Human Resource Management

Empowerment of Women - Socio-Psychological Needs

Ms Meenakshi Kaushal Research Scholar

Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune. meenakshi_duggal@rediffmail.com

Introduction The services rendered by bank in multiplicity of ways have a direct or indirect impact on the

women entrepreneurs. These services may be categorized as the services catering the “Socio-Psychological Needs” and the services facilitating to settle the account related matters in good-naturedlyways .However it is always wide spread belief that the banker like Govt bureaucrat is felt short in meeting the needs of customers ,especially women entrepreneurs. This research paper, although it is an offshoot of the author’s PhD document where sample of 147 women entrepreneurs financed by BoM is the focus of study; this research paper is useful in understanding how far the women entrepreneurs are being satisfied (?) by the well reputed BoM? Keywords: Entrepreneurs, Bank Finance, Socio-Psychological Needs Socio-Psychological Needs of a Women-entrepreneur:

The women-entrepreneurs getting the loans from the bank for her business has many expectations

from her banker besides getting loans. She feels that when she deals with the bank by opening account it is then banker’s responsibility to take care of her Socio-Psychological Needs (SPNs) besides facilitating other finance related services on par with other customers .These SPNs are having special impact on her bent of mind and their positivistic reciprocations cherish her entrepreneurial abilities Although these are not linked to the survival of the women-entrepreneur's physical being, but their deprivation may seriously affect his psychological state and her behavior. Some of these needs are:

(i) The need for recognition and social company (ii) The need for security (iii) Need for mutual trust (iv) The need for information (v) The need for prompt service (vi) Interdependent relationship (vii) Borrower's psychology (viii) Women-entrepreneurs satisfaction through trained bank staff

How far the above needs have been outfitted by the banker for inspiring women is a matter measured ahead firstly in quantitative terms (a) and then the same is substantiated by qualitative terms (b).The methodology in such evaluation is epigrammatically narrated ahead

a) Evaluation through Quantitative Terms The value of above SPN statements may be measured on the basis of responses endorsed by sample women entrepreneurs in terms of % Feel Good Factor. Under this method sampled number of women entrepreneurs were asked, how much have they been positive to given statement? Quote in % where “0”% means “Not at all satisfied” and “100%” means “Fully satisfied”. Any % between 1% and 100% indicate the level or intensity of satisfaction by concern respondents to the statement given. When there is group of sampled respondents each one voting to the given statement in varied %s, the summations of all such %s expressed by such sampled respondents is made to arrive at the average value to the statement from the eyes of sample respondents.

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Human Resource Management

Sample Women Entrepreneurs’ (n=) Perceptions about their self needs expected by them to be satisfied by the banker financing her business

Sr. No

Socio-Psychological Needs (SPNs) Average feel/Sense Intensity in % as envisaged by a group of women –entrepreneurs

1 Identification 34 2 Defense 44 3 Communal Trust 45 4 Information 34 5 Timely Service 36 6 Liaison 37 7 Borrower's Psychology 33 8 Educated Bank Staff 44 9 Mean 38 10 SD 5.097 11 CV 13.41% The above table shows that the sample women entrepreneurs are not so far satisfied since their

perception over the satisfaction level/intensity against SPNs statements is less than 50% i.e. mean value of satisfaction feel is 38 with SD 5.097 and CV 13.41%. In other wards the women entrepreneurs by and large are in recipient of lower echelon of satisfaction. It is precisely substantiated by the following graph based on above Table Graph:-Perceived Satisfaction level by Sample Women Entrepreneurs’ over the SPNs catered

by the banker

b) Evaluation through qualitative terms (i) The need for recognition and social company:

Every Business women has an innate desire to be recognized on her own, and being a business owner, she has a strong desire to maintain lasting social relations with bank officials. But unfortunately the women-entrepreneurs in the banks are often equated with their account volume. Women-entrepreneurs desire to have a personal relationship with their banks, but banks are not often personable. Considering that most banks offer similar services, it is necessary for the banks to offer personalized services to women-entrepreneurs who are account holders as well. The cashiers/tellers and deposit/advances counter clerks, who are the main contact persons for these retail women-entrepreneurs have a major role in gaining the loyalty of the women-entrepreneurs.

34%

44% 45%

34% 36% 37%33%

44%

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Recognition

Security

Mutual Trust

Information

Prompt Service

Relationship

Borrower's Psychology

Trained Bank Staff

Socio-Psychological Needs (SPNs)

Avera

ge Fee

l inten

sities

in %

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(ii) The need for security: Apart from his physical security, every women-entrepreneur would like to have economic

security and financial guarantee. The bank has, therefore, to project an atmosphere of stability, dependability, security and comfort. It should learn about the type of financial problems its clientele need to solve and offer services to fulfill these needs. This will project the image of a bank that is women -oriented and dedicated to the welfare of its clientele. (iii) Need for mutual trust:

Generally, banker expects that the women-entrepreneur shall trust though his financial help may be big or small but he is unwilling to reciprocate the feelings. This is more prominent in the case of sanctioning of loans and advances. The women-entrepreneur is often looked upon with skepticism and mistrust since the loan officer realizes his responsibility for recovery of the monies lent. The professional ethic is proffered as a ready justification for maintaining a frigid relationship with the women-entrepreneur. Although a certain amount of detachment is necessary, a sympathetic listening to the view-points of the borrower and offering of constructive suggestions would instill confidence in women-entrepreneur towards the bank. (iv) The need for information:

With the increase in levels of literacy and expansion of the bank branch network, the public, especially women expectations from the bank have also grown considerably. The women-entrepreneur today demands more and more information from the banks. Truly speaking there are hundreds or more schemes proliferated from the various agencies and the bankers are expected to inform the same to women. However this task is least cared and whenever there is an obligation to give information, the bank just acts as catalyst agent. (v) The need for prompt service:

The systems and procedures in banks are generally developed to safeguard the bank's interest and the promotion of women-entrepreneur satisfaction is given only a secondary status. This often results in inordinate delays in providing prompt services to women-entrepreneur. These delays sometimes give rise to unpleasant situations in banks. (vi) Interdependent relationship:

Researchers have shown that women-entrepreneurs perceive the relationship between a banker and a women-entrepreneur as one of inter-dependence. While the banker is viewed as a friend in need and an expert in financial services, the bank too needs loyal women-entrepreneurs to improve its business and profitability. It should, ideally, be both a business and personal relationship. However in realities this does not happen (vii) Borrower's psychology:

Generally, psychological threat is most likely to occur in a borrowing situation due to the feelings of financial weakness and fear of psychological rejection on the part of the women-entrepreneur. Any refusal of loan is likely to be constructed as an inconsiderate ego-deflating treatment. Women entrepreneurs feel unsecured due to not getting the full support from their family members. They need to maintain the work balance between family and business life. The banks should, therefore, educate their women-entrepreneurs about their schemes, procedures and other requirements to enable them to anticipate how much money they can expect from the bank when needed and on what terms. Various schemes have been started by the government. Bank, in order to make them viable should provide working capital funds for the meeting out routine obligations. (viii) Trained bank staff Motivates women entrepreneurs

However, there is a much need for personalized services from bank to women-entrepreneur, it is well highly impossible for any banker to maintain a person-to-person relationship with each women-entrepreneur. But it is necessary for the officials at the bank to be exposed to the basics of women-entrepreneur’s psychology so that they cater to their needs. The bank has, therefore, to train its personnel in these aspects and communication techniques, and place the trained staff with the right attitudes and skills on desks dealing with Women Entrepreneurs.

In the modern marketing women-entrepreneur satisfaction can be taken as the strongest foundation laid down for the success of an organization. An organization will not be able to survive in

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Human Resource Management

the long run if its women-entrepreneurs are continuously feeling dissatisfaction. The women-entrepreneur is very important component in the total marketing system of the bank-services. It is necessary to take his proper care; otherwise he will stop to hold savings in the bank. Women-entrepreneur satisfaction is a very important aspect in the case of enterprise dealing with the marketing of services. The commercial or urban cooperative banking system is one of the service organizations which are operating in every city. A banking institution is indispensable in a modern society. It plays pivotal role in the economic development and forms the core of the money market in a country. The banks open various types of deposit accounts and render various services to the depositors and borrowers such a collection of cheques, demand drafts, bills of exchange, promissory notes etc.; besides these banks also provide the various kinds of ancillary services. Therefore, it is pertinent to understand what benefits and satisfaction the women-entrepreneur is seeking from the bank services. The marketing of services can be hit upon only if there is a match between the service product from the women-entrepreneurs’ view point and suppliers’ view point.

A women-entrepreneur chooses his bank not merely on economic or psychological considerations, but also due to influences through 'word of mouth' by his own circle of friends and associates. It is, therefore, advisable for banks to work on their present clients to secure new ones through personal recommendations. It should be the constant Endeavour of the banks to study the needs of the population in their areas and devise appropriate schemes to cater to them. They have to be courteous and appreciative of women-entrepreneurs' aspirations and view-points. They have to build-up goodwill for the banks. In short, there is a need for a humanized banking system. Conclusion

Women as an individual have a typical physiological bent of mind and the same is required to be considered by the banker while dealing with her. The psychological traits that inherit need to be perceived by the banker for providing services to women entrepreneurs. The bank personnel shall be given necessary training to understand the women feel about the bank and it’s financing for developing a harmonious relationship with the women-entrepreneur. It enables the banks to gain new marketing avenues References 1. Ashok Isobel and Kevin J. Kearney, “Banking Strategies for the 21st Century”, SBI Monthly

Review, Vol. 32 (1), 1993, 2. Dr. Knudsen H.N., “UCBs and Customer Services in New Economic Policy”, The Maharashtra

Co-operative Quarterly, Vol. 82(4), 1999 3. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/business-english/feelgood-factor 4. Kazim S.S., “UCBs: Present Position and their Challenges”, IBA Bulletin, Feb. 1471,

reproduced in Programme Material of VAMNICOM, Pune, Training Programme dt. 28-31, May, 1971

5. Pramod Kumar Mukherjee., “Modern Banking Theory”, Publishing in India, by S. Bhattacharjee for the World Press Pvt. Ltd., Calcutta, 1995.

6. Senapati Mullica, “UCBs”, Banking Finance, Konica Publishing, Feb. 14.1970

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ISSN : 2230-9667 Chronicle of the Neville Wadia Institute of Management Studies & Research 101