SBI wants a third of its total employees to be women by 2030

State Bank of India wants a third of its total employees to be women by the end of this decade, a top official has said, as the country's largest lender looks to boost gender diversity among its ranks.

SBI has a staff strength of more than 2.4 lakh—the highest in Indian banking. (Bloomberg)

“If we talk about frontline staff, women are almost 33%, but if you see as a total, they account for 27% of the workforce,” Kishore Kumar Poludasu, the deputy managing director (humand resources) and chief development officer of the public sector bank, told Press Trust of India in an interview. “We will be working towards improving this percentage, so that the diversity gets further improved.”

SBI has a staff strength of more than 2.4 lakh—the highest in Indian banking.

According to Poludasu, SBI is committed to creating a workplace where women thrive at all levels. To that effect, the bank has provided a creche for children of working mothers, and runs a family connect and training program to assist women employees returning from maternity, sabbatical or extended sick leave. The bank has introduced focused programs such as breast and cervical cancer screenings, nutrition allowances for pregnant staff, and the Cervical Cancer Vaccination Drive.

Additionally, SBI's so-called “Empower Her” initiative aims to identify, mentor and groom women for leadership roles.

A lot of such initiatives are being taken up keeping in mind the women and girls who are employed in the bank, he Poludasu said.

That SBI has more than 340 bank branches operated by women-only staff underscores its endeavour to promote women at the workplace. The bank is one of the top global 50 banks in terms of asset size and the bank has been recognised as best employer by various entities.