chapter – i introduction 1.1 introduction...

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CHAPTER – I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION A bank is a financial intermediary that accepts deposits and channels those

deposits into lending activities, either directly or through capital markets. A bank

connects customers with capital deficits to customers with capital surpluses.

Banking is generally a highly regulated industry, and Government restrictions on

financial activities by banks have varied over time and location. The Banking Industry

was once a simple and reliable business that took deposits from investors at a lower

interest rate and loaned it out to borrowers at a higher rate.

According to section 5(b) of the Banking Regulation Act the term banking is

defined as accepting for the purpose of lending or investment of deposits of money from

the public, repayable on demand or otherwise and withdrawable by cheque, draft and

order or otherwise.

However deregulation and technology led to a revolution in the Banking

Industry. Banks have become global industrial powerhouses that have created ever more

complex products that use risk and securitization in models. Through technology

development, banking services have become available 24 hours a day, 365 days a week,

through ATMs, at online banking.

Banking services include transactional services, such as verification of account

details, account balance details and the transfer of funds, as well as advisory services that

help individuals and institutions to properly plan and manage their finances. Online

banking channels have become highly popular in the last 10 years.

1.2 THE ROLE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN THE ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT Banking industry is a very important tool in the construction of economic

structure of any country and it plays a significant role in the economic development of a

developing country. Economic development involves investment in various sectors of

economy.

The major function of a financial institution is to provide the maximum financial

convenience to the public. There are three major responsibilities that such institutions

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have. First, they are responsible for promoting overall savings by making banks more

accessible to the public. Second, they distribute savings in a more efficient manner to

those who need it more, from an economic and social perspective. Third, banks are

responsible for creating credit and facilitating the transaction of business and trade which

ultimately affect the growth of the economy. (Desai, 1987). Thus the banks collect

savings from the people and mobilize saving for investment in industrial projects. The

investors borrow from banks to finance the projects. Special funds are provided to the

investors for the completion of projects. The banks provide a guarantee for industrial

loan from international agencies. The foreign capital flows to developing countries for

investment in projects.

Besides normal banking, the banks perform agency services for the client. The

banks buy and sell securities, make rent payments, receive subscription funds and collect

utility bills for the Government departments. Thus these banks save the time and energy

of busy people. Banks arrange foreign exchange for the business transactions with other

countries. The facility of foreign currency account has resulted in an increase of foreign

exchange reserves. By opening a letter of credit the banks promote foreign trade.

The banks not only collect funds from the customers but also serve as a guide to

them in investing their funds. The policy of banks is an instrument in wide dispersal of

credit in the country.

Banking sector plays a positive role in augmenting the progress of a country as

repositories of community’s savings and as purveyors of credit. It is the heart of financial

structure since it has the ability to add to the money supply of the nation and thus creates

additional purchasing power. Lending, investing and related activities of banks facilitate

the economic processes of production, distribution and consumption.

In a developing country like India banks also have social responsibilities like

uplifting the weaker sections and financing the social projects. Banking industry in India

has been playing a pivotal role in rebuilding the Indian economy by extending its

network to the backward and rural areas, small industries and weaker sections of the

society etc., in addition to providing finance to industry and business.

In a way commercial banks have emerged as the key financial agencies of rapid

economic development today than ever before.




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1.3 IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Participation of women in economic activity is common in all the developed

countries but the extent of participation is different in every country. The economic

development of a nation depends much on the quality of its human resources. Women in

India by tradition and culture have for generations taken a self-effacing role. The women

are expected to look after the home and health, be it her fathers’ home before marriage or

husbands’ home later. Due to the growth of industrialization, urbanization, liberal

education and the democratic system in the country, the tradition-bound society is now

undergoing a slow change. Today women have not only safely encoded themselves in

the job situations but also proved themselves as professionals and executives in many

fields and have found acceptance in the society.

1.4 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF BANKING SECTOR IN

INDIA In a developing country like India, the importance of the banking industry is even

more critical because the availability of capital is limited and the task of mobilizing

resources to certain sectors of the economy is a challenging one. In a general sense,

financial institutions have been charged with the task of accelerating economic growth

and revitalizing the industrial and agrarian sectors of the country. (Chawla, 1987).

From the early Vedic period the giving and taking of credit in one form or the

other have existed in Indian Society. The bankers are the pillars of the Indian society. In

the early days bankers were called as indigenous bankers. The development of modern

banking has started in India since the days of East India Company. These banks mostly

had no capital of their own and depended entirely on deposits in India.

The evaluation and growth of banking industry can be reviewed into two stages

i.e Pre – Nationalization (prior to 1969) and post – Nationalization (1969 onwards)

The first bank in India, General Bank of India was established in 1786. From 1786

till today, the journey of Indian banking system can be segregated into three distinct

phases. They are as follows

Early phase from 1786 to 1969 of Indian Banks.

Nationalization of Indian banks and up to 1991 prior to Indian banking sector

reforms.




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New phase of Indian banking system with the advent of Indian Financial and

Banking sector Reforms after 1991.

The Government of India felt a need for central bank of the country to regulate

the banking system in the country which took the form of RBI. It was declared as Central

Bank of India under Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

The banking industry in India is heavily regulated to ensure its smooth operation

as a partner of the Government. In 1949, the Government of India passed a

comprehensive Banking Regulation Act to clarify among other things what constituted a

banking company (Desai, 1987). This piece of regulation also mandated that banks play

a crucial role in growth and development.

On July 19, 1969 the banking industry again faced a significant Government

intervention that transformed its very nature of operation and fourteen major commercial

banks were nationalized. Banks were expected to expand banking facilities, improve

deposit mobilization and allocate proper credit where needed. However with the growing

agricultural sector and its improved performance due to breakthroughs in technology, the

banks focused on meeting the changing expectations of the public. The intent of the

nationalization step was to decrease the disparities between the wealthy and poorer

sections of the economy and to reach both the advanced as well as remote regions of the

country. In 1980 six additional banks were nationalized bringing more than 85% of the

banks under public control.

The changes in the banking structure have resulted in three major benefits. First

they have increased the geographic coverage of the banks and increased accessibility to

rural areas. Second, they have increased the mobilization of deposits and thirdly they

have redistributed bank credit to people with limited means and to previously neglected

sectors (Morris, 1985).

The banks of India have been divided into scheduled and non-scheduled banks to

distinguish the extent to which the institution satisfies the Reserve Bank requirements.

The most important part of the financial structure is the commercial banks. These banks

represent the typical branch banking type of institutions. The following figure shows a

diagram of the structure of the banking industry in India.




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CHART 1.1

CHART SHOWING BANKING SECTOR OF INDIA

Banks of India

Scheduled Banks Non-Scheduled Banks

State Cooperative Commercial Central Cooperative Commercial Banks Banks (86) Banks and Primary Banks Credit societies

Foreign Banks (40) Indian Banks(46)

Public Sector Banks (26) Private Sector Banks (20)

State Bank of India Nationalized Old Private New Private

and its Associates (6) Banks (20) Sector(13) Sector (7)

Structure of Banking Industry in India

Source : Chawla .A.S.(1987)

Figures in brackets indicate the number of institutions at March end 2012




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TABLE 1.1

COMMERCIAL BANKS IN INDIA – MARCH 2012

Number of Banks Number of Branches

All Scheduled Commercial Banks 86 83229

Public Sector Banks 26 69498

SBI and its Associates 6 19485

Nationalized Banks (Including IDBI) 20 50013

Private sector Banks 20 13408

Old private sector 13 5555

New Private Sector 7 7853

Foreign Banks 40 323

Notes : Data on number of offices include administrative offices.

Source : Master Office File (Latest Updated) on commercial banks, Department of

Statistics and information Management, RBI.

Above table 1.1 shows the offices of commercial banks in India as on March

2012. As on that that there are 86 scheduled commercial banks in India of which 26 are

public sector banks, 20 are private sector banks and the remaining 40 are foreign banks.

TABLE 1.2

SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL BANKS AND THEIR BRANCHES IN INDIA,

TAMIL NADU AND COIMBATORE – MARCH 2012

PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS NATIONALIZED BANKS

S.No Name Of the Bank Year of Establishment

Number of

branches in India

Number of

branches in Tamil

Nadu

Number of branches

in Coimbatore

1. Allahabad Bank Ltd 1865 2572 53 3 2. Andhra Bank Ltd 1923 1712 85 8 3. Bank of Baroda Ltd 1908 3992 162 20




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4. Bank of India Ltd 1906 4021 190 17 5. Bank of Maharashtra Ltd 1935 1632 30 3 6. Canara Bank Ltd 1906 3631 624 55 7. Central Bank of India

Ltd 1911 4134 206 22

8. Corporation Bank Ltd 1906 1454 154 21 9. Dena Bank Ltd 1938 1281 29 2 10. IDBI Bank Ltd 1964 972 65 5 11. Indian Bank Ltd 1907 1993 822 42 12. Indian Overseas Bank

Ltd 1937 2676 1041 57

13. Oriental Bank Of Commerce Ltd

1943 1814 48 5

14. Punjab and Sind Bank Ltd

1908 1021 12 2

15. Punjab National Bank Ltd

1895 5739 147 8

16. Syndicate Bank Ltd 1925 2707 192 28 17. UCO Bank Ltd 1943 2389 95 8 18. United Bank of India Ltd 1950 3329 24 4 19. Union Bank of India Ltd 1919 1599 207 22 20. Vijaya Bank Ltd 1931 1345 85 8

STATE BANK AND ITS ASSOCI1036ATES 21. State Bank of Bikaner

and Jaipur Ltd 1944 1036 7 3

22. State Bank of HyderabadLtd

1941 1343 32 5

23. State Bank of India Ltd 1806 14316 867 83 24. State Bank of Mysore

Ltd 1913 785 45 6

25. State Bank of Patiyala Ltd

1917 1111 15 3

26. State Bank of Trivancore 1945 894 108 7 OLD PRIVATE SECTOR BANKS

27. Catholic Syrian Bank Ltd

1920 384 57 11

28. City Union BankLtd 1904 303 200 15 29. Dhanalakshmi Bank Ltd 1927 294 39 7




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30. Federal Bank Ltd 1931 956 81 6 31. ING Vysya Bank Ltd. 1930 541 42 5 32. Jammu and Kashmir

Bank Ltd 1938 555 4 1

33. Karnataka Bank Ltd 1924 527 36 5 34. Karur Vysys Bank Ltd 1916 479 247 25 35. Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd 1926 310 189 19 36. Nainital Bank Ltd 1912 103 - - 37. Ratnakar Bank Ltd 1943 103 - - 38. South Indian Bank Ltd 1929 711 121 25 39. Tamilnad Mercantile

Bank Ltd 1921 289 228 17

NEW PRIVATE SECTOR BANKS 40. Axis Bank Ltd 1994 1657 166 12 41. Development Credit

Bank Ltd 1995 114 6 -

42. HDFC Bank Ltd 1994 2186 176 14 43. ICICI Bank Ltd 1996 2780 285 21 44. IndusInd Bank Ltd 1994 397 39 5 45. Kotak Mahindra Bank

Ltd 2003 363 21 3

46. Yes Bank Ltd 2005 356 8 1 Note : 1. Data is as per information reported by banks.

2. Data on the number of offices including administrative offices

Source : Master Office File (Latest updated version on banks), DSIM, RBI.

The above table 1.2 shows the list of scheduled commercial banks, their year of

establishment and offices in India, Tamil Nadu and Coimbatore as on March 2012.

Thus Indian banking sector comprises of players who include public sector

banks, State bank of India and its associates, private sector banks, both of old and new

sectors, both of old and new generations, scheduled banks, cooperative banks, regional

rural banks, foreign banks etc.




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1.5 HUMAN RESOURCES The Economic, social and cultural development of any country mostly depends

upon the human resource it has. According to Arthur Lewis , “there are great differences

in development between countries which seem to have roughly equal resources, so it is

necessary to enquire into the difference in human behavior”. As such though the

countries are endowed with same level of natural resources, technology and international

aid etc., their productivity and development mostly depend upon the availability of

efficient human resource and more importantly, commitment of such resource.

Internationalization of both public and private sector organizations has rapidly

changed the complexion of human resource management. The internationalization of

organization makes human resource management more challenging because it raises a

number of new issues like cross – cultural training, compensation and benefits etc. As

such the human resource should be viewed with an international perspective

(Terry.L.Leap) .

Another recent development that has taken place is shifting importance from

manufacturing to service–oriented organizations which has resulted in growing

importance of the human resource. Without predicting human behavior at a particular

point of the time and guiding them in proper direction, service organizations cannot

survive and prosper.

Efficient human resource and their commitment is essential for effective

management of organization. The management of four Ms i.e., Money, Materials,

Machines and Men is essentially carried on by human resource of the organization.

Stressing this point of view, McGregor observed that effectiveness of organizations

would be doubled if managements could discover how to tap unrealized potential present

in their human resources.

The depreciation that results in all other factors of production in the long run

doesn’t result in case of human resource. In fact, the vice versa is true. Human resources

with proper organization and motivation can grow and develop their potential in the long

run. There is no depreciation value for human resource. Stressing this, Peter.F.Drucker

remarked that man, of all resources available to man, can grow and develop. As such

deriving maximum potentialities from this resource largely depends upon proper

management of it.




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It is said that, “behavior of human beings differs widely. It is in turn very

difficult to predict their behavior, especially in organizations where they work in groups.

Their behavior is neither consistent nor predictable. Thus the manager should recognize

that individuals not organizations, create excellence (P.Subba Rao and V.S.P.Rao) .

Most of the complexities in modern organizations arise from human behavior. It

is human resource which can make a difference and which can have an everlasting

impact on the survival of any organization. In this context, Oliver Sheldon observed that,

“no industry can be rendered efficient so long as the basic fact remains unrecognized that

it is principally human. It is not a mass of machines and technical processes but a body

of men. It is not a complex of matter, but a complex of humanity. It fulfills its functions,

not by virtue of some impersonal force, but by human energy. Its body is not an intricate

maze of mechanical device but a magnified nervous system”. Human resources should

be handled carefully by predicting the behavior to the possible extent, in view of the

complexities involved in managing them.

Directing human resource of an organization is guiding the entire organization

towards standard objectives. Because organizing any functional area is in turn organizing

and leading human resource of that functional area, organization is nothing but a

collection of human resource who takes up various functions to attain set objectives.

“Thus all executives must unavoidably be personnel managers” ( Edwin B.Flippo).

Although the human resource is a sub–system of an organization, it affects all

other sub–systems and the entire organization in turn. Wendell L. French rightly puts it,

“Personnel management is a major pervasive sub –system of all organizations”

1.6 HUMAN RESOURCES IN BANKING Banks are basically human organizations. They employ large number of people

of the society so as to fulfill their own organizational and national objectives. In order

to face the challenges of competition in global economy, banks must focus on the

human capital. The human resource in a bank is the one that produces most profit.

Human capital must be treated as human values and not as just pieces of an impersonal

economic tool. In the banking system, the human capital and the moral or ethical values

stand above all. Placing the bank employees in the human resource category, next to the

capital, the technology, the know – how, etc implies a management based on strict




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economic criteria. But from the ethical point of view, people cannot be treated as

simple means or resources.

In the service sector like banking along with other resources, the performance of

banks depends on the quality of human capital as they are the main product and service

delivering assets. Thus in banks human capital is the one that assures the development

of banking activities, bringing the bank performance and prestige.

Besides, the efficiency of the banks can be achieved when the personal growth

and well being of the employees is taken care of and impediments and irritants are

removed which would create a facilitating and congenial environment and foster a

feeling of pride and belongingness. Thus the principal task before bank management is

utilization of its human resources to the optimum for better results and to meet the new

challenges of its employees.

In a competitive scenario as of today, the knowledge work force influences the

identification and socialization process of employees and the work force may also

indirectly act as a complement to improved technologies, business models, work

culture, conventions and sentiments that determine the performance of any organization

in general and the banking sector in particular. Therefore banks are aligning their

human capital with their strategic objectives and it has been recognized as a vital and

forceful factor in the banking sector.

Bimal Jalan, the formerly Governor of Reserve Bank of India rightly pointed out

that, “Capital and technology are replicable but not human capital which needs to be

viewed as a valuable resource for the achievement of competitive advantage even in the

banking sector”.

In the wake of liberalization, privatization and globalization (LPG) of the

economy, the banking philosophy, objectives, priorities, targets and human resource

management policies have also been drastically changed from time to time. As a result

the mind set of the employees and employers have also changed. The socio economic

compulsions and internal and external environment of the banking sector as well

witnessed drastic changes. For instance, introduction of computers, downsizing of the

employees, proposals to mergers and acquisitions, disinvestments policy of the

Government have, indeed affected the bank employees. Besides all this the problem of

mounting overdues on one side and increasing NPA’s, also affected the feelings of the

bank employees.




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Winds of liberalization have brought fresh air and with the entry of foreign banks

in India, greater needs are felt for better customer service and creating a competitive

edge to overcome competitors strategy. The development of competitive strategies and

the labor market seems to have affected the psychological work environment and as a

consequence the employees’ health as well.

Growing competition, complex economic environment, rising labor costs, etc

compel organizations to espouse proactive strategies towards employee contribution. In

the present competitive business environment, Indian organizations are feeling

compelled from within to reorient their employment relationships (Budhwar, 2000)

Sodhi, 1999). After years of organizational restructuring and work re-engineering,

management comes to recognize that a Productive workforce is increasingly important to

attain sustainable competitive advantage for business organizations on a global basis.

(Bohl et al., 1996.)

TABLE : 1.3

BANK GROUP AND POPULATION GROUP WISE DISTRIBUTION OF

EMPLOYEES OF SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL BANKS ACCORDING TO

CATEGORY – MARCH 2011

Total Employees

Bank group Officers Clerks Subordinates Total

SBI and its Associates 1,13,222 1,31,903 55,503 3,00,628

Nationalized Banks 1,97,739 1,81,634 95,687 4,75,060

Foreign Banks 22,207 1,543 490 24,240

Regional Rural Banks 29,869 31,811 18,206 79,886

Private Sector Banks 1,07,107 55,630 8,334 1,71,071

All Scheduled

Commercial Banks 4,70,144 4,02,521 1,78,220 10,50,885

Source : Basic Statistical Returns on Scheduled Commercial Banks In India.

The above table 1.3 shows the bank group and population group wise distribution

of employees of scheduled commercial banks according to category as on March 2011.




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TABLE 1.4

STATE WISE DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYEES OF SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL

BANKS ACCORDING TO CATEGORY MARCH 2011

Total Employees

Region Officers Clerks Subordinates Total

Northern Region 91,688 62,842 30,489 1,85,019

North Eastern Region 9,868 9,361 4,656 23,885

Eastern Region 64,341 65,940 33,997 1,64,278

Central Region 70,651 65,198 31,659 1,67,278

Western Region 1,05,947 89,064 32,790 2,27,801

Southern Region 1,27,649 1,10,116 44,629 2,82,394

Total 4,70,144 4,02,521 1,78,220 10,50,885


The above table 1.4 shows the state wise distribution of employees of scheduled

commercial banks according to category as on March 2011. In southern region there are

1,27,649 officers, 1,10,116 clerks and 44,629 subordinates in commercial banks. Total

number of employees are 2,82,394.

TABLE : 1.5

STATE WISE DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYEES OF SCHEDULED

COMMERCIAL BANKS IN SOUTHERN REGION MARCH 2011

Southern Region Officers Clerks Subordinates Total

Andhra Pradesh 36,826 27,520 12,787 77,133

Karnataka 32,585 27,590 12,237 72,412

Kerala 22,401 20,935 7,195 50,531

Tamil Nadu 35,135 33,346 12,149 80,630

Lakshadweep 28 32 16 76

Puducherry 674 693 245 1,612





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The above table 1.5 shows the state wise distribution of employees of scheduled

commercial banks in southern region as on March 2011. Totally there are 80,630

employees in Tamil Nadu of which 35,135 are officers, 33,346 are clerks and 12,149 are

subordinates.

1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN

BANKING SECTOR Human resource management is a very vast area which covers almost all aspects

of employee’s work-life in an organization right from the time when he enters into the

organization (recruitment) till he leaves it (retirement). Human resource management

takes care of employee’s economic, social and psychological needs. It also influences the

social, political and cultural aspects of employee’s life as organizational life is a major

part of the employee’s life. The economic, social and cultural difference between

developed and developing countries can mostly be attributed to the difference in human

resource in those countries. In this context, Meier and Baldwin rightly points out,

“Development does not occur spontaneously as a natural consequence when economic

conditions are in some sense ‘right’, a catalyst, or agent is needed, and this require

people with vision and drive”.

Recruitment, selection, induction, training and development, transfers,

promotions, demotions, compensations package, working conditions that prevail are all

part of human resource management. Human resource management takes care of

inducting suitable human resource into the organization through recruitment and

selection, sharpens and enriches their capabilities and skills through training and

development, motivates and provides welfare through compensation and maintains good

relations and atmosphere inside the organization through maintaining good industrial

relations in the organization.

Many new concepts and trends are taking place in Human Resource Management

and are gaining importance. One such important concept is ‘Quality of work life’.

Though the importance of quality of work life was realized long ago, its practice is being

stressed upon and specific title is being given only recently. Since then, this term is being

used extensively by employees, employers, Government and academicians.




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Therefore organizations are in need to adopt a strategy to improve Quality of

work life to satisfy both the organizational objectives and employee needs. As the

composition of workforce continues to change, organizations focusing on Quality of

Work Life of employees are expected to gain leverage in hiring and retaining valuable

people. The banking industry like many other industries is adjusting to the multiple

changes in the market place over the past two decades. These sustained changes can be

instructive only by prompting greater interest in employee involvement.

At the outset, quality of work life is one of the comprehensive programmes

designated to create a sense of fulfillment in the minds of the employees and contributes

toward greater involvement, improving productivity and overall effectiveness of the

organization. In the service sector, banking industry is the major player which involves

public for mobilizing funds and it is the secured place for the public to keep their wealth

safe. Maintaining good quality of work in banking industry is of great relevance which

may construe the overall quality of work life of service sector.

1.8 PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY Indian banking system has not only made rapid strides in network expansion but

it itself has undergone a complete and never–dreamt of transformation in its very

objectives, approaches and scale of operation. Technology has indeed played a

significant role in this sea change. Nationalization of banks in two spells in 1969 and

1980 was a watershed in the annals of banking sector in India. With the stupendous

change in the outlook of the Indian society, girls were allowed to pursue education,

resulting in turnout of not merely graduates and post graduates, but even technical

graduates. This resulted in women seeking jobs to supplement their family income and to

enjoy more comforts of life. In short increasing women literacy, growing economic

pressure and the burning desire to gain economic and social independence are pushing

womenfolk to take up gainful career.

The banking industry is unique in that it has been attracting women employees

for over two decades. Several studies indicate that there is an increase in the participation

of women in the banking industry and even in the executive classes

(Bhatnagar, 1988). Working women, in a 1977 study conducted by Blumberg and

Dwaraki (1980), were asked what type of jobs they would prefer to the ones they




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currently held. The most frequent alterative chosen by 20% of the respondents was

working in a bank.

Bank services came to be preferred by women because most of the banks are

located in cities and towns and the other reason for women taking bank jobs lies in their

economic need. Employment contributes to the upgradation of status in the family as

well as in the society. They prefer banking services because of the professional nature of

the jobs. Many women take up employment in banks with a view to achieve further

progress through passing bank examination held for higher posts. They consider their

future prospects promising in bank services. As banks are functioning in their own city

or town, they would not be required to stay away from their homes and families.

Presently banks have women working on different posts and performing their

duties as efficiently as their counterparts. Women may be found holding posts of higher

responsibility in the banking sector.

Thus economic needs, wish to raise their status, supplementing of family income,

shouldering family’s responsibilities thrust upon them, utilization of their educational

qualifications and professional nature of job are the main reasons which have induced

women towards services in banks.

1.9 BANK BRANCHES WITH EXCLUSIVELY WOMEN

EMPLOYEES The banking industry has experimented with several bank branches that employ

only women at all levels, from the clerical workers to the management staff. These

branches provided many Indian women, who felt uncomfortable working closely with

men, an opportunity to work in an office setting free from the pressure of dealing with

men. These types of branches also gave a wider opportunity for women to work at all

levels of the bank without competing with them.




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TABLE 1.6 BANK GROUP AND POPULATION GROUP WISE

DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALE EMPLOYEES OF SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL

BANKS ACCORDING TO CATEGORY – MARCH 2011

Female Employees

Bank group Officers Clerks Sub – ordinates Total

SBI and its Associates 13,754 38,708 5,082 57,544

Nationalized Banks 24,618 43,056 11,085 78,789

Foreign Banks 6,927 781 25 7,703

Regional Rural Banks 1,004 2,688 789 4,481

Private Sector Banks 21,655 15,796 846 38,297

All Scheduled

Commercial Banks 67,958 1,00,999 17,827 1,86,784


The above table 1.6 shows the bank group and population group wise distribution

of female employees of scheduled commercial banks according to category as on March

2011. Totally there are 1,86,784 women employees in all scheduled commercial banks.

TABLE 1.7

STATE WISE DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALE EMPLOYEES OF SCHEDULED

COMMERCIAL BANKS ACCORDING TO CATEGORY MARCH 2011

Female Employees

Region Officers Clerks Sub – ordinates Total

Northern Region 13,728 14,647 3,557 31,932

North Eastern Region 1,010 2,045 425 3,480

Eastern Region 5,806 9,042 2,426 17,274

Central Region 5,620 10,255 2,070 17,945

Western Region 19,540 28,475 2,868 50,883

Southern Region 22,254 36,535 6,481 65,270

Total 67,958 1,00,999 17,827 1,86,784





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The above table 1.7 shows the state wise distribution of female employees of

scheduled commercial banks according to category as on March 2011. In southern region

there are 22,254 officers, 36,535 clerks and 6,481 subordinates. Totally there are 65,270

women employees in Southern region.

TABLE 1.8

STATE WISE DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALE EMPLOYEES OF SCHEDULED

COMMERCIAL BANKS IN SOUTHERN REGION MARCH 2011

Southern region Officers Clerks Sub – ordinates Total

Andhra Pradesh 5,074 6,709 1,938 13,721

Karnataka 5,601 9,744 1,552 16,897

Kerala 5,183 8,490 1,230 14,903

Tamil Nadu 6,281 11,358 1,713 19,352

Lakshadweep 1 11 3 15

Puducherry 114 223 45 382


The above table 1.8 shows the state wise distribution of female employees of

scheduled commercial banks in southern region as on March 2011. In Tamil Nadu there

are 6,281 officers, 11,358 clerks and 1,713 subordinates. Totally there are 19,352 women

employees in Tamil Nadu.

1.10 PROBLEMS FACED BY WOMEN IN BANKING SECTOR A team of Bulgarian experts, headed by Professor Ivanovich, Department Head at

the National Centre of Public Health Protection, conducted a survey on working

conditions in the banking sector, aimed at determining risk levels based on employees’

self-evaluation. A case study was carried out in 2004 in a large bank that has branches

throughout the country in Bulgaria. Findings of the study indicated that Female

employees experience more physical pain and discomfort than their male counterparts.

The feeling of fatigue appears earlier and increases more quickly among women

(particularly after the fourth hour at work) than their male counterparts.




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Constant exposure to computer terminals and the radiation there from has an

adverse effect on the pregnant women. Sedentary nature of bank jobs make the women

employees more vulnerable to severe headache, pains in fingers and wrists, backache and

waist problems, pain in neck and shoulders and eye strain. Most of the women

executives in private and public sector banks forgo promotion out of the fear of causing

dislocation in the family though they have fully qualified themselves with CAIIB and

other officer cadre exams conducted by the respective banks. The thought of attending to

a new born baby, toddlers, children returning from school, etc., distract the attention of

women executives in their thirties.

Since executives like cashier, teller, accountant, loan officer, portfolio managers,

FOREX officer, assistant branch manager, etc., cannot leave the bank without tallying

the account, the family members of female executives suffer more and the executives

concerned, experience more mental stress than the male counterparts which has an

adverse effect on the psychological health of the women executives.

Most of the public and private sector banks are located in prime locality of the

town or city and in the case of reaching branches located in far off places, women

executives experience more physical strain in commuting to the work spot. This travel

leaves an adverse impact on the physical and mental health of women respondents. In

view of hectic work schedule and heavy workload, women executives find it challenging

to strike work life harmony.

In other words the inability to give up conventional domestic obligations as a

home maker cast additional strain on women officers across banks. Besides women

executives across the bank have to be away from the family on account of official

meeting, inspection, assignment, etc. This widens the gap in the relations between the

women executives and the family members. All the inconvenience and discomfort

suffered by the women executives in their professional journey as cited above have the

potential to influence the work efficiency of the subjects thereby striking the quality of

work performance.

The women executives unlike their male counterparts find difficult to take up

leadership roles in their path. Though they are on par with the male counterparts in terms

of age, education, talent, skill, competence, knowledge, the conventional duties cast on

women on domestic front, the natural love and affection towards the family members,




20

physical debility in undertaking tours etc., militate against their desire to climb up the

career ladder.

Number of research studies conducted on the factors preventing women

executives from even aspiring for top slots in the organization hierarchy have unearthed

a number of inhibitive factors. Some of the factors often reported to be barriers have

been sieved from the literature survey. The factors such as taking care of the family

(Siew Kim, J.L., and Seow Kim, C. 2001), combining domestic work and office work

leaves no time for making us fit for higher posts Parveen, S., (1984) , physical strain

necessitating longer hours of stay in the office (Adams, G.A., King, L.A., and King,

D.W. 1996), difficulty of better judgment and quick decision-making required in higher

posts (Burke, R.J. and Mattis, M. 2005), strain of frequent tours and field visits

(Sivakumar 2010) and fear of transfer which disturbs family life and domestic peace

(Azhar, R., 1978) are taken into consideration to find out the major factors curbing the

desire to aspire for higher end positions in the banking hierarchy.

1.11 QUALITY OF WORK LIFE-INTRODUCTION Quality of Work Life (QWL) has become one of the most important issues these

days in every organization. Employees are the force that is behind every successful

organization. No organization can become successful with technology only because for

the use of technology also, organizations need to have a strong work force. Quality of

Work Life was the term actually introduced in the late 1960s. From that period till now

the term has been gaining more and more importance everywhere, at every work place.

The term ‘Quality of Work Life’ appeared in research journals only in 1970s.

Initially quality of work life was focusing on the effects of employment on the

general well being and the health of the workers. But now its focus has been changed.

Every organization needs to give good environment to their workers including all

financial and non financial incentives so that they can retain their employees for the

longer period and for the achievement of the organization goals.

It is not only monetary aspects that a modern employee concerns himself with. It

is also concerned with conditions of employment, interpersonal conflicts, role conflicts,

job pressure, lack of freedom of work and absence of challenging work etc. As the style

of management has changed from paternalistic to democratic, so as the expectations of

employees with an impending need to achieve more and more productivity efficiently,




21

employees look forward to the conducive and congenial working conditions and

favorable terms of employment. As such productivity and efficiency of an organization

largely depends upon the quality of work life provided by the organization.

“Blessed is he, who has found his work. Let him ask no other blessedness. It is

work and only work which changes the individual, the society and nation” (Mahaveer

Jain), was the comment of Caryle in his ‘Past and Present’ such is the importance of the

work in one’s life. Work is a major aspect of life that it influences one’s life–style

tremendously.

Rosow (1974) explains the importance of work more in detail and relates it to

success and failure of a man in his society. According to him, “Work is the core of life

considering the deeper meaning of work to be individual and to life’s values; work

means being a good provider; it means autonomy; it pays off in success, and it

establishes self–respect or self-worth. Within this frame work, the person who openly

confesses active job dissatisfaction is virtually admitting failure as a man, a failure in

fulfilling his moral role in society”.

1.12 MEANING AND DEFINITION OF QUALITY OF WORK LIFE. Though the concept ‘Quality of work Life’ appeared in print only in 1970 in the

USA, the concept had been given potential importance since 1950s. But is was not very

clear and was ambiguous, ‘Quality of Work Life’ is interpreted and viewed in different

ways. The term continues to be vague though many people tried to define it in specific

terms. A few among them are presented below.

Richard Walton (1979) who had taken up extensive research on Quality of Work

Life made significant contribution for the conceptualization of the term Quality of Work

Life. In fact measuring QWL has become easy and practicable with the factors/elements

that he proposed. According to Walton, “Quality of Work Life is the work culture that

serves as the corner stone”. Hence, Life is the work culture of an organization which

should be recognized and improved to improve Quality of work Life of that

Organization.

According to Nadler and Lawler (1983) “Quality of working life is a way of

thinking about people, work and organizations.” Thus, the focus of quality of working

life is not only on how people can do the work better, but on how work may cause people

to be better. It is a concern that is different from other productivity or organizational




22

enhancement efforts, because of its focus on the outcome for the individual, opinioned

the authors.

Robert F. Craver, a senior executive at AT and T on the other hand views “

QWL is more than a fad, more than an attempt to pacify the growing demands of

impatient employees. For the manager, QWL can offer new challenges, opportunities for

growth and satisfaction”.

Robert H. Guest, a noted behavioral scientist talks about feelings of an employee

about his work while defining Quality of Work Life. He further points out the effect of

QWL on person’s life. According to him “QWL is a generic phrase that covers a

person’s feelings about every dimension of work, including economic rewards and

benefits, security, working conditions, organizational and interpersonal relationships, and

its intrinsic meaning in a person’s life”, and “It is a process by which an Organization

attempts to unlock the creative potential of its people by involving them in decisions

affecting their work lives.”

In the development process, the term QWL has acquired many different

definitions creating confusion. Nadler and Lawler (1983) brought out this confusion

thus,

First definition 1969-1972 QWL = Variable

Second definition 1969-1975 QWL = Approach

Third definition 1972-1975 QWL = Methods

Fourth definition 1975-1980 QWL = Movement

Fifth definition 1969-1982 QWL = Everything

Whatever may be the interpretation, QWL is the most debated topic both by the

employers and the employees. One of the reasons for its growing importance could be

the realization on the part of employees about their rights and growing unionism.

Workers are no more illiterate. They do not completely depend upon the mercy of

management for their existence. Most of the lower level workers also have atleast

primary education. Thanks to the efforts of the Governments in this regard, each and

every worker tends to join some union or the other for his own protection and well-

being. Unions put all their efforts to educate their members to realize their rights and as

to what they expect from management in return of what they contribute. Though still




23

monetary benefits occupy the first place in the list of elements of QWL , other elements

like physical working conditions, job restructuring and redesign, career development,

promotional opportunities etc., are gaining importance rapidly. As such the workers

expect management to improve QWL by providing all these facilities.

The Management on the other hand, has ceased to adopt paternalistic approach as

it used to be earlier. They do not take care of the employee as a parent takes care of his

child. There is no more understanding between employer and employee, except a

constant struggle for their own end. Employer always sees the employees as a factor of

production just like other factors. He always tries to extract as much production as

possible from this factor, where as the employees always expect more facilities and

comforts from employer in return to what they contribute. This situation has resulted in

constant struggle between employees and employers.

QWL emerged to end such exploitation and injustice on the part of the

employers. As De (1976) pointed out, “QWL is an indicator of how free the society is

from exploitation, injustice, inequality, oppression and restrictions on the continuity of

growth of man, leading to his development to the fullest”.

Because of poor design of socio-technical system, employees also experience

alienation. Alienation is a feeling of powerlessness, lack of meaning, loneliness, and

boredom, lack of ego involvement and lack of attachment to job (Keith Davis). This job

discontent and job pressures may in turn affect employees health giving way to general

unhappiness. Hence, it is viewed that QWL should be designed along with all activities

of Human Resources Amusement as given in the following examples.

HR activity Effect on QWL

Job Analysis Analyze the job in such a way that

human needs like freedom,

challenging work, autonomy can be

satisfied.

Selection Selecting the right man and placing

him in the right position. This

satisfies his needs for regard,

interesting work etc.




24

Job Enrichment Satisfy higher order needs like pride

and ego.

Job Evaluation Equitable wages.

QWL has its roots in scientific management advocated by F.W. Taylor in the

sense that, the mechanical / quantitative approach that the scientific management

assumed gave way to frustration of the workers which led to human relations movement

and later socio-technical movement which was the basis for today’s Quality of Work

Life.

1.13 EVOLUTION OF QUALITY OF WORK LIFE (QWL) Thus the evolution of the concept QWL was mainly in 3 phases—scientific

Management movement, human relations movement and finally socio-technical

Movement .

1.13.1 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT MOVEMENT Federick W. Taylor (1947) was the advocate of scientific management

Movement. As a result of industrial revolution, there aroused a great need to increase

productivity of work organizations. Taylor, in an attempt to achieve this, came up with

the idea of scientific management, time study and work study. He viewed that the burden

of planning and designing the work should be removed from the shoulders of workers.

They should be given specific tasks and clear instructions as to how a particular job,

should be done, before hand. He also advocated ‘Division of Work’ which means that

instead of assigning a worker entire job, divide it into parts and assign each part to a

different worker. As such each worker will have to do only a part of total job, thus

specializing in that work. Taylor hoped that such specialization would quicken the

production process. He further advocated various incentive schemes which would enable

a worker who achieves a particular level of production, to earn certain per centage of

incentive.

With the help of time, work and motion studies, Taylor viewed that workers can

be briefed exactly on what is to be done, when, where and how, leaving practically

nothing to their discretion. Taylor had put his thoughts in point in his work “The

principles of scientific management” in 1911 which was the most popular work of that




25

period and influenced not only the American industry, but the industry all over the world

for at least a quarter of the century.

Taylor, through his time and work study, division of labour, and incentive

schemes, tried to improve work life of employees. Through incentive scheme and

division of labour Taylor contributed towards Quality of Work Life.

Fayol was another pioneer of similar approach with his 14 principles. But he

concentrated on general management unlike Taylor who concentrated his research only

on shop floor management. Fayol tried to improve QWL through some of his principles

like division of work, unity of command and direction, remuneration and esprit de corps.

Taylor’s work was most popular as well as most criticized one. Production levels

started increasing with the application of principles of scientific management. But

elimination of human element by Taylor started showing its effect soon. Industrial unrest

began to rise as a result of repetitive work and rigid standards prescribed to the workers.

The general feeling among workers was that the best judges on to how and when to do

their work is they themselves and not supervisors or managers. They further felt that

with their sole objective of increasing the production, the managers tend to set up strict

and rigid standards which cannot be reached always by an average worker. Lack of

empathy on the part of employers drove workers to think that they were being cheated

and exploited. The application of incentive schemes only worsened their human

relations. A quick and skilled worker could earn more whereas a below average worker

couldn’t even earn normal wages as there are standards to be reached to earn normal

wages. This resulted in groupism and back-biting, and spoiled the general environment

of the Organization. The workers attributed all this to scientific management.

Not only was Taylor targeted to the criticism of workers, but also, other groups

like academicians, researchers, and anthropologists. They felt that Taylor considered

human beings as just another factor of production. He fixed standards, time limits and

work schedules to workers as they do to machines. As such Taylor’s was mainly a

mechanical approach. This negative approach towards human beings was criticized.

As the realization of human potential grew, criticism on scientific management

grew. This resulted in researches in thinking more about human approach in the industry.

The industrial unrest and constant bickering among management and workers also

stressed the need to think of different approach which can overcome the drawbacks of




26

scientific management and give due recognition and importance to human element,

which finally resulted in ‘Human Relations Movement’.

1.13.2 HUMAN RELATIONS MOVEMENT

Human relations movement was mainly concerned with inter-personal and group

relationships among workers and advocated a participatory and democratic style of

supervision to achieve work effectiveness. Maslow(1954), Herzberg(1959) and Mc

Gregor (1960) were all important members of Human Relations school who contributed

towards this view.

Quality of work life has its roots in the theories of Maslow, Herzberg and Mc

Gregor. The need for fulfillment as that of Abraham Maslow’s motivational theory of

need hierarchy is comparable with those of the factors of QWL. Basic needs like

monetary benefits come first, followed by good working conditions. Later comes career

planning, growth and development of human capabilities to satisfy. Maslow’s esteem

needs are comparable with opportunity to use and develop human capabilities. Lastly

challenging work is advocated by Walton to satisfy self-actualization need in need

hierarchy. Quality of work life concerns itself with satisfying both hygiene factors and

motivators as identified by Herberg to improve the work life of employees. The

assumptions of McGregor can be divided into two sets i.e, those under, “Theory X’ and

those under “Theory Y’ gave realization of changing attitudes, values and work culture

of employees basically belongs to ‘Theory Y”. Thus, it is evidence that the QWL has had

its origin in these theories of motivation.

1.13.3 SOCIO – TECHINICAL SYSTEM

As improved school of thought from Human Relations movement is socio-

technical system which forms actual basis for present Quality of Work Life.

The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (1947) conducted a series of studies

in coal mines. There was a subsequent research in Calico Textile Mills in Ahmedabad

which was conducted by Prof. A. K. Rice. These two studies form the basis for socio-

technical movement.

The basic feature of socio – technical system is –“The design of the organization

must be compatible with its objectives. In order to adopt to change and be capable of

using the creative capacities of the individual, a system should be provided to the people




27

that gives an opportunity to participate in the design of the jobs they are required to

perform” as Cherns (1979) puts it.

The objectives should be specific. But specification of tasks, allocation of tasks to

jobs or jobs to roles, specification of methods of obtaining them should be minimum.

The employees, given specific objectives, should be able to plan and design their own

activities. There should also be variance control i.e., the employees should be able to

recheck and inspect their own work. This enables them to learn from their own mistakes.

The role of supervisors is confined to boundary activities like ensuring resources

to the employer, coordinating with other departments and forecasting likely changes and

informing them to the employees etc.

The organizational design should ensure high quality of Work Life. The six

psychological requirements of working people, which were advocated by Emery and

Thorsord (1969), should be taken in to account while designing an organization. These

factors are.

(i) The need for variety of content of a job (not necessarily novelty).

(ii) The need for being able to learn on the job and to go on learning.

(iii)The need for some minimal area of decision – making that the individual can call

his own.

(iv) The need for some minimal degree of social support and recognition in the

work place.

(v) The need for individual to be able to relate what he does and what he produces to

his social life.

(vi) The need to feel that the job leads to some sort of desirable future.

No organization has independent social or independent technical system.

Organization is an interdependent social and technical system. Socio – technical system

requires social and technical system to be jointly optimized. It is from this notion of

socio- technical that the ‘ Quality of Work Life’ emerged.

1.14 ORIGIN OF QUALITY OF WORK LIFE Legislation enacted in early 20th century to protect employees from job injury

and to eliminate hazardous working conditions, followed by the unionization movement

in the 1930 and 1940s were the initial steps. The 1950s and the 1960s saw the

development of different theories by psychologists proposing a “positive relationship




28

between morale and productivity”, and the possibility that improved human relations

would lead to the enhancement of both. Attempts at reform to acquire equal employment

opportunity and job enrichment schemes also were introduced. Finally, in the 1970s the

idea of QWL was conceived which, according to Walton, is broader than these earlier

developments and is something that must include ‘the values that were at the heart of

these earlier reform movements’ and ‘human needs and aspirations’. The theories of

motivation and leadership provided a sound base for the concept of QWL.

If the lower order needs are satisfied, people seek satisfaction for the higher order

needs. QWL activity gained importance between 1969 and 1974, when a broad group of

researchers, scholars, union leaders and Government personnel developed interest in how

to improve the quality of an individual through on the job experience.

The term quality of work life was introduced by Louis Davis. The first

International QWL conference was held in Toronto in 1972. The international council for

quality of work life was established in 1972. From 1980 onwards QWL was increasingly

placed on employee centered productivity programs.

In India, QWL offers a value frame and the social technology of organizational

change leading to task effectiveness of micro entities through utilization and unfolding of

human potential. Some evidence of the rising tide interest in the quality of work life

issue is the fact that the second International Conference on quality of work life held in

Toronto in 1981 attracted 1,500 participations. The 200 unionist and 750 management

people combined, outnumbered the academicians, consultants and Government officials

in attendance.

Quality is no more a specialized word but has become a necessary and a must

work for the best survival. In this era, Quality of human inputs is the greatest asset to any

organization. Maintaining the quality of such human inputs raises from maintaining the

quality of work life perfectly. A perfect quality of work life would help the organization.

Rise in the quality of work life would help employees’ well being thereby the well being

of the whole organization. This is an attempt to capitalize the human assets of the

organization.




29

1.15 QWL IN ABROAD AND IN INDIA Experiments are being conducted in industrially advanced countries to find

out the cause of general frustration among employees and resulting misunderstanding

between management and employees and the ultimate industrial sickness and unrest.

The famous Tavistock studies from which socio–technical system emerged

provided answers to most of these questions. In brief, this system advocated industrial

democracy, participative management, minimum involvement of management in the

tasks of employees and improved interpersonal relations to overcome the labour

problems. Managements, especially in industrially developed countries were quick to

react to these suggestions. As such they had taken up research and experimental studies

in their organizations. With good results showing up in no time, these organizations

started practicing the same.

The employees also, being more educated and more informed through unions,

grew more logical and demanded for increased involvement in the management.

Though the studies conducted in Calico Mills Limited. Ahmedabad by Ric found

basis for QWL along with Tavistock studies, India is slow in adopting socio-technical

system and improving QWL. The reasons are:

(i) The people in India generally are unadoptive to anything which is new. Initial

resistance is evident in adopting anything which is new, no matter how it

improves the ability of the organization. The management tends to stick on to the

traditional methods of getting work done from the employees. As such they did

not take any measures to improve QWL for a long time.

(ii) The employees of the workers in India are also not educated in general. They do

not have much logical power. There is also a tendency as said earlier to stick on

to the old rather than adopt something new. Some of the unions even felt the

measures for improving quality of work life by the management is nothing but

getting more work done by the worker with no major costs.

(iii) Improving Quality of Work Life also involves considerable amount to be spent

by the management. The employers were initially hesitant to spend. This has

given negative attitude to employees.

But the scene has changed. Now, both the management and workers are realizing

the importance of QWL. In fact, QWL has become a buzzword in the industries these

days and even laymen talk about it. Let us examine the practices of QWL, in some of the




30

industrially advanced countries and proceed to discuss the present situation in India in

this regard.

1.15.1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Quality of work life is sometimes referred to as humanizing the working

life and emphasizing the human factor. USA can be said as pioneer in

developing thoughts, ideas and identifying various dimensions of QWL. Richard E.

Walton, an American professor played a major role in developing the concept of

Quality of Work Life. In fact, the eight factors that he proposed to measure QWL made

the task easy worldwide. Still these factors are mostly used in measuring QWL.

1.15.2 THE UNITED KINGDOM The very basis of QWL is in UK in the sense that the Tavistock Institute of

Human Relations, U.K., carried out research into what they called as socio-technical

system from which the concept of QWL emerged.

Shell UK Ltd. launched QWL programmes in its microwave department to

overcome impending labour problems like lowmorals, high cost and poor maintenance.

Restructuring of job tasks was done and more decision-making power was given to the

employees. This had provided for improvement of QWL which paid back in terms of 50

per cent decline in absenteeism, 75 per cent reduction of plant testing line and 70

per cent increase in output.

The sales level was increased by 18 per cent in ICI with the introduction of a

system of more autonomy and responsibility for sales representatives in areas like

reporting, complaint handling, refund and pricing.

Many other major organizations in UK have also started practicing QWL

improvement programmes for the general betterment of their Organization.

1.15.3 SWEDEN The decision-making power in Sweden mostly lies with management as they

have a right to ‘hire and fire’ and ‘to distribute and manage jobs’. But with the increase

in manpower problem, the managements are taking steps recently towards participative




31

management. According to Ageavold, an academician, efforts were made in redesigning

work and making workers participation effective.

1.15.4 ITALY Italy is a scene of high attention paid towards QWL in early 1970s then a

decline in attention during later years of, as they perceived QWL as a ‘peripheral

problem’. And in recent years, the Government of Italy is again taking all steps to

increase QWL consciousness among organizations with setting up of organizations like

‘Kstitue de studi Lavora ‘ and ‘Istituto di Ricerca Intervento Svi Sistemi Organiativi’.

Organizations like ‘ Olivetti’ , ‘ Fiat’, ‘Proctor and Gamble ‘, IBM’, ‘Italidev’

and ‘Philips’ are practicing QWL improvement programmes.

1.15.5 WEST GERMANY West Germany like many other countries had become concerned about working

conditions and other labour problems due to decreased productivity and industrial unrest.

As a measure towards improving quality of work life that Federal Ministry of

Labour and Social Affairs introduced a research programme on humanization of work in

1974. The concentration was on problems of industrial workers, particularly those from

basic and metal processing industries. After 1976 the attention was on future orientation

of the programmes and the priority was on the contents of such programmes.

1.15.6 JAPAN Japan has always been first in introducing labour welfare programmes,

maintaining sound labour management relations and practicing any new concept which

ensures good industrial atmosphere. In case of QWL, Japan can be said as the torch-

bearer in introducing QWL—improvement programmes.

Their success in implementing QWL –improvement programmes can be mostly

attributed to the positive attitudes of both management and employees and also extensive

support from Government in all possible ways.

The Japanese have a two-way approach towards QWL improvement programmes

i.e., flexible employment of work force and employees general acceptance to

technological changes.




32

Many other western and some of the Asian countries are also contributing

towards QWL-improvement programmes.

1.15.7 INDIA India is a country with various culture, value systems and varied interests. As

such it is difficult to assess the impact of a particular concept in the country as a whole.

For example, Lahiri and Srivastava (1976) had found out from their study that in one of

the industries extrinsic rewards are more important to the workers, whereas Dayal and

Sharma (1975) in another similar study carried out in another industry concluded that

intrinsic rewards are more important to the workers. In another study, Dayal says that

Indian labour prefer paternalistic approach of management while Srivastava

contradictorily says that workers would like to participate in decision-making given an

opportunity, based on one of his studies.

Thorsrud, a researcher in this context, says “Even within the same country, there

may be important cultural differences with regard to relative importance of motivating

factors, and, therefore, there is a need to find local solutions to QWL problems, rather

than applying uniform principles which cannot be adopted to local requirements”.

As such, in India, the order of preference in improving various aspects of QWL

should change from place to place, depending upon the preference of the workers and

their attitudes at that place. In fact, QWL improvement was not considered as important

factor in India until recently. Because there were more impending factors like resource

deficiency, environmental threats, serious financial problems and lack of consciousness

among employees in this regard can also be considered as one of the reasons for delayed

improvement of QWL. Though Trade Union was playing an important role, their part is

more of a destructive one. Their negative attitude towards management did not in any

way help the improvement of QWL. In fact, worker selected for bipartite committees for

decision-making are viewed by the Union as their rivals.

There are also differences among the views of managements regarding QWL.

Some have come to a stage, where they see human resource as a critical one in the

developmental process and thus striving to take all steps to improve it, whereas the other

organizations still did not realize the improvement strategies, confine themselves to

increasing pay scales and introducing some welfare measures. They ignore the other

aspect i.e., the higher order needs of the employees. This is so, especially in case of small




33

and medium scale industries in backward states, whereas large-scale industries and

multi-nationals are fast realizing the need for improvement of QWL.

The Government’s intervention in this regard is minimum. The inclusion of the

concept of workers participation in Management did not in any way influence the

improvement of QWL. The ministry of Human Resource Development is taking active

steps to implement some of the Human Resource Development programmes to which

QWL correlates.

What is important in India at this stage is developing consciousness among all

section of industry i.e., workers, union and management. Once these parties view QWL

with a positive approach, the improvement programme can be effectively planned and

implemented. Because a positive relationship between improved QWL and increase in

worker’s satisfaction is almost already established.

1.16 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Service organizations play a vital role in our economy in terms of the creation of

employment potential and contribution to the national income. Commercial banks are an

important part of service organizations in countries like India. One of the most important

problems of a developing economy is that of capital formation. There is a good deal of

difference between hoarding and saving and the people in the countryside have to be

made to realize the difference. This can be easily done by banks. Banks play a very

useful and dynamic role in the economic life of every modern state. A well-developed

banking system is essential for the economic development of a country. In case of

developing countries like India, the commercial banks are considered to be the backbone

of the economy. Commercial banks are considered not merely as dealers in money but

also the leaders in economic development. They are not only the store houses of the

country’s wealth but also the reservoirs of resources necessary for economic

development.

Fourteen major banks were nationalized in 1969, and some more were

nationalized a few years later. Since then banks have come to play a major role in the

socio-economic life of the country. They are no longer merely instruments for credit-

mobilization and money-lending. They are no longer merely institutions for the benefits

of a few individuals. They are now powerful instruments of economic growth and social




34

justice. The role of the banks has changed. The commercial banks have to face

challenges due to the liberalization policy.

The success of any organization and institution depends on the synergy created

by its human resources. An Organization’s prime resources consist of men, machine,

money and material. Of all the prime resources human resource is accepted as the most

vital and valuable because other resources depreciate in value with the passage of time

and use. The human resources appreciate in value through increased knowledge,

experience and efficiency. As such the banking industry needs motivated personnel with

entrepreneurial flair, financial wizard, technical brilliance, administrative efficiency etc.

Human resource consists of men and women. We can not isolate women’s position as

they constitute half of this human resource. The expansion of banks, opened new

avenues of employment for young men and women and today women in sufficient

numbers are working in banks along with men.

In fact sound QWL enables the bank management to have such human resources.

The study of Quality of work life of women employees in commercial banks assumes

greater significance in view of economic liberalization and need for qualitative human

resources. As such an attempt is made to conduct a study on QWL of women employees

in commercial banks.

1.17 SCOPE OF THE STUDY This study is exclusively made to understand, analyze and measure quality of

Work Life among the women bank employees of Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu. As

for banks are concerned all the three kinds of banks – Public sector, Private sector and

new generation private sectors are surveyed. The present study intends to survey only

women employees who confront challenging situations which demand skills of a higher

order for meeting them successfully. To measure quality of work life in these banks ten

components were considered. They are Nature of job, Compensation of employees, Safe

and healthy working conditions, Opportunity for growth and development, Social

integration in the work force, Constitutionalism in the banks, Occupational stress,

Participation in management, Grievance handling and Social relevance of work.

This study seeks to shed some light on how employees can manage the ever

increasing demands of work and personal life. Further this study also aims at finding out

the stress level of bank employees.




35

1.18 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM It may be worthwhile to mention here that enormous changes have taken place in

the whole structural pattern of banking in the last three–four decades. Class banking

yielded place to mass banking.

The phenomenal growth of Banks has created massive employment opportunities

for the educated youth of our nation. The women job seekers find jobs in banks more

attractive and more suitable to their nature. Thus the humongous increase in job

opportunities in banks and the abundant availability of qualified women who get selected

in job tests paved the way for the large number of women occupying positions in all

cadres today not only in public sector and private sector banks but even in new

generation banks.

The banking industry has gone through a paradigm shift and one can clearly see

the stress level rising. Now the banking industries are under constant pressure of

changing their policies, technologies and working styles so as to face the increasing

competitive spirit of the global village. The implications of new policy reforms have

affected the social, economical and psychological domains of the bank employees and

their relations.

Now the bank employees have to work under tremendous pressure to compete

with the rivals. There is mismatch between nature of work and competency. Banking

hours is now increased in order to cope up the increased expectation of services of

customers. The bank employees are dealing with money and pertaining to more stress

and less quality to their working life in the bank. The responsibility of bank employees

has been increasing day to day due to policy changes. Now they are facing the challenges

of high work load when it is beyond their expertise and limit.

Apart from this women bank employees find it very difficult to manage male

subordinates and have a tough time in extracting work from them. They are not getting

adequate support from the superiors in their work accomplishment and dissemination of

functional duties.

In view of hectic work schedule and heavy workload, women executives find it

challenging to strive work life harmony. All the inconvenience and discomfort suffered

by the women employees in their professional journey as listed above have the potential

to influence the work efficiency of the subjects thereby striking the quality of work

performance.




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Both employers and employees now better appreciate the importance of the

Quality of work life in an organization. Quality of work life is important to banking

business organizational performance. Quality of work life is an important factor that

affects motivation at work and paves the way for poor work life quality. Quality of work

life has two objectives: to enhance the productivity and the satisfaction of employees.

Quality of work life is the quality of the content of relationship between employees and

their total working environment with human dimensions added to the provision of

services. Bank employees expect several monetary and non-monetary benefits from the

bank. Hence this study makes an attempt on the factors influencing on quality of work

life of bank employees in the light of current realities.

1.19 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY Objectives of the study are framed as follows.

1. To measure the overall quality of work life of women bank employees in private

sector and public sector.

2. To study about the relationship between the various factors of QWL and stress.

3. To investigate the factors those affect the work life balance of women employees

in the banking sector.

4. To analyze the problems faced by women employees in the banking sector.

5. To study the impact of QWL and the attitude of the women employees in the

banking sector.

1.20 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 1. This study is limited to Coimbatore district only. Hence the inferences and

findings of the analysis may not symbolize the actual perception of the bank

employees regarding QWL in the context of entire employees.

2. An academic study of this nature has had limitation in view of restricted access to

research and the general confidential nature of working of banks. This limitation

however was reduced to a great extent through interview method.

3. There were problems in soliciting views of employees through structured

questionnaire as many employees tend to avoid extremes and take neutral stand

regarding many aspects. Reaching at a conclusion becomes difficult in such case.




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This limitation was however reduced through informal discussions with the

employees.

4. Apart from the constraint of time, money and effort, a major limitation was that

some of the employees were hesitant to answer the questions. The respondents

tend to be biased in answering the questionnaire.

5. It generally analyzes on the various factors relating to Quality of Work Life and

the constraints faced by them, as analyzing Quality of Work Life is highly

qualitative in nature and the factors are subject to change in the days to come.

6. Lastly it is difficult for an individual to draw up an accurate picture of quality of

work life of employees divided into various categories scattered geographically

all over the country and particularly in rural areas under different circumstances,

perceptions, attitudes etc. However every effort is made to gather and evaluate

the situation as accurately and objectively as possible.

1.21 CHAPTER SCHEME Chapter I

Chapter One deals with Introduction, Significance, Nature and Scope of the

Study, Statement of the Problem, Objectives of the Study and Limitations of the Study.

Chapter II

Chapter Two sketches the review of related literature relevant to the present

study.

Chapter III

Chapter Three presents conceptual frame work of the study, Concept of QWL,

Factors affecting QWL, Measurement of QWL and Barriers of QWL etc.

Chapter IV

Chapter Four presents the research design which includes research question, area

and period of the study, sampling design, questionnaire design, sources of data and

framework of analysis.

Chapter V

Chapter five contains analysis and interpretation of data based on responses of

the women bank employees of both public and private sector collected for the study.




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Chapter VI

Chapter six enlists summary of findings, suggestions and conclusion. Thus it

summarizes all the results obtained through statistical analysis to arrive at conclusions

and to offer suggestions.




chapter – i introduction 1.1 introduction...

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