POWER WITHOUT INFLUENCE* BY PROFESSOR A. PANDA AND PROFESSOR R.K. GUPTA, INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE, INDIA

Ankit, senior branch manager (SBM) and service branch head in the national capital region (NCR)1 of India, is a worried man. His branch is a service branch of one of the top five public sector banks2 in India, known for its customer service and financial performance. The regional office, however, is not happy with the financial performance of this branch and they have raised several complaints regarding customer dissatisfaction, tapering deposit mobilisation rate and staff indisciplinethe clerical staff are highly unionised. The complaint rate has skyrocketed during the last three months since Jayant was transferred to this branch as senior manager operations (SMO), responsible for staff management. The Service Branch @ NCR, India The branch is a 'Scale-III' branch3 with aggregate deposits exceeding 2.4 billion Rupees4 . It has 18 000 savings bank accounts and 600 current accounts and has six officer grade employees, supported by 12 support (clerical) staff and three contract employees. There were more than 35 employees a year ago. The officers are members of the Officers' Association, which takes up the cause of officers and negotiates with the management of the bank. The clerical staff and contract employees are also unionised and are members of one of two trade unions in the bank. Many clerical staff were removed through a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS), and the bank retrenched some of the contractual employees over the previous year. The clerical staff claim that, as a result of this, they are overburdened. There are conflicts between the officers and clerical staff on one hand and rivalry between two trade unions on the other. The dynamics of such conflicts make staff management complex and stressful for Jayant. Managing a divided house Jayant is responsible for staff management and day-to-day management of operational issues. Managing staff has always been the trickiest task in the branch. Employees absent themselves without prior explanation and, as a result, the service counters sometimes open late, at 10.15 am, instead of by 10 am. Clerical staff follow Jayant's instructions and he allocates tasks on a daily basis. The clerical staff do not have any decision-making authority and join the union to provide social status and negotiating power. Rakesh, a lower-paid staff member, explains, 'Each of us joins a union because it provides us a forum to demand justice and protects our interests while negotiating with the management'. Many of the officers agree with Jayant that managing undisciplined staff has been the most challenging task in the branch. Bhuvan, a manager in the branch, says, 'Tackling the staff in this branch is the biggest challenge. They are not disciplined. They come late to the office and go back home early. They go on leave as and when they want. The quality of customer service is affected. They do not have specific job responsibilities. In a true sense, they are managing us.' The 'don't care' attitude of the clerical staff towards the officers seems to contribute to the lack of cooperation between clerical staff and officers. Rita, a clerical staff member, says, 'Officers do not cooperate, though the clerical staff cooperate. In order to harass us, the officers give difficult responsibilities, such as cash counter, clearing or savings to us. This is not fair.' During the break for lunch, clerical staff have lunch in groups of two to three members, or alone. No officer-rank employee has lunch with any clerical staff. Jayant has his lunch with Ankit, the branch head. Conflict between the officers and the clerical staff Many of the employees feel that the poor relationship between officers and clerical staff, and inter-union rivalry are the primary problems affecting the image of the branch and customer service. Conflicts between officers and clerical staff, and employee union rivalry, are seemingly a source of organisational politics and power struggle in the branch. Gossiping and offering low levels of service are common in the branch. The clerical staff at service counters send all customers with complaints to the officers, instead of handling them. For instance, one morning a printer (used to update passbooks) in the savings deposit counter was not working correctly due to a technical fault. In such a situation, the clerical staff should update the passbook manually. Instead of doing so, the clerk directed customers to Jayant, who then grudgingly updated customers' passbooks manually. Jayant and Kant: Contrasting Approach to Staff Management The interaction with Jayant gives the impression that he respects hierarchy. Banking rules and guidelines are imperative to him. He acts only when he has the approval to proceed from the appropriate higher authority. He does not act without such permission or precedent, and does not delegate work to others or seem to trust anyone else. As a result, he is busy doing routine tasks most of the day. He comes to the office early and leaves late. Moreover, his interaction with employees is generally transactional. He does not like to listen to subordinates, preferring to direct them. He does not like to be questioned and looks uncomfortable when challenged. He goes by formal reporting structure, respects people occupying higher positional authority without any qualm, and expects the same from his subordinates. His interactions, as perceived by most of the employees, lack a personal touch. One late evening, Jayant was engrossed in a day-end activity. One of his colleagues approached him and offered his help, with a suggestion that they could together complete the task and go home. Jayant curtly refused and said, 'You are free to go home.' Jayant took over the responsibility from Kant, who is still working in the branch as manager. Kant's approach to staff management is different. He is very caring towards employees. For him, an employee, no matter how low in the formal hierarchy, is also a human being. He believes that no one should be overworked and uses the contractual staff as little as possible. As Raj mentions, 'Earlier there were 35 employees. Kant would personally deliver all the documents on various counters instead of taking our help.' Kant is very sensitive to the personal and family problems of employees. For instance, he transferred Mala, a female clerk, from savings to the clearing section after learning of her family difficulties. Mala discussed the event. 'I used to be late to the office daily. I was handling the savings counter then. When Kant came to know about my problems, he transferred me to the clearing section. I am grateful to him Kant explains the way he handled both Mala's problems without much difficulty: 'Clearing section practically starts at 11 am, while the savings section starts at 10 am sharp. Mala (a clerk) used to come at around 10:15 am every day. I enquired about her problem. She explained that she had to cook for her father-in-law and then leave her child at a crche. The crche opens at 10 am. I transferred her from the savings section to the clearing section. The problem was solved.' Each of the contractual employees is entitled to an umbrella, uniform, and shoes. Kant reminds each of them to claim what they are entitled to before any union leader comes to remind them. It helps him to build and nurture trust between himself and the staff. He also helps clerical staff with their claims towards healthcare expenses. He provides all information and documents required for claiming such entitlements at the first instance. In the words of Kant, 'All these efforts are meant to portray me as their "true" leader and checking the influence of trade union leaders on the employees of the branch. I have been successful to a great extent'.

Case Study (20 marks)

Use the case "Power Without Influence" to answer the following questions in the text box below. AnswerALLquestions.

Question 1

Discuss, using examples from the case, two (2) influence tactics used by the clerical staff and the potential consequences of using these tactics(6 marks).

Question 2

Determine, using the elements of organisational structure, whether the current branch structure is organic or mechanistic(4 marks).

Question 3

Justify, using the contingencies of employee involvement, what form of employee involvement you would recommend for this branch(6 marks).

Question 4

Apply Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory to explain the likely outcomes of Jayant's current management approach(4 marks).