Axis HR Plavbook: Banking On Inclusivity

Ensuring inclusion, diversity and career progression is how the country’s third-largest private bank is harnessing its talent pool.

- V. KESHAVDEV

IN A COMPETITIVE landscape, the country's third-largest lender Axis Bank led by Amitabh Chaudhry has been acing the charts with standalone profit compounding at 47% ever since the 57-year-old took on the top job from Shikha Sharma in 2019. The performance of the former CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company fetched him in 2021 a three-year extension till 2024. Given the bank's strong performance thus far (9MFY24 profit up 16% to ₹17,732 crore and consolidated return on equity or RoE expanding 82 bps to 18.86%), it's quite likely that an encore is in the offing for Chaudhry. Interestingly, the last fiscal marked a milestone in the bank's journey following the successful merger of Citibank's consumer businesses which Axis had acquired for $1.6 billion (₹11,603 crore) in 2022, giving it access to Citi's 2.4 million customers and ₹39,900 crore of deposits.

While Chaudhry got what he wanted an immediate bump-up in the bank's market share with a  150-bps hike in low-cost deposits from 44.50% to 46% and a significant expansion in credit card market share from 11.4% to 16.2% - managing the expectations of anxious 3,200 Citi staffers was no less a deal, considering that they were moving into a powerhouse of 1 lakh-plus employees.

Reflecting on the remarkably "silent" integration of Citi's retail business, Rajkamal Vempati, president and head of human resources, says, "It was quieter than anticipated, with lower attrition rates.