From 278 to 25 managers in one day!

A radical transformation:

In 2018, I made a decision that was considered downright radical within ABN AMRO Bank. The bank's largest division—3,500 employees—would fundamentally change the way it worked. We eliminated 90% of management, gave employees more say, and created space for talent and leadership development. What remained were 350 small, "autonomous" teams that advised customers on a daily basis. The result? A spectacular increase in customer satisfaction, record-high employee satisfaction, and a drastic reduction in costs (now for seven years in a row).

How do you make psychological safety work and achieve maximum results? How do you overcome a hierarchical culture that is 200 years old? How do you give mandate to everyone and still remain in control?

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I have been working in the financial world for 30+ years and decided to do things completely differently in 2017. No longer an organization based on hierarchy, distance and control, but on entrepreneurship, ownership, trust and mandate for everyone. A major radical transformation within a corporate environment was the result. Within my division of 3,500 people, I reduced the number of managers by 95%, in 1 day!

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Together with all employees, we have demonstrated for 6 years that you can work in a large corporate according to the principles of self-organization. The success is visible in various areas: my unit shows an impressive performance in the areas of customer focus, employee satisfaction, but also in NPS, commerce and costs.

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Listen to Tom Jessen's C-level podcast (Spotify) in which Tom and I reflect in detail on the major changes that have taken place or the Denkproducties podcast in which I look back on 6 years of self-organization together with Hans Janssen and Christ Coolen.

Read the book “Momentum” , which I wrote together with Nathalie Hazenberg or read the interview “We went from 278 to 25 managers in 1 day” with Peter Runhaar from HR Praktijk magazine .