What does it take to revolutionize a mammoth organization?

I have been thinking about how difficult it is to bring about change in an organization that is facing growth challenges and tough competition with other organizations. While theoretically it might be as easy as top management passing on orders to all the employees, but practically it is a huge task which becomes successful only when the workforce truly gets involved for to bring about the change.

Recently, I read an article in The McKinsey Quarterly on an interview with Om Prakash Bhatt, Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), which is largest bank in India. Om Prakash Bhatt graduated with BS in Physics and MA in English. He went on to become the Chairman of SBI in year 2006. That was at a time, when SBI was losing market share and was lagging behind in race with growing private banks which offered new products to lure customers.

Om Prakash Bhatt knew that success lay in innovation, however the challenge was to energize and provide right direction to 200,000 Government employees stretched across 10,000 branches. One statement of Om Prakash Bhatt which really impressed me was: "If you look at any transformational effort at any institution across the world, most of the things people have done are common sense. There is no magic to it. The secret is how you do it, how you build a team, and how you build consensus around what you’re doing. Only then are you able to execute your plan. I had a vision for the bank, but I needed to communicate it." As part of his strategy, the top management of SBI started interacting with branch managers with in groups of up to 80. This kind of direct interaction had never happened before in SBI. It gave a sense of need and involvement to employees across all levels of the organization. The idea was to create an environment where people were free to voice their ideas, to criticize and to accept criticism, and ultimately to build consensus and alignment. The moment employees of an organization start feeling that they are part of it, they become more engaged and energized to generate higher results.

SBI which was facing in losses in market share, recently became a Fortune Global 500 company. I am sure, like me many of us would agree with the fact that services of SBI in past 3 years have improved a lot as compared to earlier. While business approach and providing new offerings with changing customer needs is the need-of-the-hour for any organization, it is very important to have employee involvement for an organization to succeed. All of us with our talent and collective team effort can do wonders. We are already seeing tremendous benefits of collaboration within organizations and this is poised to continue and evolve further into tomorrow's global world. Om Prakash Bhatt is a great inspiration for me and I am impressed with his leadership. It would be unfair, if I did not quote his words here: "I want us (SBI) to be available to every Indian, from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich, to both individuals and institutions. I want to do all this by instilling in my people a sense of service and helping them realize their work in the bank is not only about excellence in the workforce but also about self-development, evolution, and excellence in life."

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