The suspension of a senior HDFC Bank executive after a video of him berating juniors has sparked a debate on toxic behaviour at workplaces, primarily involving stressful jobs in sales.
Hostile workplace behaviour and the breakdown of redressal mechanisms have prompted aggrieved employees to feel more comfortable sharing details of misconduct online than register an official complaint, consultants working on anti-harassment committees said, adding managements need to take note as more cases come to the fore.
HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector lender, on Monday suspended the executive seen screaming at his subordinates in the undated group video call, citing alleged inability to meet sales targets.
“This seems to be a case of workplace misconduct and harassment, abuse of authority, aggressive and rude language with threat to harm and creates a hostile work environment,” said Aparna Mittal, founder of Samāna Centre for Gender, Policy and Law.
“Basis a preliminary enquiry in the matter, the concerned employee has been suspended and a detailed investigation has been initiated, which will be undertaken as per conduct guidelines of the bank,” an HDFC Bank spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said HDFC Bank has a zero-tolerance policy for any form of misconduct at workplace, and firmly believes in treating all employees with dignity and respect.
The bank, which is in the final stages of a merger with mortgage financier Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC), is aggressively chasing fresh deposits. It has set an ambitious target of raising ₹1 trillion in deposits every quarter, and raised ₹1.5 trillion in March quarter, of which ₹1.07 trillion was from retail customers.Consultants say that profiles like sales in banking, finance, insurance, hospitality and healthcare are likely to exhibit aggressive behaviour in workplaces.
Nirmala Menon, founder of Interweave Consultancy, which works on work-life issues in companies, said “toxic behaviour” will push employees to alter data to avoid harassment, even for a short time. As the world embraced virtual working modes following the outbreak of covid-19 pandemic, several cases of harassment surfaced, prompting companies to train staff on online meeting protocols. Though many companies retu-rned to physical offices or have adopted hybrid work, there needs to be repeated reminders on workplace etiquette, experts said. This includes reporting to company’s human resources department and harassment panels about offensive behaviour, and not turning to social media as a grievance redressal mechanism. “We have a media policy in place which defines guardrails on what can be shared and how employees are expected to conduct themselves on social media. In case of any direct breach of our media policy, disciplinary action can be taken depending on the magnitude of the breach,” said Adarsh Mishra, chief human resources officer for Panasonic Life Solutions India.
A senior partner at a Big Four audit firm in India said the pandemic has fuelled a lack of trust in management. “Earlier, one could walk up to seniors and complain to colleagues; but now, over last few years, very few know who their support teams are. The need to register a complaint over email does not help with trust factor that they will be protected,” said the senior partner, who consults on workplace, compensation and succession planning.
Meanwhile, bank unions believe sales pressures comes from the very top, and junior bankers merely follow directions from above.
CH Venkatachalam, general secretary, All India Bank Employees Association, said the union has a small presence at HDFC Bank, but sales pressure is on the rise at state-owned banks as well.
“Employees are being given huge targets to achieve. They are under pressure to cross-sell third-party products. We have been discussing this and want banks to set targets so that employees can have a work-life balance instead of constantly running behind product sales,” said Venkatachalam.