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Aditya Puri, Managing Director, HDFC Bank, speaks to BT's Anand Adhikari. Q In a service oriented organization like yours, is it the employee who comes first or is it the customer? AP: If I don't have a happy employee, I will never have a happy customer. Clearly, the reason for our existence is providing service to a customer. So, the customer is bound to come first and that's what the organisation believes in. But we also have to make sure that employee interest is also taken care of. Q So, how do you ensure that the employees' interest is taken care of? AP : The vibrancy of the organisation depends upon the commitment and enthusiasm of the entire workforce in a company. Our values are customer and people focus. The ethics are so deeply embedded that anybody even discussing the non ethical stuff at any level with any employee is unlikely to get a very pleasant response. We also have various levels of communication with the employees. I do video conferencing all over the region twice a week to get the message across to as many people. We have a very flat reporting structure and anybody can approach the higher ups. It is also my own personal goal to make sure that every employee should feel part of the organisation as well as the success. Q Are you comfortable with an 18 per cent attrition rate? AP: At the key middle and top level, we hardly have had any attrition. We, however, have to live with the attrition problem at the entry level. If India is going to grow at over 8 per cent, there is going to be a tremendous demand for people with experience. In fact, people should get used to 15-25 per cent attrition rate at 1-2 year experience level in the industry. I think it should be acceptable Q How are you preparing the bank to deal with high attrition rate at 1-2 year experience level? AP: We need to have a HR policy in place. I should be able to recruit the type of people I want in excess of my needs. We have to involve ourselves closely in business to see when attrition is coming. Is it because of market forces or consequently should we over recruit? Do we have enough training capability to very quickly address the attrition? Today , our employee referrals are 30 per cent. That is very pleasing to me. That means I have very happy people. Otherwise, you won't call your friend to misery. Q What role does HR play in your scheme of things? AP: HR is an integral part of any business. We provide independence to HR to ensure that they are recruiting the right people. HR is involved in discussing the strategic plan. We also involve HR in discussing. The number of days of training has gone up exponentially. Today, I do sincerely believe that everybody in the organisation genuinely believes in the goals we have set for the company.
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