poznan.pl Invest in Poznan News Different but equal? Meeting on diversity in the workplace

01.10.2024

Different but equal? Meeting on diversity in the workplace

A business breakfast, organised by HR consultancy Hays Poland, Invest in Poznań and the British-Polish Chamber of Commerce, was held on 26 September. The meeting "Different but equal?' brought together nearly 40 guests - entrepreneurs and representatives of companies from the Wielkopolska region - who, together with speakers, discussed the issue of implementing equality, diversity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives in organisations.

In the background is the presentation "Is your company ready for salary disclosure, on the right is the dark blue Invest in Poznan wall with white lettering and the outline of the map of Poland, in front you can see people listening in - grafika artykułu — Is your company ready for salary disclosure?

In the first part of the meeting, Agnieszka Czarnecka and Piotr Niewieściuk from Hays presented the results of a study on the pay gap. The experts also explained what obligations related to salary transparency will be imposed on employers by the European Union's Equal and Open Pay Directive, the provisions of which Poland must implement by June 2026.

- Polish employees usually do not know how much they are paid in their teams, as the issue of earned wages in Polish culture is treated as an extremely confidential and private matter. Often wages are treated as something that should be kept between the employee and the employer,' commented Piotr Niewieściuk, Business Development Manager at Hays Poland, on the results of the survey.

- Still, many employers and managers see the disclosure of salary ranges primarily as a risk. We fear that the competition will use this knowledge to build a more attractive offer and win the race for the best candidates or we risk conflicts and increased turnover in teams. These fears stem primarily from an awareness that our organisations are not sufficiently prepared to disclose salaries, explained Agnieszka Czarnecka, Head of HR Consulatncy at Hays Poland.

The next part of the meeting presented the key findings of the Hays study "Women on the Labour Market 2024', describing the opportunities, aspirations and difficulties faced by women and working parents in the professional sphere. The presentation formed the basis for a panel discussion with representatives from GSK and Egnyte on practical measures to increase diversity and equality in the workplace.

Finally, attendees took part in a practical workshop of over an hour. Participants were divided into groups to develop a solution, based on concrete examples, that would bring together employees from different demographic groups instead of dividing them.