The Incredible Banker Page 11

  He continued, 'Now look at the Standard Chartered Bank. They have reported significantly higher profits in their retail business not only in India but across the globe. How do you explain that, sir? How can one foreign bank operating in a market like India deliver results year after year, and another makes significant losses every year ? Something seems to be going wrong. What is it? Our information shows there is a fair bit of confusion in your leadership team in India. Your bank today has double the headcount that Standard Chartered has in India while they have twice your number of branches. Despite your having double staff strength, they generate more business than you across all product lines. Doesn't it point to a warped and confused way of running the business, Mr CEO ?'

  Michael Smith was stumped. He did not expect this question. The meeting till then had gone very well...and now, out of the blue, there was this question which clouded his credibility. All the glory, the aura he had created was thrashed. Everything he said thus far suddenly seemed to be untrue.

  He thought for a moment before he answered the question. The first time in the evening when he had to think through an answer. Maybe this was the first question that was not fixed beforehand.

  The response was quite unconvincing. Michael did not have an answer to why SCB made double the profits as GB2 in India. He had no answers to why they were losing millions of dollars in their cards and personal loans business. He had no answer to explain the lower productivity per employee in India. What he managed to do instead was to create enough doubts in the minds of the press reporters and stakeholders that everything he said that evening may not be the truth.

  The evening ended on a low note. Newspapers next morning were extremely caustic about GB2's strategy in emerging markets. Some even questioned GB2's claim to be an emerging markets' bank. Even the stock markets reacted negatively to the entire press conference. The stocks of GB2 fell by 4 per cent in the morning trade.

  A peeved Michael Smith ordered a detailed review of the India business. It was a knee-jerk reaction to the stock fall and the press conference debacle. India of late had been a stressed business and had received quite a bit of attention from the region on account of losses, but for the first time it received sponsorship at such a high level. Michael Smith himself drove the review.

  A number of sanctions were imposed on India pending the completion of this review. Costs were frozen. Foreign travel was stopped except at the CEO's level. Recruitment was completely frozen. Hiring wasn't allowed, even as a replacement hire for someone who quit the bank. Organisation structures and span of control were revisited. A strategic planning team from Singapore descended on Mumbai, to review the end-to-end process. Standard Chartered Bank became the buzzword. Everyone was obsessed with comparing GB2's performance with SCB.

  In this chaos, there was only one person who benefitted.

  When Karan moved to Citibank in December 2007, the organisation advertised that position and filled it internally with Govind K, who was the head of cards sales. Manish Bhalla, the India head of cards business, was extremely upset that Govind had left him and moved to another business. He held on to him for two months on some pretext or the other and released him to take over his new role only in February 2008. When he couldn't find a replacement for him either internally or from competition, Manish decided to look at the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) sector. After an intense search he narrowed down on one candidate.

  'Let's do one last reference check before we make him the offer,' Manish Bhalla told Joel Wilkins, the HR Head.

  'Bhelllaa,' said Wilkins with his trademark drag. 'We have done three reference checks already. Why do you want to do one more?'

  'Don't know, Joel. My instinct tells me that we should play safe and do our homework. Give me a day's time. I will revert to you by tomorrow.'

  'Look, Bhellaa, we have the offer ready. We are ok to roll. Once you get back to us, we will make him the offer.'

  'Great. I will get back to you latest by tomorrow.'

  'It's ok, pal. It's your business. You take your time. Today is Monday, the third of March. You have time till Thursday. If you do not get back to me by Thursday, I will ask my team to press the button on Friday. We will release the offer. Else we will get you some more CVs for prospective candidates. Will that be ok?'

  'Oh, Friday is too far. I will revert by tomorrow, maximum by Wednesday.'

  'Great. Just give me a call if you need any help from us,' and the discussion ended.

  Bhalla called up a few industry contacts who had worked with the external candidate and did a quick and discreet reference check. Everybody gave him a roaring feedback about the guy. 'I don't believe in interviews,' Bhalla had once told Wilkins. 'For me the most critical thing is reference checks. It's extremely easy to fake a forty-five minute interview but it is almost impossible to doctor a good reference check. That's why I would rather do ten reference checks than do four rounds of interview.'

  On Wednesday, 5 March 2008, at 6.45 in the evening, Bhalla called Wilkins at his desk, only to be greeted by his answering machine. 'You have reached the voicemail of extension 6468. To leave a message please record after the beep, else hang up.'

  I will just drop him a mail, Bhalla thought, and he began typing out a note. 'Let's go ahead with the west guy.' He had put one issue to rest.

  Next morning when he reached office, there was a message from Joel waiting for him.

  'Bhalla, please call me when you see this.'

  Bhalla immediately called him.

  'Joel, what happened? Just saw your message. I called you last evening, too. But, you lazy bum, you had left by then.'

  "Every day of the week, I come in two hours before you, my friend.'

  'Hmm...ok. Tell me. You left a message for me – to call. '

  'We have a problem.'

  'What problem? Has someone else made an offer to Srinivas?' Srinivas was the guy they were planning to hire in the regional cards sales role for west.

  'No no. No one has hired him. In fact we haven't even spoken to him.'

  'Then?'

  'We have a bigger problem, my friend'

  'Will you tell me, Joel? Or will you keep running around in circles?'

  'Bhellaa, we cannot hire the guy!'

  'But why?'

  'In the AGM in Singapore, there was some discussion around the headcount in India. Apparently it was quite acrimonious. Serious questions were raised about the retail banking business in India.'

  'What questions?' Bhalla wanted to know

  'Pretty much the same stuff which keeps cropping up every time. Which everyone talks about. GB2 not doing well. SCB doing much better. Productivities, costs, business volumes, profitability! You know all that goes around, Bhellaa, don't you?'

  'Yes, I know. But what has that got to do with the price of coffee in Brazil?'

  'Pardon me?' Jeol couldn't get the sarcasm.

  'What does that have to do with the hiring of Srinivas?'

  'It has, my friend. It has. Michael Smith is mighty pissed. And when he is pissed the way he is, no one argues with him. He has put a blanket ban on any hiring in India. This morning I have received a detailed note from Singapore. It calls for a complete review and overhaul of our retail business in India. It calls for a complete freeze on the headcount in India till this entire review is over. It may take three months or even six months. I really don't know.'

  'Which means we cannot hire anyone in the retail business? What if someone leaves?'

  "The note from Singapore prohibits even replacement hires. So you can't hire from outside. Period.'

  'When did this mail come?'

  "This morning.'

  'Joel, then I have an easy solution.'

  'What?'

  'Issue Srinivas a backdated letter. Issue the appointment letter dated yesterday. We will be home,' Bhalla smartly suggested.

  'Bhellaa, are you sure what you are saying is appropriate, especially in front of the head of HR?' Joel suddenly took on the trademark mo
ral and ethical high-ground stance that most international secondees project when they take on a role in India.

  Bhalla suddenly realised that what he was asking Joel to do may not be appropriate and quickly backtracked.

  'Haha, Joel, I was just kidding,' the nervousness in his laughter could reach Joel. 'But what do we do now?'

  'Speak to Sanjit. Maybe he will be able to help. I am sorry, it is out of my control now.' Joel was quite upset with Bhalla's suggestion to backdate an appointment letter.

  'Ok. Let me try.'

  The next call that Bhalla made was to Sanjit. HR came voider Sanjit's direct line of control. If there was something which could be done now, Sanjit was the one who could do it. Thankfully Sanjit was in office and his secretary put the call through.

  'Good morning, Sanjit.'

  'Hey Bhalla, how are you, my friend? How come so early in the morning?'

  'Sanjit, I am facing a small problem...,' Bhalla made Sanjit aware of the hiring issue.

  'Hmm...I am aware of this direction from regional office. But you know what, Bhalla, when Michael Smith passes a directive, no one messes around with it. We cannot issue a backdated letter to Srinivas.'

  How the hell did Sanjit know about this? What an ass Joel was! Even before Bhalla could call him, Joel had called up Sanjit and briefed him about the entire predicament.

  'I was just kidding with Joel. Of course you know that I was not serious,' Bhalla tried to save face.

  'Yes, yes...I know. I have worked with you long enough, Bhalla.'

  'Anyway, let's see what can be done. Let me think about it and come back to you.' Sanjit hung up.

  That evening Sanjit called back Bhalla.

  'Bhalla, I have thought about the options in front of us. I have even sent feelers to the regional office and they have come back strongly on it. I seriously do not believe we have any hope in hell to hire anyone from outside. You will have to sell this job internally, to someone within the bank. But that might also be a tough job because no one will be willing to let go of people at a time when hiring replacements has become so tough.'

  'Ohhhh gawwwd!' Bhalla was clearly disappointed.

  'It's ok, Bhalla. We have been through worse times. And this is just a matter of three to six months. You can do your hirings after that.'

  'I will get screwed in the bargain.'

  'Why don't you try to hire some internal candidate? I will give you a waiver on the mandatory internal job-ad process. Identify a candidate, and if he wants to move and his boss is supportive, I will allow you to move him without advertising the job internally. This is purely on an exceptional basis.'

  'Which boss will be supportive and release his team member... especially in these times? You only said that a moment ago.' Bhalla didn't seem to be encouraged.

  'Yes, I know. But I also know of one such candidate, who I will be able to convince and also his boss.'

  'Who?'

  'Deepak Sarup. Interested?'

  Sanjit dropped the bait and Bhalla fell for it. He thought for a moment and said, 'Will you talk to him? Or do you want me to do it?'

  'Let me do this for you. I will speak to Deepak, Bhisham and even to Ramneek and revert to you.'

  "Thanks Sanjit,' and Bhalla hung up. He felt that he had swung a deal. Sanjit smiled to himself. He had kept the last bit of the commitment that he had made to Deepak. His conscience was clear now. He could leave in peace.

  Within three weeks Deepak moved as the Regional Head -Credit Card Sales for GB2 for western India.

  May 2008 was his first month in his new role in GB2. Isn't life all about being in the right place at the right time and the universe conspiring in your favour? The reporter, who asked the aggressive question from Michael Smith at the AGM, had done a big favour to Deepak, who wanted to desperately move out of audit and control into a line function.

  June 2008

  Jhargram, West Midnapore

  West Bengal

  UMAKANT Mahato owed his allegiance to the Maoists. He lived in the Jhargram area of west Midnapore in West Bengal, a town 150 kilometres west of Kolkata. That day he had come to Kolkata, all alone, by a state transport bus from his small dusty town. In Kolkata he went to Ultadanga, near the Salt Lake area, seeking a shop, whose address had been hastily scribbled on a small piece of paper.

  Not many people knew where it existed. Half the people he spoke to looked at him as if he was some other-worldly creature. It could possibly have been due to his attire. He was dressed in a dirty dhoti and a vest, considered quite unusual in that area of town.

  Finally he met someone who didn't know the exact location of the shop but knew the topography and guided him to a narrow lane at the far end of the road connecting the local branch of Magma Finance to Salt Lake. He entered the lane. It was crowded. It looked like a wholesale market. There were many small shops selling everything from clothes, groceries, household goods, rice, etc. Once he entered the lane, he did not have to struggle to find the address on the slip. This shop that he was looking for was on his left. It was a large ration shop dealing in wholesale quantities of rice, pulses, wheat. 'Ultadanga Kirana and General Store' announced a large board hung precariously above the narrow shutter of the shop.

  From the outside he could see some activity. There were in all about six workers and four customers already in, and it wasn't even noon yet. A number of large bags of rice were stacked outside and the workers were arranging them on the steps leading to the main store. Inside the store there were over a dozen sealed and stitched bags, presumably of rice and wheat, a weighing scale and large weights indicating it was a wholesale shop. A Shopping and Establishments Act approval certificate hung on one of the walls. It looked fake but one couldn't be sure. A large picture of Goddess Lakshmi hung on the wall just behind the main counter. A fat, pot-bellied middle-aged man, josstick in hand, was making a very devoted attempt at bribing Goddess Lakshmi to endow him with some of her everlasting and never-ending wealth. By the looks of it, Goddess Lakshmi had relented.

  Umakant Mahato stood outside the shop, looking at the activity inside, trying to decide whether to go in or not. He stood there staring intently at the store when one of the shop boys came to him and asked, 'Do you want something?'

  'No, nothing. I want to see Shri Jagan Mohapatra. Is he there?' Mahato asked the boy.

  'Bada sahib?' Then the boy pointed towards the person sitting behind the counter doing pooja. 'He is there. You see that gentleman at the counter, that's Bada sahib. Do you want to meet him now?'

  'Yes. Please tell him that Uma from Jhargram is here.'

  'Ok.' The boy nodded. 'I will let him know.' He walked up to the Bada sahib and told him about Uma waiting outside.

  'Send him in,' Jagan roared in Bengali.

  The timid shop boy immediately disappeared and came in with Umakant Mahato. After ushering him in, he quietly vanished.

  'Bolo!' Jagan thundered.

  'I have come from Jhargram. I was asked to see you.'

  'Who sent you?'

  'Sunil Mahato. He asked me to see you and give this to you. He said you will understand.' He pulled out a torn half piece of a ten rupee note. Umakant had only one half piece, which he showed to Jagan. The note was torn almost through the centre.

  Jagan looked at it. He read out the currency note number on the torn half note and walked up to his table. From the bottommost drawer, he pulled out a bundle of notes. All of them were torn. In fact it was a bundle of torn half notes. He looked through the bundle as if searching for something. After rummaging through about fifteen notes, he stopped. He pulled out a half note from his bundle and stepped back towards Umakant. For the first time he smiled at him.

  He held up the torn note which Umakant had given him alongside the half note that he pulled out from his bundle. The two parts of the notes fitted against each other. They were two halves of the same ten rupee note. Jagan was satisfied. Umakant was genuine. Not a decoy.

  'Ok, tell me. What do you want?' Jagan asked.
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  Umakant took out a slip of paper from the hidden pocket in his vest and handed it over to Jagan.

  Jagan took the slip, walked up to his desk again, took out his spectacles and started reading the note. When he finished, he looked up at Umakant and said, 'I may not have all of these. Stock is yet to arrive. I will give you whatever I have.'

  'Hmm...ok,' said Umakant. 'Just write on the piece of paper so that I can take it back to them.'

  'Don't worry. We will do all the paper work. Now come in.' He started walking towards a door at the back of the store. He had a small key in his hand. The door was locked. It seemed as if it was rarely opened.

  A few workers gathered around him when he stood next to the door, opening it. 'What are you doing here?' Jagan barked and all of them scurried back to their jobs. He looked at Umakant and smiled, 'I don't want people around me when I go into this room. You never know who will open his mouth to the outside world. So the only person who enters this room is me.'

  Umakant had a look of ignorance on his face as he entered the room with Jagan. He did not know what Bada sahib was talking about. It was a large, dingy room which looked like a godown. It was dark, too, and a damp smell emanated from inside. It was a restricted zone. There was, however, nothing suspicious about the stuff lying in the room. There were about twenty sacks full of what looked like rice and wheat. Pulses occupied one corner of the room. It looked like any other godown of a wholesale shop.

  With his left hand Jagan fumbled for the switch board behind the door and switched on the solitary bulb in the room. It was not enough to light up the entire room which still looked very dark. He walked ahead to the farthest corner of the room where four large sacks were stacked.