EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A leading Urban Microfinance Institution (MFI) in India received an 'in-principle' approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a Small Finance Bank. With an 18-month compliance window and a strong ambition to lead in the talent race, the client engaged Huntsmen & Barons (H&B) to design and execute a comprehensive, end-to-end recruitment drive — one of the most ambitious staffing mandates in India's emerging small finance banking sector.
H&B successfully delivered this mandate across PAN India (excluding the East), hiring over 650 professionals across branch, supervisory, and corporate functions within a stringent timeline.
THE CHALLENGE
The client faced a multi-dimensional hiring challenge that few organisations navigate simultaneously:
- Scale & Speed: Hiring 650+ professionals across functions in a compressed timeline, PAN India.
- Role Diversity: Simultaneous recruitment across branch-level operations, supervisory leadership, and specialised corporate functions.
- Talent Competition: The broader small finance bank licensing wave had multiple MFIs in similar transitions, creating fierce competition for the same talent pool.
H&B'S APPROACH
H&B took ownership of the full recruitment lifecycle — from sourcing and screening to offer execution and onboarding — functioning as an embedded strategic hiring partner rather than a transactional vendor.
We deployed a multi-tiered team designed for accountability at every level, including a Managing Partner for oversight, an onsite Client Relationship Manager in Bangalore, onsite support executives across major cities, and offsite recruiters scaling up to 15 based on volume.
OUTCOMES & RESULTS
H&B successfully executed the Phase 1 mandate across PAN India (excluding Eastern India), delivering:
- 650+ professionals sourced, interviewed, offered, and onboarded across branch, supervisory, and corporate functions.
- Talent placed across key metro and tier-2 cities including Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, and Nagpur.
- Roles filled ahead of RBI's compliance timeline, giving the client a head-start in its banking transformation journey.