You should know that a bank probationary officer post is the entry level position at which a bank officer starts work after posting. Typically, a bank PO undergoes a 2 year probation period or training and then gets the post of Assistant Manager on joining a branch. Normal prospect of this job is general banking and bank administration; however, bank POs are expected to possess excellent communication skills and the ability to resolve conflicts in a cool and calm manner.
As Lakhs of aspirants are preparing for the burning profile of Probationary Officer every year, the competition to crack the PO exam is getting tougher day-by-day. For starting your preparation or for giving a finishing touch to your preparation you should know everything about the profile you are going to hold in the future.
Probationary Officer (PO) is a very lucrative post among bank aspirants as it is the first ladder to enter and serve as an Officer in Banking Industry. Many of the aspirants have no idea what actually a Probationary Officer does, so we are providing an article to clear all their doubts.
Picture Speaks More Than Words
- There are a lot of opportunities which are available for any Probationary Officer.
- Apart from the very fast promotion channels, there are rewards, recognition and attractive postings for performers.
- While the promotion channel for Specialist Cadre Officer is quite slow in all banks as there are less opportunity for these officers.
- Anybody who join bank as a Probationary Officer normally gets very fast promotion. There are normally two types of entry level jobs in the banks, which are clerk and officer.
- There are normally three types of Officers in the bank, those who got promotion from clerical cadre, Specialist Cadre Officers and those who joined as Probationary Officers.
- However for Probationary Officers there is no limit in the banks as far as career progression is concerned. As we have already mentioned that Almost All the chairman of State Bank of India and its associate banks had started their careers as a Probationary Officer only.
Designation Probationary Officers holds (PO) in banks
A PO holds the designation of an Assistant Manager (AM) on Probation. He is in Junior Management Grade-1 (JMG-Scale 1) Officer thus he is often called as Scale 1 Officer or Asst. Manager.
Initial Posting of Probationary Officer(PO)
After selection as a Probationary Officer (PO) in a particular bank a PO has to go through Induction training programmes in Management Training Academies of particular banks which lasts for 10 to 20 days. The duration of training varies from banks to banks.
After completion of their induction training in Management Training Academies a PO can be posted anywhere in India, as the service of Government Bank Officer is All India based service.
They can be posted as an Asst. Manager on probation in different branches or Head Office or Corporate Office or Zonal Offices or in specialized branches like microstate branches, treasury Branches etc. as per placement policy of particular banks.
Duration of Probation Period
Normally the probation period is of two years in which the officer is exposed to different types of banking related works. In some banks, the duration may be limited to one year. Probation period in some banks is divided in phases which vary from banks to banks.
Ex- In Indian Bank
Ist Phase- 6 months,
IInd Phase-6 months and
IIIrd Phase- 1 year.
The officers or probationers may undergo frequent transfers or deputations during the probation period. Once the probation period is completed the officer is confirmed as an Assistant Manager and gets his or her permanent posting after satisfied Police Verification report from their Local SSP Office or police station.
Some banks are now-a-days placing officers as Deputy Managers also, just after confirmation, provided they pass the test conducted by the bank.
For example: State Bank of India conducts a confirmation exam. If a probationary officer passes the exam, he is confirmed as an Assistant Manager. In fact, State Bank of India even gives a chance for promotion to Scale II to candidates who perform exceptionally well in the exam. Other Nationalized Banks do not conduct exams for confirmation.
Role of Probationary Officers (PO) in banks
POs are the talented young officers who have ample of potential and a great zeal to work faster and perform better than others.
1. Multitasking job – The role of Probationary Officer is a multitasking job and they are assigned for various banking activities, which helps them to get familiar with various working procedures of the bank.
2. Practical knowledge – POs are practically trained in various fields, like – Marketing, Accounting, Loans & Advances as well as Finance.
3. Customer services – Often POs are required to handle the customers of the banks, used to guide them about the banking facilities and products available to them, like issuing Cheque books, ATMcards, Demand Draft, etc. Customer complaints like discrepancies in accounts, rectification of undue charges are also handled by them.
4. Supervision of Clerical work – All the clerical work such as managing cash, opening account and customer dealing is done under the supervision of POs. In case of cash transactions, PO is responsible to check whether Clerk entered everything correctly or not and authorise the transactions.
5. Loan Processing – One of the major functions of the bank i.e. providing loan to the needful is also taken care of by a PO. Before granting the loan to the customer, all the documentation is to be done under his/her supervision.
Basic Salary of Probationary Officer
A Bank Probationary officer’s starting salary in most of public sector banks and even in some private banks is same. The latest revision of salary of Bank PO has taken place wef from 1st November, 2012 (The final agreement has been signed only on 25th May, 2015) All newly recruited POs are placed in the following scale at the 1st stage of the same. The revised salary as on 1st June 2015 will be as per Scale I given below:
(The figures in the brackets indicate the annual increment and the number of stages for which the same is applicable)
Thus, the revised initial Basic Pay of a Bank PO will be Rs.23, 700/- as from 1st June 2015 onwards.
Major allowances payable monthly to Bank POs
In addition to Basic Pay Pos are eligible for the following allowances:-
1. Dearness Allowance (DA): DA in banks is revised on quarterly basis (i.e. in the months of February, May, August and November) based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as declared by Government of India. The new revised current DA (for the month of May 2015, June 2015 and July 2015 is 33.70% of the Basic Pay). DA can go up with higher inflation and also come down if the inflation rate is in negative.
2. Special Allowance: This has been added in 10th BPS (wef 01/11/2012) and for scale I is 7.75% on which DA is also payable
3. HRA (House Rent Allowance): This depends on the place of posting and it can be either 9.0% or 8.0% or 7.0% depending on the place of posting.
4. CCA (City Compensatory Allowance): This also depends on the place of posting and can be either 4% (maximum Rs.870/-) or 3 %( Maximum Rs.600/-) or 0%
Gross Salary
The above statistics indicates that the total salary of a probationary officer on joining at a metro station will be around Rs.37145/-. However, the total salary of a probationary officer who has to join in rural area will be about Rs 35800/ (This includes HRA also). However, SBI gives four additional increments to Bank POs and thus gross salary will be higher by about Rs 5000/-.pm.
In lieu of HRA, most of the banks allow you to take leased accommodation, the amount of which varies from bank to bank and also depends on place of posting (The entitlement of such accommodation ranges from Rs 10000 to Rs 29,000 p.m (approximate). Thus, we can say the salary cash component of Bank PO in Public Sector banks is around Rs 37100 pm whereas in SBI, the initial cash component salary of SBI PO is around 43000 /-pm (including HRA).
At last a probationary officer has to work in various departments. It can be Deposits, Loans & Advances, Clearing, Pensions, Payment and Cheque clearances, Fixed Deposit, ATM and Internet Banking, Credit Card, Report Making, etc. Work allotted to them mainly depends upon the policies of a particular bank also place of posting where he or she got posted. They are like diamonds for every bank and banks also want to polish them by giving them best training.