Competence is one of the most important forms of intellectual capital in a company. Competence must be part of the organization's strategy and its business processes. Competence should be seen as a core process and a factor in improving competitiveness. If this is not how competence is seen in the organization, how can they operate competently and with high quality. Involving competence in the strategy it enables the growth of the human capital in the entire organization.

This thesis is commissioned by OP Oulu, a member of the OP Financial Group. The background in this thesis are the driving forces of change shaping the banking sector, which also affects the work and competence requirements of middle management. Middle management is required to be willing and ready to learn and to be able to adapt to new types of situations and changes. Current competence is not enough, and development must be continuous. The aim of this thesis was to find out what competencies middle management needs in a changing work environment.

The theoretical framework of this thesis is built mainly from domestic and international literature, research, articles, and electronic sources related to the subject area of competence and manager competencies, as well as the financial and banking sector. The approach method used in this thesis was case study and it utilized qualitative and quantitative research methods. Questionnaire and semi-structured interview were selected as data collection methods. The subject of this study, manager competence, was approached through three different target groups, which were the executive committee, middle management, and employees.

The main result of this study shows that soft values and a coaching approach to management will be valued in the future. In a changing work environment, managers need good interaction skills, emotional intelligence, delegation skills and understanding the big picture. The role of a manager is challenging because they represent both ends, employees, and the management team. Managers receives expectations, wishes, challenges, and demands. Solutions and operations are expected, even if the expectations are in conflict.

Based on the results, development proposals were made for reflecting on one's own competence and operating methods, expanding competence from different branch of science, and giving and receiving feedback.