Focus Gen Next: SBI looks to reboot its HR strategy

India's biggest lender and one of its largest employers could soon be using artificial intelligence (AI) to aid its hiring practices, right from screening candidates to onboarding new employees, and is looking to devise a life cycle-based framework with a skill upgrade pathway to keep them engaged through their working careers.

- ABHIJIT LELE

A generational and aspirational shift in its employee base, along with the rapid rise of digital banking, is compelling the State Bank of India (SBI) to relook at its Human Resource (HR) management practices and build a 'future ready' organisation with a rich talent pool. The bank is clearly betting that more engaged employees with updated skill sets and a sense of purpose in their career trajectories, could translate into greater traction with customers.

To get the ball rolling, the bank, which aspires to be among the top 10 global banks in terms of market capitalisation over the next five years, has decided to engage a management consultant to develop a five- and 10-year HR strategy. The consultant is expected to advise on aligning the state-backed lender's HR policies and processes with its overall performance goals, and benchmarking with industry best practices.