreover, this is where they understand that individual success lies in the success of the group,” Vasunia says.
Rise and Aspire
Through another talent development initiative called RISE, DCB bank aims to create holistic bankers. This programme imparts various banking skills to its people. ASPIRE is a similar programme focused on the development of the junior staff. It offers trainings on both banking and soft skills.
Grow with us
As the name suggests, this programme gets the talent at DCB ready for some key recurring roles. With trainings being offered two days in a month and for six consecutive months, this programme trains people to move into some specific/specialised roles. After completing the courses and having cleared the tests, some people may even move into those roles.
In addition to the developmental initiatives, DCB Bank is quite Gen Y pro in terms of its employee- engagement initiatives. It adds the fun element to the otherwise mundane day-to-day work lives of its people through some unique platforms. The bank has divided its people under five houses, just as is seen in schools. The houses engage in activities, such as intra-company Olympics once a year, culminating into a finale with a fashion show and so on, across the year.
Another unique and fun-filled initiative is DCB’s annual awards called ‘Movers and Shakers’. This is an event that entails a talent show, which is held three months before the annual awards. The talent show takes place across locations, with employees showcasing singing, dancing and similar activities. The winners then perform at the gala annual awards.
What makes it even more unique is the fact that throughout the programme, the senior leaders make fun of themselves through skits adding the humour factor to the whole programme. “We’re making fun of ourselves throughout the event with people taking pot-shots even at our CEO. All the leaders from the management committee take it in good stride and it creates an environment of non-hierarchy,” says Vasunia.
Even the top management performs dances at the event, ringing in more equality and harmony across levels. Last but not the least, DCB bank has an application for engaging with its young recruits. The app, called DCB Connect, can be downloaded as soon as the joinees receive the offer letter. The application allows the new candidates a glimpse into the company, offering all kinds of useful information, including processes. With all this in place, it is evident why DCB Bank is unique in terms of its work culture and is able to defeat the mundaneness that is otherwise a norm in the banking sector.