While most companies still function through a strict hierarchy and several levels of management, one Danish firm has decided to take a completely different path.
The Clever company, the largest operator of a network of charging stations for electric vehicles in Denmark, abolished the classic management structure and organized the business without directors, bosses and middle management.
Today, from the headquarters in Copenhagen, more than 500 employees work through independent teams that jointly make decisions and take responsibility for their implementation.
Behind this unusual model stands the company’s co-founder Casper Kirketerp-Møller, who started the company more than ten years ago with only a few employees. Over time, he concluded that the traditional management system stifles creativity and slows down the company’s development.
A step beyond the Nordic model
Although Denmark and other Nordic countries are known for more equal workplace relationships and less pronounced hierarchies, Kirketerp-Møller felt there was room for further change.
The transformation process began in 2019 with the gradual abolition of managerial levels, and eventually even the position of the general director would disappear.
According to him, the goal was to create an environment where every employee will be able to make a full contribution and develop their own potential.
He points out that in the time of accelerated development of artificial intelligence, it is precisely human skills, creativity and mutual cooperation that will become an increasingly important factor of success.
Faster decisions and greater responsibility
Apart from philosophical reasons, there is also a practical calculation behind this change.
Kirketerp-Møller believes that classic companies often waste time because every important decision has to go through several levels of approval.
This attitude is shared by Professor Helge Hvid from Roskilde University, who has been studying self-governing organizations for years.
He states that complex bureaucracy often slows down business processes and that younger generations of employees are increasingly looking for autonomy, the ability to influence decisions and a sense of meaning in the work they do.
There are no bosses, but there are rules
At Clever, they emphasize that the termination of the manager does not mean the absence of the organization.
Employees are divided into more than 50 teams, each of which has between eight and twelve members. The teams have clearly defined tasks and responsibilities, including recruitment processes, human resources and project development.
One of the employees pointed out that in such a system there is no mutual competition among colleagues, but the focus is on the joint success of the entire team.
According to him, the model works because it gives employees a sense of freedom, responsibility and belonging.
Results that attract attention
The data of the internal survey conducted last year also show that the experiment is giving results.
As many as 92 percent of employees stated that they come to work with a positive feeling and satisfaction, which is a number that many companies can only dream of.
At a time when employers around the world are facing problems of motivating and retaining workers, the Danish model without bosses is increasingly being mentioned as an example of a different approach to management and work organization.
