Ensuring “equal rights for all”

Nævnenes Hus was the first of its kind, and thus a paradigm shift in how a government can operate. At the same time, this was a unique opportunity to build a government unit from scratch and to create a common starting point for the entire organisation.

Back in 2015, the Danish government released a new plan called “Better balance”, which focused on moving almost 4,000 public jobs out of the Copenhagen area. A plan the former Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen called “the biggest shift of government jobs ever”.

As a result of the before mentioned plan, Nævnenes Hus (the Danish Appeals Boards Authority) was established in 2017 as a government agency under the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs and thus this new venture would experience substantial political attention. Nævnenes Hus should be placed in Viborg in central Jutland and was a co-location of 16 independent complaints boards, which handle jurisdictions at court level. All of the complaints boards were back then located in the centre of the Danish capital Copenhagen, meaning that only few employees chose to follow their workplace all the way to Viborg. Nævnenes Hus was the first of its kind, and thus a paradigm shift in how a government can operate. At the same time, this was a unique opportunity to build a government unit from scratch and to create a common starting point for the entire organisation.

IDna Group was tasked with ensuring that this starting point was built on the vision of the appointed CEO Christian Lützen, and the unique identity of Nævnenes Hus, while focusing on their targets throughout the entire process.

Attracting top talent & ensuring a common point of departure

One of the main challenges was to be able to ensure a high level of expertise and to attract new top talent, competing with top law firms, the Danish Government and the like. Furthermore, the employees at Nævnenes Hus work in three very different professions; lawyers, technicians and administrators, making it key to ensure a common point of departure and a strong corporate culture. All of this, with high professionalism in the forefront without compromising on family life.

“Back then, it was imperative for us to get a common point of departure for both new and existing employees across our different professions. For us, it became a complete change in perspective – going from dealing with complaints to ensuring equal rights for all Danes. That strategic change has not only created pride in the workplace but also made it possible for us to attract top talent within our field”.

Christian Lützen, CEO at Nævnenes Hus

A new Purpose & core story

Together with representatives from Nævnenes Hus, IDna Group composed the new core story and purpose. Their new foundation became that Nævnenes Hus is supporting one of the main pillars in our society: justice. In spite of working in different professions, everyone at Nævnenes Hus work for the basic principles; ‘that everyone is equal to the law and that everyone has equal access to the law’, in order to ensure the legal certainty in Denmark. One of the deliverables to Nævnenes Hus was a tool – a compass – to guide both management and employees in always choosing the “right solutions”, in order for the entire organisation to steer in the same direction and hereby achieve their ambitious goals of ensuring equal rights for everyone while reducing processing time – all in all to maintain a great sense of legal certainty in Denmark.

Delivery: Identity-driven strategy & Identity Compass