Karnataka - Mangalore   

Cooperative bank employees go ‘back to school’

— Photo: R. Eswarraj

DISCIPLINE: Employees of SCDCC Bank in their workplace in Mangalore.

MANGALORE: It was “back to school” feeling for the 450 employees of the 95-year-old South Canara District Central Cooperative (SCDCC) Bank. The employees, right from the managing director to drivers, report to their work place in pleasant uniforms. The bank’s conscious decision for an image makeover for its personnel makes them stand out from the rest of their peers in the cooperative banking sector.

While the male employees wear cream shirt and dark blue trousers, the women employees wear a similar cream sari with a flowery border and a matching blouse. All senior executives above the rank of assistant general managers wear a red tie. Incidentally, the bank has prescribed a light blue shirt and dark blue trousers for its group D employees. The six drivers on the bank’s payrolls wear grey safari suits.

For Mohandas Kamath, one of the general managers of the bank, wearing a uniform to his workplace is not a big issue.

“This gives us a sense of equality among our peers, irrespective of our designation,” he says. The move to introduce uniforms, according to the bank’s managing director, P. Narayana Kamath, has instilled a sense of discipline among the employees. “It has also instilled a sense of camaraderie among employees,” he adds.

The bank has issued three sets of uniforms to its employees. Noting that it was the president of the bank, M.N. Rajendra Kumar, who mooted the idea, the director of the bank, Rajaram Bhat, says, “Issuing uniforms to our employees has had a positive impact on the workforce. Some of our employees who used to shirk from their duties have since started performing.” Apparently, he was hinting that it has acted as an incentive.

The only drawback, an employee at the head office of the bank here said, was they could not attend to personal work while on duty. “We are easily spotted when we attend private functions,” he adds. “It is a cumbersome task to bring a separate set of dress, change, attend the function and go back to work in uniform,” he said. Customers too admit that the bank’s employees look more presentable and approachable in their uniforms.

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