Borders and possibilities in self organizing

Hans-Erik Brønserud was appointed CEO of Middelfart Sparekasse in 1991, when the bank had 38 employees. Since then Middelfart Sparekasse has grown and today has 160 employees, 10 branches and a profit of 51.1 million DKK before tax. Indeed, in 2005 Middelfart Sparekasse was chosen as “Workplace of the Year”. At the same time Middelfart Sparekasse and Hans-Erik Brønserud were given a central place in the local community on Funen.

Part of Middelfart Sparekasse’s development is due to the fact that since his employment Hans-Erik Brønserud has worked on creating a new company culture. It is a culture based on a vision of self leadership and self organizing. The process from idea to realization has been long and many have shown great dedication. Maybe much could have been done in a different way. Nonetheless the process has been a success: employees are independent, their decisions are final (and cannot be changed – not even by the CEO), and everybody uses a simple set of rules and incorporated values. All manuals and employee policies have been discarded and the traditional HR-department has been rendered superfluous.

Please be aware that the speech will be en Danish.