CASE STUDY
What makes one large bank different from other banks? How important are the size and resources commanded by the bank, versus the bank leadership, strategy, and even marketing that is done? As of June, 2010, Kasikorn Bank in Thailand employed over 15,000 employees in almost 800 branches in Bangkok and throughout Thailand. K-Bank, as it is called, has done an impressive job of branding themselves, with a bright green “K Excellence” and logo that are well- recognized throughout Thailand. Their mission statement is that they aim “to be a strong Thai financial group that provides a variety of financial services of world-class quality responsive to serve customers’ needs by harmoniously combining technology and human resources so as to achieve optimal benefits to customers, shareholders, employees and the country” (2009 Annual Report, p. 1). Their leadership team has promoted a strong linkage between their business strategy and their human resource management strategy. As part of this, executives have actively supported the development of “human resource capital,” including the use of succession planning, career development, training, performance management, and compensation systems, among other things. There is also a strong executive- level commitment to what they have called an “HR roadmap,” where employees at all levels have a formal plan in place that guides employees and their managers in their on-going development efforts.
Questions: If you were part of the leadership team at K-Bank, what types of human resource issues would you like to see emphasized concerning bank employees?
What types of training programs do you think might be appropriate for training managers?
How about for training employees? Why? Are there other things that you would include in addition to formal training (eg, other types of developmental opportunities)?
How might all of this fit into the business strategy (or strategies) that the bank is pursuing?
