Axis Bank looks to boost capabilities with big hires
2 min read 22 Mar 2023, 12:02 AM ISTAxis Bank is looking to hire more from campuses this year for customer-facing roles
PremiumMUMBAI : Axis Bank is hiring more people in its “frontline" leadership team as it integrates Citibank’s consumer banking business and rebuilds its asset management leadership team in a major reorganization.
The private sector lender has already roped in some big names, including Ashish Gupta, head of equity research from Credit Suisse India, to be the chief investment officer of Axis Bank Asset Management Co.
In an interview, Axis Bank human resources head Rajkamal Vempati clarified that while the bank is looking at lateral hires to fill senior positions, it is also looking to hire 2-3 times more from campuses this year for customer-facing roles.
“The bets are on people as long they have passion, drive, entrepreneurial ability, and learning agility. In our view, domain knowledge can be learnt, but the ability to understand and respond to rapidly changing context is super critical," said Rajkamal Vempati, chief human resource officer of Axis Bank.
“What we have realized in the last two years is that it is increasingly important that now is the time to create our own talent. The only change is that we are going to hire more people on the frontline. We are blessed with Citi integration; we have many more people joining the talent pipeline," she added.
A Bloomberg report dated 15 March said that Neelkanth Mishra, head of research at Credit Suisse, is also set to join Axis Bank.
As part of the acquisition of Citibank’s consumer and non-banking finance business, Axis Bank also saw an addition of 3,200 employees to the existing staff strength of 87,575 this year.
The deal, valued at ₹11,603 crore, saw the addition of 2.4 million Citi customers to Axis Bank.
Vempati also mentioned that even as the bank will see the addition of new staff across levels, it is also focused on mentoring leaders internally.
“As much as we are looking at hires in key capability areas, we are also looking at promoting talent internally. There is a succession planning process in place for Axis Securities. We have run an open and transparent process even for a role as large as this," she said.
“A differentiated investment we have made is in mentoring. Amitabh and every member of the management committee mentor 8-9 leaders, covering 120 people. Next year is 250 people. Mentoring is a proactive way of helping people fulfil their potential, nudging people to think about different career paths, and adding to their skills. We are one of the few who think at a group level in terms of talent programmes," she added.
The employee reshuffle at Axis Bank gained significance after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) barred 21 entities, including Axis AMC’s former head trader and fund manager Viresh Joshi, from the capital markets over a front running case. This saw the exit of Chandresh Nigam as the managing director and chief executive officer of Axis AMC and the appointment of B. Gopkumar, managing director and CEO of Axis Securities, in his place.
