Public sector banks have successfully implemented many reform measures in the last decade. They are today facing intense competition from new generation private sector and foreign banks who have entered the market with sophisticated technology, highly competent people and a market savvy customer-centric banking approach. Though PSBs have slowly started implementing the new age banking technology to meet the challenges, the real differentiation can only be made by fundamental reforms in the area of human resources. The managerial autonomy package recently announced by the government provides sufficient leeway to PSBs to frame their own organisation-specific HR policies and systems and leverage people capabilities to reposition themselves at the marketplace. Such a reform agenda would need to get top-level attention for organisationwide impact.
