Bank Without a Boss

The CEOs of Swiss financials are among the best paid in Europe. Their power is a function of a top-down approach to management. But change is in the air and in the new times, the bosses will know not to issue orders.

«Mother wanted for management position at a bank, part-time a must»: human resources at most Swiss financials would get more than an earful if they posted such a job ad..

In Olten, the home of Alternative Bank Schweiz (ABS), this type of manager has become reality in the summer of 2020. Two women with small kids are sharing between them a 70-percent job on the executive board – and are in charge of the core loans business of ABS.

A Sign of the Times

What's more: ABS in September communicated that it wasn't going to replace CEO Martin Rohner who had left earlier in the summer.  The five heads of division since have ben managing the company as a team, with an equal say over matters.

«ABS has grown very strongly in recent years,» said Chairwoman Anita Wymann (pictured below) in an interview with finews.com. «We decided after the departure of the CEO to take the opportunity and to move away from a traditional form of organization with a chief executive, in a bid to prevent growth from leading to stronger hierarchies.» The dream of a bank without a boss has already come true in Olten.

Anita Wymann (left) with the executive team (picture: Ruben Hollinger/ABS)

Agile Is the Way to Go

Of course, the Alternative Bank is known for going the alternative way, true to its name. Founded by people close to the political left and progressive church groups, the bank dared experiment from early on. After the surge of the Swiss franc in 2015, ABS shot to fame as the first bank to charge its clients negative interest.

The Swiss banking regulator Finma has given its assent to the new form of organization. But new forms of running a bank is no longer the trademark that makes ABS stand out.

Banks and insurers in Switzerland are doing away with levels of management, and not only in a bid to eliminate expensive positions. Even mighty UBS is operating in agile groups, with client needs the main focus of the teams with less demand for traditional forms of a command structure.

Team Bonus Replaces Personal Bonus

Corona is giving this trend a new boost. The management of staff is automatically altered by the use of home office. «Management by objective» is the key word applied in this context. Strict command structures and tight management from above become obsolete. The success of the team takes precedence over the career of the individual member of staff.

This will also affect the issue that has taken on such huge importance in finance: the compensation package. Team bonus replaces the personal bonus. ABS has already implemented this new form of remuneration.

«Banking Is a Cautious Trade»

Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank (BLKB) meanwhile decide to prepare the organization for an acceleration of change that has the industry in its grip. The state-owned bank in 2019 decided to cut the levels of management to three from previously four. «This is one of many measures to make the corporate culture ready for the future and to even better meet client needs,» a spokesman told finews.com.

Cutting back on hierarchies to make a company fit for the future: something that ABS Chair Wymann would subscribe to. «We are convinced that the future of banking isn't in strict hierachies,» she said. In other industries, such as IT, agile teams and flat hierarchies have long been the rule. «Banking is cautious with adopting new ways,» Wymann added.

A Veto Right Over Hirings