Employees

[2-8] The main form of employment in the Bank as well as in the Bank’s Group is an employment contract. The Bank also utilises civil law agreements for its employees. In 2022, 1,632 persons received payment under a specific work contract, a contract of mandate, or a student internship: 1 specific work contract, 1,383 contracts of mandate, and 248 student internships. The percentage of persons working on the basis of civil law contracts constitutes 7% of employment contracts and civil law contracts combined.

There is a hybrid work model at the Bank that allows for a flexible approach and alignment of its assumptions with the realities and business goals, while the decisions on the proportion of work at the office and at home are made by the heads of the unit. The solution has been introduced in those areas of the Bank’s activity, whose nature allows for their execution from home and office. The assumptions are in response to expectations of the employees reported during meetings, workshops, and cyclical surveys.

The model introduced takes into account the specificity of tasks and processes in a given unit, the achieved effects, the achievement of objectives, and the available area (within buildings with a determined turnover ratio). Employees can benefit from various forms of support to improve team management and work. Support tools were implemented, including a home and office work planning application, a system for desk booking in selected locations, as well as instant messaging to facilitate the organisation of online meetings. Inspirational meetings are held with external and internal experts that present good practices, guidelines, and sessions of experience exchange by managerial staff.

Most of the Polish entities of the Bank’s Group are also working in a hybrid model.

Additionally, the Bank carried out a number of additional activities aimed at potential employees from Ukraine, among others: published job offers in Ukrainian language addressed to candidates in the area of technology in social media and at points located in temporary accommodation sites.

The Bank’s remuneration policy does not discriminate employees based on their gender. In 2022, changes were introduced to the Remuneration Policy for employees of the Bank and PKO BP S.A. Bank’s Group, which are, among others, aimed at emphasising the importance of neutrality of remuneration regardless of gender and applying this principle.

The process of determining the salaries at the Bank is based on the valuation of positions. Valuation of positions, in accordance with the commonly used market methodology, is based on the determination of an appropriate level of indicators for strictly defined criteria: skills (technical knowledge, managerial skills, interpersonal skills), problem solving (freedom of thinking, challenges, freedom of action) and impact on the result (type of influence, field of operation). The essence of valuation is the fact that it applies to a given position, not a person.

The salary is related to the complexity of the tasks within a given organizational structure, the level of responsibility associated with a given position and the necessary skills. The structure of the system for granting variable remuneration takes into account the specificity of positions, in particular: managerial staff, sales, and support. Variable remuneration of employees is based on the bonus system, in which it is required to achieve specific quantitative and performance targets connected with the Bank’s strategy.

The Bank performs regular salary reviews for different positions, which also analyse the relationship between the salaries of women and men, taking into account internal benchmarks and data provided in remuneration reports and surveys in the process of determining and optimizing the remuneration strategy.

In order to ensure that the same positions are comparable and to eliminate the total effect of other elements on the salary level, the Bank also uses the so called “Comparatio” (CR) which compares the salary offered to an employee with an appropriate market benchmark. The internal analyses performed using this ratio show that there are no differences between the remuneration of women and men at the Bank and that both groups receive remuneration at the market level.

The “Policy for remunerating the employees of the Bank and the PKO BP S.A. Group”, which is applied in the Bank’s Group, ensures a consistent salary system by:

Apart from the bonus system, there is a system for awarding the Bank’s employees. The employees may receive rewards:

• individually – when they achieve outstanding performance at work and/or for accomplishments which have produced important results for the Bank,
• for recommending candidates for employment with the Bank,
• for taking measures related to employee retention.

In the entities of the Bank’s Group, depending on the level of employment, the principles of remunerating employees are defined in the payroll regulations and in the employment contracts or in the employment contracts only. In the individual entities of the Bank’s Group, there are separate bonus systems for the employees.

[401-2] All non-salary benefits are available to the employees irrespective of their type of contract and/or working time (full time and/or part time).

The recruitment policy of the Bank’s Group is focused on employing persons with different types of professional experience and skills based on high standards of counteracting discrimination and personal data protection. The employees are selected without taking into account discriminatory criteria (including: age, gender, disability, race, religion, nationality, political views, trade union membership, ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation). Recruitment processes are supported by modern IT tools and systems.

The Bank cares about the candidates’ experience in the recruitment process by diversifying the channels of reaching different groups of candidates, using modern selection methods. The transparency of the recruitment process is supported by modern technologies, including the ATS. To reach the candidates, the Bank conducts dedicated campaigns in the social media, takes part in job fairs and industry conferences, cooperates with the academic community, supports selected initiatives and takes active measures to reach passive candidates directly.

In 2022, the Bank implemented new forms of reaching candidates in the form of podcasts, as well as campaigns using banking infrastructure such as ATMs/deposit machines or electronic information hubs in bank branches.

The Bank regularly surveys the experience of external and internal candidates to improve the recruitment process.

The Bank also has an internal recommendation programme. As part of this programme, the employees may recommend candidates for work. If the candidate recommended by an employee is hired and satisfies the conditions specified in the rules, the recommending employee will receive a cash reward. In 2022, the Programme was extended to cover more positions for which the employees may recommend candidates with suitable qualifications. The amounts of rewards for key positions in the IT area were also increased.

For years, internship programmes such as #StażNaDzieńDobry (#InternshipForAStart) have been one of the Bank’s strengths. The programme is addressed to students and young graduates who may carry out tasks in one of the following five paths: Sales, IT, Data Analytics, Cybersecurity and Business Support.

Cooperation with universities is an important aspect of building the image of an employer. In response to business needs, the Bank cooperates with the academic community by taking part in many events organized at universities. It cooperates actively with career offices in promoting job offers and internships. It organizes workshops and lectures and takes selected courses of study under its wing as part of sharing knowledge and strengthening cooperation with the academic community.

Employees are represented at the Bank by the trade unions and the Bank Employee Council.

The employer does not prevent the employees from joining the trade unions and the Bank Employee Council or acting as their members in any way. The employee organizations at the Bank have the right to determine their own internal principles, are free to elect their representatives and appoint authorities, operate and prepare the programme for their operation. This is consistent with the principles of freedom of association referred to in Convention No. 87 of the International Labour Organization on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize.

As at 31 December 2022, trade union members constituted 10.5% of the total number of employees.

Meetings with trade unions and the Bank Employee Council are organized when necessary, at least a few times a year. The social partners are informed about the planned organizational changes without undue delay [402-1]. In 2022, the most frequently discussed issues concerned the employee remuneration.

Trade union members are Social Labour Inspectors at the Bank. The Social Labour Inspection is a function performed by employees on a voluntary basis. Its aim is to ensure that the workplace offers safe and healthy working conditions and respects the employee rights specified in the labour law. The Bank provides space for the performance of the tasks of the Social Labour Inspection.

If the law so requires, the Bank holds consultations or negotiations with the social partners. Consultations are held, among other things, in the event of planned organizational changes which lead to significant changes in the organization of work, the level of employment and the type of employment contracts. On the other hand, negotiations with the trade unions are conducted, among other things, with respect to the principles of remuneration and social benefits.

The employees may report their objections, opinions, suggestions and comments through the trade unions. Alternatively, they may do so without the intermediation of the trade unions, using a dedicated e-mail address. This is regulated by a procedure for reporting complaints and irregularities. An employee is entitled to additional support in the process of clarifying a complaint, namely, they may indicate a representative of a trade union organization or an employee representative appointed in accordance with other internal regulations, who will participate in meetings with the employee or submit opinions on the validity of the claim.

At the entities of the Bank’s Group, a trade union organization is present at KREDOBANK S.A. Trade union organizations do not operate at the other entities of the Bank’s Group.

At the entities of the Bank’s Group, the dialogue with the employees takes place in accordance with the applicable regulations. Its form is adapted to the size of the entity and its specificity. The dialogue with employees is conducted in accordance with legal regulations and forms of communication with employees adopted in the entity: directly, by e-mail and/or through the intranet. The employees have the opportunity to lodge complaints about a breach of employee rights and other irregularities.

No collective disputes were recorded at the entities of the Bank’s Group.

[407-1]  No operations or suppliers characterized by a high risk of restricting the freedom of association and collective agreements were identified at the Bank in 2022.

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[404-2] Development activities are adjusted to the specific nature of the Bank and the individual entities of the Bank’s Group and regulated by internal regulations. It guarantees a flexible approach to the development policy.

All employees, regardless of their age or gender, may benefit from training activities in the Bank’s Group. Individual entities may apply the criterion of the position held, when referring employees to specific training, such as participation in education at University level (various levels of education at the individual entities of the Bank’s Group) or foreign language courses. The employers finance training activities in whole or in part.

The Bank updates the List of Training Courses every quarter and communicates it on the intranet portal. The list contains a number of development activities for employees and managers. It contains a description of individual activities and an easy to use tool for signing up for individual training sessions.

The Bank conducts projects to develop both hard and soft skills. A team of several dozen internal trainers conducts group training, on-the-job training and internal workshops (also for interns). Group training is provided by external companies on selected projects. The Digital Transformation employees have access to both internal training courses in agile methodology and to certified training courses. The employees also participate in foreign language courses.

The Bank’s employees use the internal e-learning platform very actively, mainly for providing training in product knowledge, the knowledge of processes and the use of IT applications.

As part of their professional development, the employees may apply for a subsidy to the costs of their education in the form of post-graduate studies, Master of Business Administration (MBA) courses or solicitor’s training. The Bank also conducts adaptation programmes, which are adjusted to the specific nature of individual business areas. Training courses organized at the Bank are available to all employees regardless of the form of employment (an employment contract and/or a fixed-term contract (interns)).

The eNPS indicator is a measure of the effectiveness of the Bank’s activities in the area of employee experience management. The eNPS ratio on permanent functions in the business dialogue at the Bank, in the same way as other key strategic indicators (e.g. customer NPS).

In 2022, two editions of the eNPS survey took place “How is your work?”. Within its scope, employees were asked how much are they inclined to recommend the Bank as an employer, and how satisfied they are with the cooperation, direct superior, or working environment. In the spring edition carried out at the turn of May and June, the Bank’s referral ratio as the employer was -15 (on a scale from -100 to 100). At the Bank’s level, the highest scored indices are the Hybrid Work Model (78%) and Direct Superior (75%). Each manager of a team with a minimum of 7 participating employees received their report with the result of eNPS and other indices.

The remeasurement was performed in December. The survey was performed a Pulse Check and only the inclination to recommend the Bank as an employer was surveyed.  The result in December was +27.7.

The eNPS ratio increased in the Bank by as much as 42.7 p.p. between June and December. It can be interpreted as a great success. Actions taken by the Bank in order to improve the employees’ experience generated the expected effect. The findings of each survey are used to implement new facilities and solutions tailored to current needs on an on-going basis.

Promoting diversity is present in many aspects of the activities of the Bank and the entire Bank’s Group. It assumes, among other things, respect for others, equal treatment and using the potential of employees. Diversity means that people are important irrespective of any differences between them, such as their gender, age, health condition, sexual orientation, religion, marital status or country of origin. In building teams, the Bank understands that diversity is their asset both in creating innovations and in smooth operations.

The Bank aims to ensure, promote and popularise diversity. It takes care that diversity as a value, but also as a practice, is present in the organizational culture, initiatives and measures taken, as well as in the relevant policies, regulations and processes.

The diversity policy is also composed of various initiatives undertaken at the Bank, including strategic projects aimed at creating a friendly work environment and cooperation with external entities to support diversity in the workforce.