PESHAWAR: The Bank of Khyber (BoK) has approved new promotion policy that will involve test and interview to qualify for next grade.
The employees from the grade of the junior officer to the Assistant Vice President (AVP) will be promoted to the next grade after obtaining 50 per cent marks in test and passing the promotion committee’s interview.
The new policy will not apply to the officers from the grade of the Vice President to the Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP).
Hassan Tariq, the Marketing In-charge at BoK, told Pakistan Today that the new policy is based on a uniform policy for all employees, which will end the practice of promotion on the basis of likes, dislikes and political affiliations.
He added tests would be conducted under the Institute of Bankers Pakistan (IBP), which operates under the State Bank of Pakistan. All the employees would be assessed for the relevant job, in which they would be associated with the bank, and would be promoted after clearing test and interview, Tariq said.
At present more than 250 employees of different grades are eligible for promotion to the next grade. Most the employees have resented the decision of the bank management.
The management has announced a new policy to promote the people of their choice, a BoK employee, seeking anonymity, alleges. Due to the ineffective policies, the bank is heading towards collapse, he claims.
The employee says at a time when the entire country is reeling under the coronavirus and the government is going to promote students to the next grades without exams, the BoK is obstructing the promotion of more than 250 eligible employees to the next grade and planning to conduct exam instead.
According to another employee, if the new policy is so good, it should be applied to the officers holding high positions, which will help the bank get competent leadership.
The qualifications of bank’s higher officials should be assessed before their appointment at the top positions, he opines.
The same policy has been implemented earlier in some private banks, but the number of branches of those banks is 700-800 with about 10,000 employees, whereas the BoK has a total of 180 branches and 1,300 to 1400 employees. In such a situation, the annual growth rate is lower than other banks.
If the bank management has made it mandatory to pass the test through the IBP, what is the need for the promotion committee of the bank, a BoK’s employee questioned and alleged the top positions in the bank would be in the hands of high ups who would promote their favourite ones.
