An Exclusive Interview of Mr. Asish Sengupta, Senior Vice President, Human Resource Axis Bank with R

Date: 22-Feb-2011

Rangrut.com: What is your opinion on the growth of Indian Job market since year 2000?

Mr. Asish Sengupta: The job market has grown phenomenally since 2000. If I look at it from the point of view of Axis Bank, in the year 2000, we were a relatively small outfit, with about 700 staff. Today we have 22,000 employees which speaks about the growth in the job market, especially in the financial sector. The reason for this is the retail boom which set in at that time and banks rode the wave. The insurance sector also witnessed expansion during this period and the result was a boost to the job market.

Rangrut.com: Do you think that the financial industry got affected due to recession and is it so that the recovery is happening now?

Mr. Asish Sengupta: While the impact of recession on the world economy was severe, in India the impact was a little less because of the strong regulatory mechanism in place. However, even with the limited impact, a lot of companies stopped hiring at that time. 2008 was therefore bad year but since then there has been a turn around and I think from all available indications, the Indian economy is reviving and the employment scenario is looking brighter and better.

Rangrut.com: If we look at the availability of the resources, then what are the challenges you face while hiring resources?

Mr. Asish Sengupta: The most significant challenge is the availability of manpower of the desired quality in a competitive scenario. Every organization has its own benchmarks. We have benchmarks for certain qualities that we look at in prospective hires and we do not compromise on those traits. Axis Bank has come a long way in establishing its brand and we are able to meet the challenge of hiring the right fit without much difficulty.

Rangrut.com: When we go and hire in campuses we go with three routes - we go on campus, Off campus & Open Campus, so which route exactly you prefer and what you would suggest even other employers to hire a Fresher?

Mr. Asish Sengupta: Our recruitment strategy is a mixture of lateral hires and campus hires. As far as campus hiring is concerned, it happens at two levels viz recruitment from the top business schools and recruitment from the Tier II campuses. The campus recruitment programme from the 12 or 13 premier Business Schools started in the year 2001. Every year we recruit around 40 - 50 Management Trainees from top B Schools, who are placed in key business departments. The recruits from the Tier II campuses are taken in as Relationship Managers and placed in branches. 

As far as off campus recruitment is concerned we have done it on a need based basis. We have mostly preferred the campus route.

Rangrut.com: Do you think that a portal like rangrut.com can help you in reaching your numbers and reaching campuses?

Mr. Asish Sengupta: I think that this kind of initiative is wonderful. It will probably save us a lot of activity, which we have to do in co-ordinating with the campuses. In our setup we have a small campus recruitment team, which individually has to talk to the placement cells and fix up the calendar. I understand that a portal like Rangrut, would manage the campus interface on our behalf. This kind of initiative is most welcome.

Rangrut.com: Is employability is an issue in Indian industry? And if it is so how that could be solved?

Mr. Asish Sengupta: Employability is an issue in Indian industry. Candidates are so focused on securing jobs that they lose sight of fundamentals. Management institutes should pay a lot more attention to the quality of management education imparted rather than assuring placements.

Rangrut.com:   There are few organization where people provide training after hiring a fresher so what would you suggest should be the pattern of training in a particular organization for first job seekers?

Mr. Asish Sengupta: As far as Axis Bank is concerned we have a very well designed induction program for freshers. There are customized programmes for fresher from top B schools, from Tier II B schools as also for freshers hired laterally. The programmes are a combination of product training, sales training & soft skills training. The culture of the bank is highlighted in all such programmes. An outbound training module is included to make the training process more wholesome. Organizations can think of these kinds of induction processes.

Rangrut.com: Should the Employer also get partnered with institutes to provide fundamental training?

Mr. Asish Sengupta: This would help us to get trained resources right away. But this would be more time consuming as it would take 3 to 6 months on campus to complete such a module. Sometimes the needs of business are so pressing that we cannot wait long for trained hands. We would prefer to train them after coming on board.

Rangrut.com: What are the numbers you are looking forward to hire in the next 2, 3 years and what is the basic selection criterion that you look at some body as first job seeker?

Mr. Asish Sengupta: On an average we have been hiring 3000 to 4000 in the last few years primarily because of our branch expansion program. The network has been expanding by about 200 branches every year. 200 branches would need an addition of about 1600 to 1700 people every year. This apart, people are required for specialized positions with domain skills in credit, foreign exchange, retail etc. Our Manpower plan is annual and this year (2009–10) we are looking at recruiting as many persons as are required for opening new branches in stand alone centers.

The criteria: Graduation with good academic track record. Needs to be smart, intelligent and fluent in local language and English. Analytical ability is one other important trait which we consider when we recruit a fresher.

Rangrut.com: Axis Bank has been following a traditional pattern of taking panel interviews at all levels. What are its advantages if we compare it with quick one to one interviews?

Mr. Asish Sengupta: We have found Panel interview actually suitable because we feel that the person who is coming for interview should be seen both from the point of view of business as well as from the point of view of his culture fit in the organization. 

This can happen either in two stages or in single stage. In our case it happens in a single stage where there are at least three people in the panel, two people from the line and one from HR. The idea of 3 member panel is that decision making becomes easy. It’s a model that we have been following not only in recruitment but also in internal assessments as well.

Rangrut.com: How did you get your first job?

Mr. Asish Sengupta: I Joined SBI 35 years back as a Probationary Officer. Those days for a student from the general stream (other than engineering & medical graduate), the major options were the civil services or Bank PO. I tried the bank route and got into SBI in 1974. In 1995, I moved to the then UTI Bank because I found an opportunity to be part of the new era in banking which brought in its wake a lot of challenges.

The interview process in SBI was very rigorous, very demanding and extremely interesting. We had a panel mostly of outside experts with one or two persons from within the organization. The outsiders were all well known in their respective fields. viz. Statistics, Economics etc. The Panel could ask you anything under sun and give you situations to analyse, which was both very rigorous and very interesting.

Rangrut.com: What’s your advice to first job seekers?

Mr. Asish Sengupta:

a) You have to think of not only a job but a profession, a long term career. That is a very firm belief that I have. Now-a-days first jobseekers are looking only at the short term scenario; they are looking only at jobs.

b) Relate yourself with the real world and do not only rely on bookish knowledge. Don’t carry bookish knowledge to the work place. The sooner you try to get out of the course related books the more you will be benefited and get closer to the real world.

c) Read a lot of what is currently going on, read news papers, magazines, fiction, non fiction, read as much as possible. This will widen your vision.

d) Have your fundamentals clear. Avoid cut copy paste.

e) Try to keep your eyes and ears open. For example – If you are in a particular department don’t think that your role is only limited to that department. The organization is a larger place and you need to be aware of what is happening elsewhere. Believe that you are aiming for the highest position in the organization and hence gather information about all aspects of business. Ultimately knowledge and awareness lead to empowerment.

f) Always be ethical in your approach. There are no short cuts to success.

Note : If you have anything interesting to share related to your career e.g. my story, interview tips, news etc. mail it to admin@rangrut.com

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