Role of Employee Relationship Management (ERM) for gaining ... · Employee relationship management (ERM) refers to the development of the relationship between the organizational management

Role of Employee Relationship Management (ERM) for

gaining Competitive Advantage in Indian Banking Sector:

A Comparative Study between SBI and ICICI Bank

1Girish Prasad Das, Research Scholar, Dept. of Business Administration, Berhampur University,

Bhanja Bihar, Berhampur, Odisha. E-mail: [email protected]

2Dr. N.R. Misra, Reader, Dept. of Business Administration, Berhampur University, Bhanja Bihar,

Berhampur, Odisha.

Corresponding author- 3Narayana Maharana, Research Scholar, Dept. of Business Administration, Berhampur

University, Bhanja Bihar, Berhampur. Email: [email protected], Phone: 9493482084.

Abstract:

Increased competition and globalisation in the banking sector necessitated the

commercial banks to develop strategies in order to improve performance. This study sought

to investigate the relationship between employee relations strategies and the customer choice

of the particular bank based on the employees of the bank. It is intended to focus on the

customer retention aspect of competitive advantage across three major banks in India in two

different sectors like the public, and private. The study incorporated SBI in the Public sector

bank and ICICI in the private sector Bank category. A questionnaire is prepared to find out

the Employee relationship management practices in the bank and its impact on the

customers. Though the impact of ERM is not experienced prominently by a layman or a

customer, with a different questionnaire it is attempted to find out the customer’s preference

among the two different banks taken in this study and is compared with the scoring of ERM in

the respective banks for gaining competitive advantage. As different studies claimed a

positive relationship between ERM practices, Employee satisfaction, Employee retention and

Employee Performance that in turn results in CRM and customer retention. T-test is used to

compare the two banks for their ERM strategies. The finding of the study reveals that there is

a significant difference exist between the ERM Strategies adopted by the two banks. Besides,

it is also been found that the ERM practices reflected significantly in gaining competitive

advantage.

Keywords: Competitive Advantage, Employee Relationship Management, Bank, Employee

Retention.

Pramana Research Journal

Volume 8, Issue 10, 2018

ISSN NO: 2249-2976

https://pramanaresearch.org/87

mailto:[email protected]

1. Introduction

For most companies, employee relationship management highly essential for

attracting and retaining employees. Its primary goals are to empower managers to establish

and fruitful productive relationships with employees and to measure and quantify the results

of those relationships in order to ensure whether the organisational objectives are being met.

Employees are the valuable assets of an organization. They are most important

audiences with the potential to be its most effective envoys. It is essential that the employees

perform together to contribute equally towards the realization of a common organisational

goal. Employees show a certain relationship with their colleagues and co-workers at the

workplace. The relationship which the employees have between co-employees, supervisors,

managers and higher management should be a healthy relationship to best performances.

Employees are the focal point of an organization in the journey towards success. If the

employees work together and maintain a good relationship with management then the

organization can achieve its objectives much faster. Management of the employment

relationship is both vital and valuable for the organization in the attainment of the

competitive advantage. It is necessary to have a strong relationship among employees as well

as with the management since it leads to healthier organizational productivity and

performance.

Employee relationship management (ERM) refers to the development of the

relationship between the organizational management and the employees. There are several

issues in ERM which can affect employee satisfaction as well as influences the productivity

and overall corporate culture. It also refers to the relation between the different employees of

an organization. The relationship can be between employee and the management as well as

between employees at the same organisational hierarchy. It is nothing but a technique which

binds the employees and the management together on a common ground and leads them

towards the organizational goal. In a layman’s language, ERM deals with managing

interaction between employees and managed efficiently so that the jobs can be accomplished

smoothly. The human resource department basically plays a vital role in this process, both in

terms of training and coaching the workers and employees as well as management personnel

on how to effectively and efficiently establish and cherish employee relationships.

Relationship implies feelings that can be positive/friendly or negative/unfriendly. A

relationship always exists between the employees who work together. There is no neutral

point. Indifference is not neutral. Relationship influences employee behaviours at work.

Expectations, perceptions, intentions, distributions of assignments, readiness to confirm or to

rebel, and enthusiasm etc., are the outcomes of the employee relationships. Attitude and

motivation influences, and is influenced by the nature of the relationship.

2. Review of Literature

Employee relation refers to the relationship between the employees and management

in regard to the establishment of conditions of employment. In the recent past, ‘industrial

relations’ is the term used to describe employee relationship. Nevertheless, this has been

replaced by a broader concept called ‘employee relations’. Even though the two areas are

more or less similar, industrial relations generally refers to the resolution of a conflict

between the management and employees, whereas employee relations integrates all the issues

relating to the employee-management relationship in the workplace which also includes

recruitment, training and development, equal opportunity and framing organizational

structure. It creates a work environment which satisfies the needs of both the individual



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employees and the management by improving employee morale and building organizational

culture.

From the employee’s perspective, an employee is an asset rather than a cost. An

effective employee relation involves producing and nurturing a self-motivated and productive

workforce. Employees should be motivated from within, since the management help to

nurture the type of environment where employees flourish, enabling the organization to

achieve competitive advantage.

The organization through effective ERM practices are exploring new ways to improve

competitiveness and profitability. The focal point of this exercise lies in the effectiveness and

efficiency of its employees. The organization trying to improve performance uses its

employee relations processes to inspire an effective team of employees to add value to all

areas of its organizational performance, and emphasis on using specific strategies to retain,

reward and motivate efficient and skilled employees. There are four different strategies

practised by the organisations to achieve effective ERM, these are the employee relation

strategy, employee voice, management capability and internal communication. A successful

employee relation begins with the organization’s leadership, but lives and breathes

throughout the fabric of the organization. Management capability ensures that employees

should be motivated on a day-to-day basis by their immediate line manager. Frontline

managers need to be fortified to manage employees equitably, effectively, and consistently in

line with the organization’s expectations and requirements.

Human resources are a prime organizational asset if properly used and managed. The

application of appropriate strategies for the development of human resources can lead to the

optimization of corporate performance both in the short and long term. Tyson (1995) as

quoted in Torrington et al. (2005) stressed human resource management strategy as the

intentions of the corporation both explicit and covert, towards managing the employees,

reflected through philosophies, policies and practices. Effective human capital strategy and

practices are directly related to greater levels of financial and market success. Strategic

human resource management has three theoretical approaches (Torrington et al, 2005;

Armstrong, 2009). “The first is founded on the concept that there is one best way of

managing the human resource in order to improve business performance. The second is based

on the need to align employment policies and practices with the requirements of the business

strategy in order that the later will be achieved and the business will be successful. The third

is derived from the resource-based view of the firm and the perceived value of the human

capital”. This approach is grounded in the nature of the reward–effort exchange and, more

precisely, the degree to which managers perceive their human resources as an asset as

contrasting to a variable cost. Again, the literature on the HRM-performance relationship

raised by Boselie et al. (2005), initiate that the theoretical frameworks which lead this field

are the resource-based view (i.e., “HRM influences performance according to the human and

social capital held by the organization”) (Barney, 1991), the AMO theory (i.e., “HRM

influences performance in relation to employees’ Ability, Motivation and Opportunity to

participate”) (Appelbaum, Bailey et al., 2000; Katou, 2008) and the “contingent framework”

(i.e., HRM influences performance in relation to contingent factors such as business

strategies).

Basically, people try to maximize their benefits and minimize their costs while

exchanging resources with others (Molm, 2001). People involved in an interaction with the

expectation of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960). These benefits include things such as material or

financial gains, social status, and emotional comforts. Costs generally comprise of sacrifices

of time, money, or lost opportunities.



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Social exchange theory is used as a tool for predicting the effects of management

practice on employee attitudes. Stafford (2008), posited that social exchanges involve a

connection with another person, trust; they are flexible, and rarely involve open bargaining.

Positive social exchanges causes mutual benefits to both the organization and the workforce.

Flynn (2005) said employees with relational identity orientation choose reciprocal

exchange, i.e. these employees may reciprocate an organization when they are in an

interdependent task setting. Organizations assume high-commitment to HR practices making

employees perceive organizational support and feel that they are imperative in the

interdependent organization. As per the social identity theory, employees who feel they are

valued by their organization perceive high status in the organization (Fuller et al., 2003). On

the other hand, Employees who experience mutual reciprocity of resources, information,

respect and power with management perceive higher autonomy therefore, they would be

more satisfied with the resources, information and support offered by the supervisor and they

would be committed to the organization and perform well.

Various studies have defined performance management in different ways, such as,

Armstrong (2006) defines performance management as a “systematic process for improving

organizational performance by developing the performance of individuals and teams”.

According to Bohlander and Snell (2007) “organizational performance comprises the actual

output or results of an organization measured against its intended outputs (organizational

goals and objectives)”. It is a process which contributes to the effective management of

individuals and teams in order to reach high levels of organizational performance. It creates

an understanding of what is to be achieved and an approach to developing people which

ensures the goals to be achieved.

To handle the growing uncertainty and competitiveness what is necessary is

performing employees to create a performing organization (Pattanayak, 2008). Efforts have

been made by different researchers to establish the causal relationship between human

resource management and performance (Cook, 2000). Managers should build a targeted

employee performance training plan that will establish the unique development needs of team

members and make them accountable for their performance. Performance management and

governance is, therefore, an important feature of modern organizational management

(Armstrong, 2006). It aids an organization to constantly monitor and improve its performance

in order to attain its strategic goals (Dessler, 2005). It is also observed that a company

emphasizes performance when a considerable portion of its employees pay, is tied to

individual or group contributions and the amount received can vary meaningfully from one

person or group to another (Gomez-Meija et al, 2008). There is a synergetic relationship

between human resources strategy and performance in the manufacturing sector (Cook, 2000;

Barney, 2000; Paterson et al, 2006). However, we may not categorically generalize this to the

banking sector due to the fragility of banking. HRM strategies can improve productivity by

increasing employee skills and abilities; through promoting positive attitudes and motivation,

and by providing employees with responsibilities in order to use of their skills and abilities to

the fullest extent possible. The purpose of human resource strategy is to develop ways of

managing people to utilise them in the achievement of organizational goals.

Mahoney and Watson (1993) posited that employee involvement has a favourable

impact on the performance of any organisation. The word employee relation has been used

synonymously with industrial relations and employment relations. According to Lewis et al.,

(2003) “Industrial Relations is associated with the declining “Smokestack" industries and

blue-collar workers and the accompanying emphasis upon Collective Bargaining between

employers and Trade Unions.” Employee relations offers a wider employment opus giving



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equal significance to non-union employment and white collar jobs. It is concerned with the

socio-economic relationship that forms a contract between the parties to perform in return for

employment benefits like remuneration (Perkins & Shortland, 2006).

The employee relationship management is a social, economic and political

relationship in which employees provide physical and mental labour in exchange for rewards

in the form of remuneration by employers (Lewis, et al., 2003). Over the last three decades,

increased global competition made the organizations emphasise labour efficiency and cost

control (Perkins & Shortland, 2006). This necessitated effective employee relationship

strategies that allow the employees to put their best on the achievement of organizational

goals.

Lewis et al, 2003) pointed out that the employee relations exhibit the presence of a

psychological bond that is different from any other relationships. There exists a non-

formalized kind of psychological contract which is based on what each party expects from the

other and is different from the normal written and legal expectations of the parties from each

other. Perkins and Shortland (2006) argue that the socio-political relations of employment are

not inert therefore it is essential to consider the impending of the bipartite and/or tripartite

employment systems to determine the employment relations outcomes.

Pearce and Robinson (2009) argue that firms keenly look for good employee

relationship even though they are bound by union contracts. The primary duty of the strategic

mangers is the anticipation of employee needs and expectations. Organizations should

endeavour to content their employees with good pay, good supervision and good stimulating

work. Customer satisfaction is associated with employee satisfaction. It is believed that

productivity is linked to employee loyalty and employee welfare.

Harzing and Ruysseveldt (2004) emphasised on efficient labour management

relationships because it’s a key to make the firm to improve and innovate. According to

Lewis at al. (2003) involvement of employees directly in the decision-making process makes

them go beyond their immediate work tasks. Moreover, employee involvement is based on

the fact that involvement in goal setting has is related to the acceptance and subsequent

commitment of the employees to the established goals, leading to increased performance and

development. (Harzing & Ruysseveldt, 2004).

Lewis et al. (2003) study a managerial policy where employers and employees share

goals and the means to realize them. They found that employee’s commitment resulted in

both better economic performance and superior human development. They suggested that

Managers should give employees a responsible autonomy. Giving employees an opportunity

to have control over their own work conditions in such a manner that benefits the

organization as a whole. Managers give employees status, authority and responsibility. This

is based on McGregor theory Y which purposes that employees are responsible and self-

motivated people who seek responsibility and are resourceful. This helps to win employees

trustworthiness towards management and tries to get along employees to the organizational

goals. Responsible autonomy strategy is highly necessary to achieve greater productivity.

They also emphasized communication in the organisation which withholds the employee and

employer relationship directs the organisation and the employees in the path of organisational

vision and goal. Communication of organisational vision and goal increases employee morale

and accountability. In addition to this Ivancevich et al (1997) says that the higher level

management plays an important role in communicating and sharing the strategy with the

employees and other stakeholders. Effective communication ensures that people have the

right information they need and is the base for any relationship to prosper. Honesty and open-

mindedness with employees are especially imperative while dealing with serious concerns



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outside of the office. Harzing and Ruysseveldt (2004) also stressed the role of communication

of tasks to be performed should be done with extensive employee involvement. As a leader

one has to lower any stress they might be feeling by communicating openly. Effective

communication is undeniably essential to the successful integration of employee by ensuring

employee engagement. Performance expectations, if not properly communicated, are far

more difficult to re-work after the fact. Management’s openness and acceptance of the

employees’ feedback, ideas, inputs and suggestions are the foundation of good

communications and resilient employee relationships. “Everybody wins when they are all

part of a supportive team” goas with the slogan “Saabka Saath… Saabka Vikaas…” by our

honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

3. Objectives

Following are the main objectives of the study

1. To understand the role of ERM strategy in the banking industry.

2. To study how ERM strategy is helpful in gaining a competitive advantage in the

banking sector.

3. To find out how ERM strategies differ from bank to bank.

4. To explore the role of demographic characteristics of employees on the employee

relationship management in banks

4. Hypothesis

Following are the null hypothesis of the study

H01: There is no significant difference between the ERM strategies of the two type of banks

taken in the study.

H02: There is no significant difference between the competitive advantages of the two banks.

H03: There is no significant impact of the ERM Practices on the Competitive Advantage of

the Banks.

5. Methodology

The study is empirical in nature. The rationale behind choosing SBI and ICICI bank is

based on the Market Capitalization. The average market capitalization of SBI for last one

year is 296.30 whereas ICICI bank has 278.38 with close proximity (ref. Table-1). Here both

the bank are of equally popular but belong to different categories i.e. one is a public sector

bank and the other one is a private sector bank. Hence, the comparison between these two

banks seems justified in investigating the Employee Relationship management practices.

There are two parts in this study one based on the employees of the bank and their view about

the ERM strategies adopted by the bank and the other part based on the customers view about

opting for the bank service based on the ERM practices of the particular bank. A closed-

ended questionnaire is prepared for collecting data from the employees of the bank and

another closed-ended questionnaire is prepared in Google form to collect data from those of

customers. Clustered Random sampling technique is used to select samples for the study. A

total of 234 employees of both the banks were interviewed and the data is analysed using z-

test, and ANOVA. On the other hand, a total of 558 number of customer responses were

contacted regarding their view about the bank's competitive advantage based on customer

service, product leadership and price or cost advantage by asking different questions. The

data so obtained is analysed using SPSS software.



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6. Data Analysis and Interpretation

Table-1: Market Capitalization of private and public sector banks as on 25-11-2017

Company

Name

52 week

High

52 week

Low Average

Company

Name

52

week

High

52

week

Low

Average

HDFC

Bank

1,876.95 1,193.45 1,535.20 SBI 351.5 241.1 296.30

ICICI

Bank

332.3 224.45 278.38 Bank of

Baroda

206.6 133.6 170.10

Kotak

Mahindra

1,114.35 710.9 912.63 PNB 231.6 114.6 173.10

Axis Bank 564.6 447.8 506.20 Bank of

India

216.7 102.6 159.65

IndusInd

Bank

1,818.00 1,066.25 1,442.13 Canara

Bank

463.4 250.17 356.79

Yes Bank 1,884.85 296 1,090.43 Indian Bank 428 196.2 312.10

Federal

Bank

127.75 61.85 94.80 IDBI Bank 86.5 50.25 68.38

RBL Bank 600 325.65 462.83 Central

Bank

125 70.6 97.80

IDFC

Bank

71.95 52.7 62.33 Union Bank 205 123.8 164.40

City Union

Bank

182.62 115.76 149.19 Syndicate

Bank

95.35 61.2 78.28

Karur

Vysya

150.19 75.61 112.90 Vijaya Bank 97.4 42.9 70.15

DCB Bank 213 102.5 157.75 IOB 32.25 21.5 26.88

South Ind

Bank

33.3 18.1 25.70 Allahabad

Bank

92.5 59.4 75.95

Karnataka

Bank

181.15 101 141.08 UCO Bank 44.8 28.5 36.65

JK Bank 95.65 54.6 75.13 Andhra

Bank

76.1 47.4 61.75

Lakshmi

Vilas

209.8 133.4 171.60 Corporation

Bk

64.7 38.05 51.38

Dhanlaxmi

Bank

44.7 22 33.35 Oriental

Bank

190.8 105.55 148.18

R ETF

Gold BeES

2,741.95 2,500.05 2,621.00 Bank of

Maharashtra

40.7 24.5 32.60

StanChart

IDR

71.9 51.9 61.90 Dena Bank 50 24.3 37.15

Source: Moneycontrol.com



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http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/stockpricequote/banksprivatesector/lakshmivilasbank/LVB

http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/stockpricequote/banksprivatesector/lakshmivilasbank/LVB

7. Findings

Table-2: Demographics of the bank employees

Demographics Category No of Respondents Percentage

Gender Male 130 55.60

Female 104 44.40

Total 234 100.00

Age group up to 30 71 30.30

31-40 63 26.90

41-50 52 22.20

51-60 48 20.50

Total 234 100.00

Designation High level 55 23.50

Middle level 90 38.50

Lower level 89 38.00

Total 234 100.00

Bank Name ICICI 119 50.90

SBI 115 49.10

Total 234 100.00

The above table depicts the demographics of the bank employees. It is evident that

there are a total of 56% male employees compared to 44% female employees out of 234

numbers of total employees contacted. As per the age group categorisation, there are 43%

employees are of the age group above 40 years whereas, around 30% employees are below 30

years group or the youngsters. 23% of employees belong to the high-level category in the

employee hierarchy, 39% belong to middle and 38% belongs to the lower level category.

There are a total of 51% ICICI employees and 49% of SBI employees are taken for the study.

Table-3: Demographics of the Bank Customers

Demographics Category No of Respondents Percentage

Gender Male 306 54.80

Female 252 45.20

Total 558 100.00

Age group Below 20 154 27.60

21 to 40 208 37.30

41 and Above 196 35.10

Total 558 100.00

Account type SB 185 33.20

CA 196 35.10

Both SB &

CA 177 31.70

Total 558 100.00

Bank Name SBI 357 63.97

ICICI 201 36.02

Total 558 100.00

The above table portrays the demographic characteristics of the bank customers.

There are a total of 55% male customers compared to 45% of female customers out of 558



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number of total customers selected for the study. Around 35% of customers fall under the age

group of more than 41 years compared to 28% customers below 20 years of age. 37% of

customers belong 21 to 40 years. 33% of customers are found to have a savings bank account

compared to 35% having a current account only and 32% customers having both savings and

current account. It is also evident that a total of 64% are SBI customers and 36% are ICICI

bank customers.

Table-4: Group Statistics

Bank Name N Mean Std. Deviation

Std. Error

Mean

ERM ICICI 119 3.1664 .55732 .05109

SBI 115 3.0136 .39735 .03705

The above table represents the group statistics of the responses of the bank employees

towards employee relationship management practices collected through a set of eight

questions. It is observed that the mean of the responses of ERM of SBI is 3.013 whereas, the

mean of the responses of ICICI bank employees is 3.166. The mean difference is found to be

0.152 which is very small. This small difference between the employee relationship

management strategies is a representation of the competitive environment that exists in the

market.

The Table-4 represents the t-test to find out whether the existing mean difference

between the responses of the two employees regarding the employee relationship

management practices in the respective banks are significant or not. The two-tailed p-value

0.016 which is less than the standard 0.05 value (5% level of significance) allows us to reject

the null hypothesis saying there is no significant difference between ERM practices of the

two banks.

Table-5: Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test

for Equality of

Variances t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t df

Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Differen

ce

Std.

Error

Differen

ce

95%

Confidence

Interval of the

Difference

Lower Upper

ER

M

Equal

variances

assumed

11.46

2 .001 2.408 232 .017 .15282 .06347 .02778 .27786

Equal

variances not

assumed

2.421 213.6

1 .016 .15282 .06311 .02842 .27722

The Table-5 represents the group statistics of the responses of the bank customers

towards competitive advantages of the banks collected through a set of three parameters like

customer services, Product leadership, and cost/price advantages related questions. It is

observed that the mean of the responses of customer services, product leadership and price

advantages of SBI is 2.89, 2.82, and 2.79 respectively, and of ICIC bank is 3.15, 3.06 and

3.13 respectively.



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The Table-6 represents the t-test to find out whether the existing mean difference

between the responses of the two bank customers regarding the competitive advantage in

customer service is found to be 0.007 (less than p-value at 1% confidence level, i.e. 0.01), for

product leadership is 0.020 (less than p-value at 5% confidence level, i.e. 0.05)and cost or

price advantage is 0.001 (less than p-value at 1% confidence level, i.e. 0.01) makes us reject

the null hypothesis saying there is no significant difference between the competitive

advantage parameters of the two banks.

Table-6: Group Statistics

Bank Name N Mean Std. Deviation

Std. Error

Mean

Customer Service ICICI 357 3.1595 1.09599 .05801

SBI 201 2.8993 1.09545 .07727

Product Leadership ICICI 357 3.0624 1.09644 .05803

SBI 201 2.8297 1.19064 .08398

Cost/Price Advantage ICICI 357 3.1301 1.10964 .05873

SBI 201 2.7913 1.17996 .08323

Table-7: Independent Samples Test

Levene's

Test for

Equality of

Variances

t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t df Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Differen

ce

Std.

Error

Differen

ce

95%

Confidence

Interval of the

Difference

Lower Upper

Customer

Service

Equal

variances

assumed

.080 .778 2.693 556 .007* .26027 .09663 .07046 .45008

Equal

variances not

assumed

2.694 414.9

2 .007* .26027 .09662 .07035 .45019

Product

Leadershi

p

Equal

variances

assumed

4.91

4 .027 2.333 556 .020** .23273 .09976 .03679 .42867

Equal

variances not

assumed

2.280 387.0

1 .023** .23273 .10208 .03203 .43343

Cost/Price

Advantag

e

Equal

variances

assumed

2.71

0 .100 3.383 556 .001* .33874 .10013 .14207 .53541

Equal

variances not

assumed

3.325 393.8

8 .001* .33874 .10186 .13848 .53900

*p- value significant at 1% level, **p-value significant at 5% level.

The above interpretation of the ERM practices and the Competitive advantages gained

by the respective banks in the form of customer services, product leadership and cost



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advantages reflects the slightest difference in the ERM practices i.e. 0.152 gives a greater

difference (0.26 to 0.33) in the means of the Competitive advantages of the banks. Therefore

it can be inferred that there is a strong relationship between the ERM practices of the Banks

and their competitive advantages in the market. When we look up to the market capitalization

we can see the average market capitalisation of SBI is 296.30 which is higher compared to

the average market capitalisation of ICICI bank 278.38. even though the difference exists in

the market capitalisation ICIC bank being a private sector bank giving a strong competition to

the SBI which is one of the oldest public sector bank having more number of branches,

ATMs, customers etc. we can say that it is only due to employee relationship management

practices, and the competitive advantages gained over time made ICICI bank a leading and

strong competitor to the SBI.

8. Conclusion

Nowadays employee relations is practised in the majority of the organisations.

Organisations recently are understanding the role of employees in improving business

performance, customer satisfaction and Banking industries are of no exception. To gain a

competitive advantage and to ensure customer retention and loyalty an organisation has to

first focus on the employees and their satisfaction through employee relationship

management strategy. We have seen form this study that a small variance in the employee

relationship management reflected in a large variation in the competitive advantage. This

study also explained how the business performance is improved by attaining the desired level

of competitive advantage only thorough employee relationship management. It is

comparatively easy to manage employee relationship management compared to customer

relationship management. Therefore, organisations should focus more on improving and

enhancing their relationship with the employees and staff for attaining the organisational

objecting and goal.

9. Limitations and Scope

Following are the limitations of the study

The first limitation of the study is that the survey is conducted in Odisha and limited

to some randomly chosen branches of SBI and ICICI bank.

Secondly, only two banks are chosen from a private and public sector, foreign banks

are excluded.

The third limitation is we have taken banks according to the market capitalization and

the net profit, return on equity and sundry creditors are ignored.

The comparison is done on the basis of the employee's point of view and that of the

customer's preference for banking service with respect to the ERM practices. This can

also be done by taking the involvement of the customers in ERM as some recent

researches claim that ERM is a new concept in CRM and customer retention.

The same study can be extended to other banks to understand the different methods of

employee relationship management practices and its impact on other parameters like banks

performance, corporate governance, NPA Management etc. as the study incorporated only

around 120 bank employees from the banks located in the major cities of the state of Odisha

it has its own limitations which can be minimised if banks located in the major cities of other

states are also taken and compared among themselves.



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