Danske Bank scraps VP title: "I interpret it as a signal"
Not everyone is equally happy with the decision, but it makes good sense to reduce titles that are overly hierarchical and instead focus on competencies and professional skills, says local branch president of Finansforbundet at Danske Bank.
Although the change has no bearing on neither conditions nor pay of the affected employees, the feelings among employees are mixed.
This isn’t merely about making a trivial update to your LinkedIn profile or tweaking your email signature. For some, the title gave them a sense of pride and a feeling that they have worked for years to earn this particular title that they are now being stripped of.
It's important to acknowledge that it may feel like a loss for some, says Kirsten Ebbe Brich.
"For many of us, a large part of our identity is in our job, and for many, job identity equals the title. So of course it matters when you are stripped of your title," she says and continues:
"Most often, it has taken years of hard work and dedication to earn this title, so it's obviously rough to see it change."
Clear career paths are important
Instead of the various versions of vice president titles, middle management titles will now clearly reflect the employees' areas of responsibility or expertise. To illustrate, the former Danish title chef for marketing is now Head of Marketing.
The top management at Danske Bank says that the title drill aims to help boost openness and collaboration in contrast to a rather rigid hierarchical description of where people are in the organisation.
“We don’t think our position in the hierarchy is important. We think the role we play is much more important," said Karsten Breum, Head of HR and member of Danske Bank’s Executive Board in a recent article in Børsen.
Kirsten Ebbe Brich is completely in line with this interpretation.
"Removing titles will hopefully ensure more equality and focus on the individual's contributions rather than their job title."
She adds that the new titles in the organisational chart will make it even more important to be clear about the career paths at Danske Bank.
"It's a balancing act to navigate between the desire for clear career paths, talent programmes and the need for less hierarchical structures," she says.
