Introduction

ABC Bank Limited is a public limited liability bank incorporated in 2000 with its
registered office in Colombo. It has 15 branches across the island and has a work force of
over 800 executive and non executive staff.

Presently the bank is looking into expanding its business and targeting the corporate
business sector. In order to do so, the corporate Management team (CMT) has decided to
cherry pick a team of professionals as Customer Relationship Managers (CRM) to their
Business facilities department in order to penetrate this largely profitable sector.

Determine the need for a new position

The bank presently has customer relationship managers’ expertise in the business
banking sectors such as small and medium enterprises as well as personal banking sector.
However, during the short period of time since its inception, ABC bank Ltd has been able
to capture a considerable part of the above market share and as part of its development
strategy has decided to penetrate the corporate giants and compete with other banking
service providers.

At present, the current relationship managers in the Business facilities department are
given the duties to market the banks products to the corporate organizations. The Board
Executive committee along with the corporate management team has had a lengthy
discussion with regard to this practice and has come to a unanimous decision that a
separate unit or team of three relationship managers is required for this target sector.

Some of the reasons in deciding for a separate team are as follows:

1. The existing CRM’s will not have sufficient time to plan out and develop
strategies to market the banks products to corporate clients as every client may
require a different approach.

2. Insufficient planning could result in an unfavorable response, hence, depriving an

opportunity for a further relationship to be opened in the near future.

3. More time taken for this target market could mean less attention to the existing
portfolio.

4. Likely to result in oversights / errors/ discrepancies etc.

5. In the above case, it would pose a threat to the existing relationship with the
client.

6. Threat of satisfactory clients turning sour, due to insufficient monitoring of

accounts.
7. Could lose potential new business opportunities from existing clients.
Accomplish the work with additional staff

Once the team of new customer relationship managers are recruited, the previously
mentioned threats will be minimal as each set of CRM’s will have their own sector
portfolio to market and handle.

This will bring out expertise relationship managers for each sector and new ideas and
strategies could be intra communicated for the expansion and development of the
Business facilities department.

More time will be able to be given to build a good relationship with the existing
clients, thus bringing opportunities for more business and studying the trends of each
market sector.

Develop and prioritize the key requirements

As it has been decided to open up three positions for a customer relationship manager –
corporate banking, it is now important to identify the key requirements needed for this
position.

In view of the above, a recruiting planning meeting with the Managing Director, HR
manager and Head of the Business Facilities department were held. It was decided that
the vacant position could be filled by an internal candidate in order to give an equal and
fair opportunity to the banks existing staff for this lucrative and challenging position.
Keeping this in mind, the following were identified as the key requirements of the
potential candidate:

Special Qualifications

1. Candidates should have a minimum 5 years banking experience preferably in a

relevant role within corporate banking.

2. Candidates should posses a degree or above.

3. Candidates should be between 25 – 35 years.

4. Candidate should be well-versed with credit initiation procedure, credit proposals,

deposit and lending parameters, KYC procedures etc.

Characteristics

1. Should be well organized and attentive to detail, and have good communications /
negotiating skills.

2. Be sales oriented and willing to understand issues from a customer perspective.

3. Ability to work in a target driven environment with a proven track record in sales.
 Job Description

Upon discussion with the Head of Business Facilities and Manager Human Resources, a
Job description was prepared for the position.

The Job description for the post of Customer relationship manager – corporate banking is
as follows:

Sales and Service 65%

 Identify corporate clients and present the banks products and services.
 Maintain Relationship Plans for all customers in the portfolio such that contact
with customers is prioritized.
 Conduct annual and if appropriate, interim reviews of customers borrowing
facilities.
 Conduct annual and if appropriate, interim reviews with non-borrowing
customers.
 Determine the key messages, e.g. agreed service standards, negotiated pricing,
relationship team contact points and new product changes, deciding upon the most
appropriate communication method.
 Deal with and find solutions to customer complaints on a proactive basis by using
initiative and cross sell techniques.
 Determine the products that are most effective in meeting customer's needs and be
able to sell these at short notice both reactively and proactively.
 Research, create and follow up a target list for potential new business.
 Conduct frequent customer visits to facilities and sites.

Business Management 25%

 Gather all required information and carry out financial and Risk analysis.
 Prepare credit memorandums and circulate same within the approval board for
approval.
 Control and quality of the portfolio, using available triggers and adherence to
Risk management guidelines and policies.
 Coordinate with Legal and Credit Administration to obtain all security and
other relevant documentation prior to draw down of the facility.
 Identify priority customers through the banks I.T programs to assess their
present and potential contribution.
 Prepare call reports on customer visits conducted and present to head of
department.

People 10%

 Day to day coaching and development of Account officers

 Liaise with other departments such as trade finance, accounts, credit risk etc to
assure a smooth running of procedures.
 Salary Range

A monthly remuneration of Rs. 50,000/- to Rs. 60,000/- would be offered depending

on the candidates qualification, experience and filling other key requirements. In
addition the following benefits would be offered;

• Fuel Allowance of Rs. 25,000/- per month.

• Mobile Allowance of Rs. 10,000/-
• Entertainment Allowance of Rs. 15,000/-

Internal Advertisement

The following Advertisement will be published and circulated through the Bank’s Intranet and E-
mail system accessible to all staff members.

VACANCY

- Customer Relationship Manager – Corporate Banking (Ref: VAC/A/02/ABCL/09)

MAIN JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

- To identify prospective corporate clients
- Build and maintain Relationship Plans for all customers in the portfolio such that
contact with customers is prioritized.
- Research, create and follow up a target list for potential new business.
- Gather all required information and carry out financial and Risk analysis.
- Control and quality of the portfolio, using available triggers and adherence to Risk
management guidelines and policies.
- Identify priority customers through the banks I.T programs to assess their present and
potential contribution.
- Day to day coaching and development of Account officers
- Co-ordinate with other support areas of the Bank and ensure smooth customer
service

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Mandatory
- Should have a minimum 5 years banking experience.
- Should posses a degree or above.
- Should be aged between 25 – 30 years
- Be well organized and attentive to detail
- Be sales oriented and willing to understand issues from a customer perspective
- Have good communications / negotiating skills
- Be able to work in a target driven environment

Preferred
- Should be well-versed with credit initiation procedure, credit proposals, deposit and
lending parameters and KYC procedures

• Application should be submitted with the respective Line Manager’s endorsement and
the clearance from the Functional Head to reach HR and the Hiring Line Manager.
External Advertisement

The following advertisement will be published in the ‘Job Opportunities’ section of the
mostly read weekend newspaper as per latest survey results.

Do you want to be a part of a successful story?

We are looking for highly energetic individuals for the post of Customer Relationship Manager to
lead our corporate Banking unit.

Main Job Responsibilities include

- identifying prospective corporate clients
- Building and maintaining Relationship Plans for all customers in the portfolio such that
contact with customers is prioritized.
- Researching, creating and following up a target list for potential new business.
- Identifying priority customers
- Day to day coaching and development of Account officers
- Co-ordinating with other support areas of the Bank and ensure smooth customer service

Qualification and Experience

- Should have a minimum of 5 years banking experience, preferably in a relevant role
within corporate banking.
- Posses a degree or above.
- Be aged between 25 – 30 years
- Have good communications / negotiating skills
- Be able to work in a target driven environment

Preferred
- Should be well-versed with credit initiation procedure, credit proposals, deposit and
lending parameters and KYC procedures

A Highly attractive remuneration and benefit package awaits the selected candidate.

If you wish to be a part of the most successful bank in the future, please post your resume to,
Manager, Human Resources Department, P.O Box 110, Colombo 03 and quote Ref:
VAC/A/02/ABCL/09 in the top left corner of the envelope.
Pro and Cons of Internal candidates and External candidates

Internal candidates

Internal candidates are brought into the organization through an internal recruitment
process which is the most favorite source of candidates in the stable and developed
companies. The internal recruitment can offer the chance to change the job position to
anyone in the organization, however, the internal job candidate should be known to the
organization, hence HRM will be providing the hiring manager with information of the
candidates background.

Pros

• Strong loyalty with the organization can be built as the employees see promotion
opportunities as a result of being recognized within the organization itself.
• Staff turnover could be controlled, as employees are are not pressed to look for
opportunities on the external job market.
• Easier to assess candidates since more information is available.
• Internal candidates can be cheaper for the organization and can save the costs
dedicated to the training and induction of new employees.
• Candidates are already familiar with organization policies, culture, etc.

Con’s

• Can lead to huge internal issues such as boss / subordinate relationship.

• The Internal Recruitment does not bring new skills and competencies to the
organization.
• Narrowing of thinking and stale ideas (inbreeding)
• Possible discontent of rejected applicants.
• Difficult to do with rapid growth
• New goals, strategies, methods may be somewhat difficult to achieve.
External candidates

The External Recruitment brings new people to the organization, which can be a huge
benefit for the organization. It allows the organization to define the right requirements
and the organization can select the candidate, which suits the organization best. IN
addition, proper campaign will increase the popularity of the organization on the job
market, which helps to improve the position for further expansion.
On the other hand, it is expensive and takes a lot of energy from the HRM Function to
handle all the job candidates in the selection process.

Pro’s

• Provides new ideas / fresh perspectives in the organization.

• Initiate a turnaround
• Reduce expensive training by hiring experienced employee.
• May be less upsetting to present organizational hierarchy.
• Increase diversity in the organization.
• New policies, strategies, methods etc. could be implemented without much
difficulty.
• Easier to groom into the expected role.

Cons

• More costly than internal recruitment.

• More time consuming.
• Little information about candidate’s ability to fit with rest of organization.
• May take considerable amount of time for the candidates to get accustomed to the
organization’s culture, environment etc.
• Destroys incentive of present employees to strive for promotion
• Current organization members may fight new ideas
• The risk of performance cannot be overlooked.
Interviewing Procedure

The next step of the recruitment program for the vacant post of Customer Relationship
Manager would be the Job Interview, which is a key step in the recruitment process with
a significant impact on the result. It was decided that the job interview procedure will be
the same for both internal as well as external candidates.

The following procedure will be followed at the Interview;

• Screening of resumes and/or applications. Through this process we could

short list the most suitable candidates with regard to experience, qualification, and
other factors as discussed during previously.

• Call in the short listed applicants to fill out an internal application form
designed in order to get the maximum information required to further analyze the
applicant and have a brief interview with the hiring supervisor for not more than
15 minutes to re confirm any issues such as salary, working hours etc. (This
should be communicated to the applicants when calling them to fill out the
application)

• The applicants will be thereafter called in for a 2 hour written examination,

and will be tested on their mathematical, General knowledge and written skills.

• The pass mark of the examination will be 60% and all applicants who fail will
be duly notified in writing. The successful applicant’s information gathered by the
hiring supervisor and the duly filled application form and examination results will
then be screened by the HR Manager and passed along to the Head of Business
facilities department in order to further short list the prospective candidates.

• Thereafter, successful candidates will be called in for a panel interview

comprising of the HR Manager, Head of Business Facilities department and the
Managing Director.

• The interview will be a on a Structured format, with specified questions being

put forward to the candidate. In addition, the types of questions will include a
situational, Behavioral and Job related.

• At the end of the interview, an evaluation form will be filled by the panel and
the panel will meet in order to finalize the successful candidate/s.

• Successful candidate/s will be called thereafter by the HR manager and will be

informed of the results, with a formal Letter of Offer being posted to them which
will require them to report to the HR department prior to taking up office
officially.
 • Unsuccessful candidates will be informed by a courtesy call from the HR
supervisor followed by a Formal letter.

Conclusion

In this fast growing world, business organizations too have moved beyond the historical
ways of business and adapted to the ever so rapidly growing technology and practices. As
a result, so many norms of the past business activities have seen major changes in the last
two to three decades.

Today, globalization, technological and nature of work trends mean that human resource
managers have taken on several new responsibilities. The first is that employers expect
their HR functions to be more strategic. Strategic Human resource management is a part
of strategic planning, where the organization plan for how it will match its internal
strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats in order to maintain a
competitive advantage. Therefore, strategic human resource management means
formulating and executing HR policies and practices that produce the employee
competencies and behaviors the company needs to achieve its strategic aims.

One way of doing so is by recruiting the right person for the right job. If the organization
develops an HR strategy before going ahead with the recruitment, on following all steps
accordingly it would be most likely to recruit a candidate most suitable for the job and
more importantly one who will be able to play a part in the organization’s strive to
maintain that all important competitive advantage in the future.

This recruitment program is designed with keeping in mind of such strategic planning.