How ASN Bank Used Position Management to Gain Structural Workforce Control 

Workforce decisions are made every day across financial institutions. As organisations grow in scale and complexity, especially following mergers, the challenge is no longer operational execution, but structural control: how roles, capacity, costs, and accountability are governed in a coherent and scalable way. 

Many institutions struggle to move beyond fragmented workforce views and locally optimised decisions. What distinguishes leading organisations is not whether they manage workforce governance, but how structurally and consistently they do so. 

Following the merger of ASN, Volksbank, SNS, RegioBank, and BLG Wonen in July 2025,  

ASN Bank entered a new phase of organisational maturity. While the bank operated effectively and had strong governance practices in place, the increased scale highlighted the opportunity to elevate workforce governance to a fully integrated, enterprise-wide standard. 

To achieve this, ASN Bank partnered with Highberg to introduce position management within the organisation. 

Position Management: A Governance Standard 

Highberg approaches Position Management not as an HR tool or reporting exercise, but as a structural management capability.

Positions represent the structural and temporary work that exists within an organisation. They are the most concrete link between strategy, capacity, cost, and accountability. Governing these positions consistently is what enables organisations to maintain control while remaining agile. 

Highberg’s Position Management model establishes: 

• a single authoritative position structure 

• explicit governance rules and decision rights 

• embedded accountability at every leadership level 

• alignment between HR, Finance, and the business 

At ASN Bank, this model consolidated existing workforce practices into one coherent governance framework. Rather than replacing what worked, Highberg unified and professionalised workforce governance so it could scale with the organisation. 

Workforce Visibility for Strategic Decisions 

Turning workforce data into actionable insights requires visibility. Organisations seeking to govern capacity and workforce costs effectively need a dashboard and reporting system that provides a clear, structured view, transforming the workforce from an abstract concept into a tangible, actionable model. 

At ASN Bank, Highberg implemented a position-based dashboard and reporting system that delivered accurate, integrated insights across HR, Finance, and business leadership. By translating workforce data into actionable insights, managers could make decisions with confidence, and leadership was able to proactively steer workforce strategy. 

This case demonstrates that the approach is not just theoretical. Organisations that adopt a similar visibility system can achieve the same clarity, control, and accountability. 

Professionalising Decision-Making at Scale 

Introducing Position Management also represents a deliberate shift in how organisations make decisions. 

Under Highberg’s model, managers evolve from experience-driven decision-making to structured, position-based governance. Decision-making authority remains with the business, but within clear boundaries that ensure organisational alignment. 

At ASN Bank, this resulted in: 

• faster, more confident decisions 

• fewer escalations and exceptions 

• consistent application of workforce principles across the organisation 

Position Management is no longer a project or control mechanism; it is part of everyday management practice. 

Position Management: Enabling Strategic Control 

Today, ASN Bank operates with a single, position-based system linking roles to employees, providing a complete view of staffing, capacity, and workforce costs. Transparent governance over capacity and workforce costs enables managers and leadership to make informed and consistent decisions. Clear accountability exists for all workforce decisions, with defined ownership at every level of the organisation. 

This structural foundation enables broader workforce management capabilities, such as strategic workforce planning and forward-looking capacity management. Rather than reacting to workforce challenges, ASN Bank can anticipate and steer them. 

Conclusion 

By establishing Position Management as a structural management capability, ASN Bank created clarity, accountability, and control without reducing managerial autonomy. The approach demonstrated here is broadly applicable across financial institutions, illustrating how disciplined position-based governance can serve as an industry standard. The result is an organisation that operates with confidence, efficiency, and agility.