Not many bosses begin their tenure by urging staff to review their work-life balance. Even fewer tell their employees to work only eight hours a day and that work should be fun. But this is how Rajnish Kumar began his term as chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) in October, expressing his thoughts in a letter to staff.
Mr Kumar, who has spent his entire career at SBI and took over the role of CEO from the highly respected Arundhati Bhattacharya, comes to the position at a time of considerable stress: the bank is in the throes of a complicated merger with five associated banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank that has taken gross non-performing assets to nearly 10%.
