The Executive Board is responsible for the Bank’s executive and advisory activities. The Governor and Deputy Governor of Norges Bank are chairman and deputy chairman, respectively, of the Executive Board.

The Supervisory Council supervises the Bank’s operations and ensures that the rules governing the Bank's activities are observed.

The Bank’s operations are concentrated on the three operational areas:

• Norges Bank Monetary Policy
• Norges Bank Financial Stability
• Norges Bank Investment Management

Additional units provide staff and support services:

• Norges Bank Administration
• Communications Department
  
• Legal Department
  
• Internal Audit
  
• Office of the Supervisory Council

The division into a few relatively large units provides an appropriate span of control for the Governor and Deputy Governor. The operational areas have clearly defined interfaces with the other units, and their staffs currently number from over 80 to approximately 250 employees. At end-2009, Norges Bank had 589 permanent employees.

 

Organisation of the Bank (Click on the chart to see a larger version)

The Executive Board delegates a large share of the day-to-day operations of the Bank to the Governor, who further delegates these to the operational areas. Pursuant to Section 5, final paragraph, of the Norges Bank Act, the Governor is in charge of the Bank’s administration and the implementation of the decisions.

Within the annual frameworks allocated for FTEs and budgets, the individual operational areas are allowed considerable freedom with respect to personnel management and budget disposal. An upper limit on the number of FTEs that may be utilised over a three-year period is recommended for most of the Bank’s operations.

A strong degree of line management results in a clearly structured organisation with clear lines of responsibility. The operational areas prepare annual action plans for activities with associated performance targets subject to approval by the Governor. The Governor reviews the performance of each area throughout the year by means of appraisal dialogues in the spring and follow-up dialogues in the autumn. About every third week throughout the year, follow-up discussions are held between the Governor or Deputy Governor and each executive director.

All managers have clearly defined responsibility consistent with the organisation of the Bank’s operations and the line management principle. Each year, managers are subjected to appraisal by their immediate superiors and sub-ordinates. The appraisal criteria are direction, result orientation, interpersonal skills and professional qualities.