BOB CHIEF HAS HIS TASK CUT OUT

■ PS Jayakumar came on board as managing director and chief executive officer of Bank of Baroda (BoB) in October 2015 after a successful stint as an entrepreneur running housing finance and affordable housing companies

■ Like all banks chiefs, Jayakumar also faced challenges like recognising and recovering bad loans. However, the bank had minimum exposure to bigticket NPAs in the steel and infrastructure segments ■ He started with some advantages – BoB had a good brand image and conducive work culture

■ This helped him focus on developing long-term plans and capabilities. The bank is building category-wise platforms for channel financing of SME and agriculture credit

■ He did a review of the bank’s international business and is now involved in rationalising the branch network

■ He firmly believes that although BoB is a public sector bank, a lot can be done internally without government intervention

■ BoB has put in efforts on skill and knowledge development as well as rolling out a succession plan by grooming managers for higher positions

■ Ensuring fair valuation while deciding the swap ratio for merger

■ Coming up with a collective leadership plan for harmonious integration of diverse cultures of the three banks

■ Rationalising branch network across banks to save cost and accrue value As someone who will pilot the merger of BoB with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank, Jayakumar faces three challenges: