Role of the HR function – a catalyst for

creating a Great Place to Work®

-Subhro Bhaduri
Head Human Resources
Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited

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 Presentation Path

• Kotak – at a glance

• Positioning of HR in an organization

• Kotak HR framework & its contribution in making Kotak a

Great Place to Work®

• Business Benefits for Kotak as a Great Place to Work®

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 Kotak at a Glance

Entrepreneurial
Non-Hierarchical
Meritocratic
Strong adherence to Business ethics
Down to Earth

Infinite Opportunities..
Infinite Challenges..
Infinite Growth..

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Think Investments, Think Kotak
 The Growth Indicators

Employee Base

448.6

24031

18101


225.6
14029

149.3 9835

94.4 91.4
3264
5087

55.9 2021
753

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Avg. Age of Employee Base : 27 years

Avg. Age of Top Management : 44 years

Aug’08 Mar’09
Projected 4
Positioning of HR in an Organization

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 Value Creation & Best Employment Experience

Direction
• Alignment

Accountability Coordination
and control

External Leadership Innovation

orientation
• Execution
Capability Motivation

Values
• Renewal

In our view, effective alignment of the Performance Culture Levers leads to a Best
Employment Experience, hence leading the Organization to become a Great Place to
Work 6
 HR’s Role in Value Creation & Best Employment
Experience
Performance Culture Levers How effectively & in what ways does HR facilitate to

• Leadership • Shape and inspire the actions of all in the organization

Alignment

• Direction & Values • Allign people, processes with organization’s vision and values

• Accountability • Design structure/reporting relationships, evaluate individual performance,

create individual accountability for the business results
Execution

• Co-ordination & • Build processes for business performance linkage and risk control
Control

• Capabilities • Build institutional skills and talent to support the organization’s strategy and
create competitive advantage

• Motivation • Inspire and encourage employees to perform and grow with the organization
Renewal

• External • Engage in constant two-way interactions with employees, Benchmark best

Orientation &
Innovation
practices to drive value and provide opportunities for entrepreneurial creativity

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Kotak HR framework & its contribution in making
Kotak a GPTW

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 Alignment @ Kotak

• Leadership Direction

– Kotak Succession Plan at senior management level

– Meritocracy
– 95% of our top team is home-grown Leadership

– RACE programme for frontline leadership

Values

• Direction & Values

– EVP/ Values linkage to HR Processes
– Policy Deployment at National, Regional & Branch Level
– Demonstration of Values adherence and Growth Traits is a prerequisite in our
employees’ career growth

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 Execution @ Kotak

• Accountability
Coordina
– Standards of Performance for each role defined Account
tion &
ability
Control
– Line managers drive recruitment, retention &
Leadership
development of team members
– Individual line manager leads improvement of respective Capability Motivation

team’s engagement levels

• Co-ordination & Control

– 70% of Talent sourcing through internal sources
– Talent Fit check through Culture match check
– Input tracking & Monthly update of Individual Performance Scores
– Process Implementation Audit

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 Execution @ Kotak

• Capability
– 3 tier Leadership Development program aligned to
Coordina
Competency Framework Account
ability
tion &
Control
– Kotak Hi-Po program for mid management
Leadership
– Pre-trained model for hiring graduates/ post graduates
– MBA program for graduates Capability Motivation
– On-line Training and Certification system

• Motivation
– Empowerment to take up new projects & lead business initiatives.
– Business Leaders are encouraged to take up Group Level Vision related projects
– Senior Managers are encouraged to drive enterprise wide initiatives
– Monetary Incentives, Variable Pay Plan, Contests, Holiday Trips etc
– Non-monetary recognition based on customer appreciation, informal appreciation
process, performance awards linked to process adherence, values practice
awards, internal/ external feedback based awards

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 Renewal @ Kotak

• External Orientation & Innovation

– Pre-joining communication
– Employee Connect Initiatives External
Leadership Innovation
orientati
– Daily updates on organizational developments on

and Market
– Post exit communication
– Entrepreneurial Creativity development driven through defined
Professional Entrepreneurship Development Process

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 Execution @ Kotak

• Work Life Balance = making the workplace

enjoyable..
Coordina
Account
• Dependent policy, annual picnic with family etc ability
tion &
Control
• TGIS - Other activities (pursuing hobbies like reading, Leadership
cooking, trekking, dancing, etc)
• CSR - Corporate Payroll Giving program, R-Five etc Capability Motivation

• CFOs (fun2Work) initiatives, HouseKonnect (plays),

Sports & Social gatherings (Kotak Olympics, Jung etc)
• Employee Welfare - KareKonnect (health, fitness,
wellness & nutrition), Engaging employees children
through theatre and education “Know your Banking”
workshops.

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 Business Benefits for Kotak as a GPTW

• Attraction
– Increase in employee base in past 3 years time from 3200 to 18000
• 70% of the above recruitment done through direct talent attraction at industry benchmarked costs

• Retention
– Kotak company level attrition dropped by 4% on a year on year basis for the last 3
years.

• Development
– 66% of all leadership positions filled through Kotak Succession Planning
– 95% of Top Management has grown from within the organization

• Innovation & Competitive Advantage

– Set-up of new business like Asset Reconstruction Division and Corporate Real Estate

• Employer Branding
– 10th Best Employer in India in 2007 in Hewitt’s Study - The only Bank in the Top 10
– Amongst the Top 50 Great Places to Work in India in 2008 (as per Great Places to
Work Institute’s Study)
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Thank You

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 Home-grown leaders

Some of the Leaders developed in-house

• Gaurang Shah – Head, Kotak Life Insurance

– Never bought insurance in his life…now selling it to a 100,000 customers!
(Cross Functional Movement)

• K.V.S. Manian – Head Retail Liabilities, Kotak Mahindra Bank

– A non-banker… Driving Kotak Mahindra Bank from 0 to 200 Liability Branches and beyond..
(On the Job Learning opportunities)

• Kamlesh Rao – Head Personal & Home Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank
– Hired in 1995 as a Management Trainee – 7 years hence, he was already heading the Personal Finance Business
(Fast Tracked Career Progression)

• Manish Kothari – Head Emerging Corporate Group

– Hired in 1995 as a Management Trainee. 7 years hence, started heading the MME (mid market enterprise)
business for the Bank
(Fast Tracked Career Progression)

And many more..

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 Professional Entrepreneurship

There are many entrepreneurs at Kotak Mahindra

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 Values – Inception & Internalization

Direction
Validation of Articulation of Rollout with
Perception Evolution of
Values Values branding &
Study Values
Communication

Leadership
Shared Values Internalization

Core Values &

Values

Service Values
STAR
Selec
t
Documentation of P3 :
Reward Linkages People, Process,
(Hall of FLAME) Performance

360 degree Feedback Value Visualization

process Workshops (MTEP)

• Alignment of all People Processes and practices with the Shared values & Employee Value Proposition
(EVP)
• Alignment of all Customer Service Processes with the Shared Values and EVP

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In collaboration with Business in Creating this Experience
 Kotak RACE

RACE - Recognition And Career Enhancement

- Our Performance Management Program for Sales Team
Members based on four basis principles of
Passion, Pride, Prosperity & Progress.

SOPs – a combination of
Levels of Performance
• Business volumes (SOPs)
SOP SCORE CARD

• Customer Feedback
• Branch Scores
• Audit Scores

3 Months 3 Months 6 Months 12 Months

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