NHRD Journal - National HRD Network

will deliver 25,000 pre-trained professionals
to the Industry.
• Investing in the Academy for Banking and
Insurance in alliance with Manipal
University, which in year-1 will deliver 1000
Managers who have been pre-trained for one
year. By year-4 this will deliver 4000
Banking domain trained managers.
• Creation of a slew of Academies for Branch
Banking, Sales, Credit, Collections,
Operations etc. which will deliver high quality
accredited professionals year after year.
• Moving away from an Urban and English
centric talent acquisition to a broad based
inclusive talent acquisition fro Semi-urban
and Rural India. Focusing on job success
factors such as problem solving and
relationship skills, rather than linguistic
abilities. Creating capability to en-skill raw
talent in language and social skills.
• Looking outside of India to the International
Universities to service the Global requirement
of talent rather than export talent only from
within. Creating an employer brand in
campuses across the globe.
The Meritocracy Challenge
At ICICI meritocracy governs both performance
and leadership talent assessment. The age-old
confusion between performers and leadership
talent required to be cleared both among leaders
and employees. To add to this the much
maligned forced ranking system in both
performance and talent management required
to be put in context. Both these challenges were
tougher in the context of a highly mobile young
work force that was prepared to exit if not ranked
in the top half. The middle level leaders were
reluctant to own up to the system and very often
took refuge in pointing upwards towards the
bosses. While both the leaders and the employees
wanted a meritocracy, their comprehension of
the true character of the same or the willingness
to accept the consequences thereof were poor.
Add to this the culture of stretch, which is not
negotiable. All this lead to a system where there
is uncompromising differentiation in growth
and rewards. While this engendered a culture
of achievement orientation, it also encouraged
competitiveness and high pressure all round the
year. We at ICICI believe that one cannot create
a culture of meritocracy without the top
management willing to be unrelenting and
unwavering in its clinical execution. We believe
that its success is more in its execution than in
the articulation of the philosophy. The top
management and the operating levels should
be willing to live with the attendant noise in the
system and not mistake it for dissatisfaction and
roll back the execution or water it down.
We have found the following to be the essential
necessities to change a work place to
meritocracy:
• Clarity that meritocracy is not going to be
popular and tolerance for noise in the
system.
• Clarity to the middle management that they
will qualify to be senior management leaders
only if they own this and show ability to
institutionalize this philosophy.
• Willingness to be clinical, unrelenting and
unwavering in its execution.
• Transparent and inclusive process, were all
levels of management are involved in its
execution.
• Communicate, communicate and
communicate year round the non-negotiable
nature of stretch and relative ranking system.
• A system that is open to audit by any
employee and reining in any senior leader
from exercising favors.
• Emphasizing that meritocracy is an
economic reward differentiating philosophy
and not a fair or equity based philosophy.
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November 2007 NHRD Journal