Flexibility, trust and talent

Since December 2025, employers in Poland have been required to provide clearer pay information at the recruitment stage. How has Pru Poland adapted its hiring processes and manager capability to meet these obligations while remaining competitive in a tight labour market? And with further EU requirements expected by mid-2026, how are you preparing in terms of job architecture, pay bands and defining ‘work of equal value’ – and how do you expect employee expectations and conversations about pay to change?

The entire market is eagerly awaiting the final version of the legal regulations. This is a very important directive; it’ll have a huge impact on the approach to shaping remuneration policy and internal communication. It’s a major cultural shift for Poland – and it will likely take time to become a permanent part of managers’ habits and organisational approaches.

In terms of preparation, much work has already been done in terms of job architecture and defining pay ranges. However, I would like to emphasise here – it’s not as if nothing has been done in this area so far. Companies have been working with remuneration reports for years, conducting comprehensive analytics related to job evaluation, determining pay ranges, and remuneration policies.

It’s also worth remembering that Polish labour law has long prohibited discrimination, particularly in remuneration, so the directive is not entirely new. The change is that ‘behind-the-scenes’ work will become more accessible to employees.

The Polish labour market remains exceptionally competitive for skilled professionals, especially in business services and finance, with many organisations reporting difficulty recruiting and retaining top talent. How is Pru Poland positioning itself to attract the right financial-services employees in this ‘war for talent’, and what unique elements of your employee value-proposition are resonating strongest with candidates right now?

The job market is highly competitive, and candidates consider a wide range of factors –  not just salary. Ethical behaviour, organisational culture and flexibility are all important to them. At Prudential Polska (Pru), we pay close attention to these aspects and demonstrate how we apply them in practice. For example, our key advantage is the flexibility of our work models. In the world where many organisations have returned to the office, we continue to offer a flexible approach, allowing teams to organise their work in a way that best supports their effectiveness.

Last year, in cooperation with the HRM Institute, we conducted research among candidates, head office employees and consultants from our external sales network. We began by listening to the voices of our employees and partners. We wanted to understand what gives our people real satisfaction, what motivates them to grow with Pru, and why they see value in this collaboration. It turned out that in many areas we differ significantly from the rest of the insurance industry. That is why we decided to present ourselves as we truly are – while breaking the stereotypes that have developed around insurance.

The research showed that 85% of candidates in the financial and insurance sector expect attractive compensation, 62% expect a convenient office location, 61% the possibility of remote work, 57%  a friendly atmosphere, while 56% expect flexible working conditions.

Prudential responds to these expectations. At the head office, the most-frequently mentioned strengths are hybrid work, trust within the team and a friendly atmosphere; in the sales network – high‑quality products, an attractive commission and bonus system, transparent cooperation principles, an ethical approach to clients and real support for development.

The result of our work is an employer branding campaign titled Można? Można! (‘Possible? Possible!). The campaign showcases real stories of people who demonstrate that in the insurance sector you can work your own way – flexibly and on your own terms. We offer our insurance consultants the opportunity to build their own business based on a strong and trusted British brand, within a large international capital group.

With large numbers of humanities graduates to choose from, and AI proving its value in areas such as customer service, marketing and indeed HR, would you say the era of the generalist in business has passed its peak?

AI can simplify our work, optimise many activities, save time, and simplify our work—but it will still require human involvement. Each of us must learn how to use AI tools in our daily work; we must learn new ways of working. Therefore, the role of the generalist has not passed, but it is certainly changing rapidly and may become much more automated.

Hybrid work is no longer just about flexibility; in a highly regulated environment, how do you balance employee autonomy with supervision, coaching and risk culture – particularly for junior employees and customer-facing teams? How has Pru Poland adapted its flexible working policies to meet employee needs while ensuring operational efficiency in traditionally office-centric functions? What lessons have you learned from this process?

We’re flexible. We only set minimum number of days per month or when employees are required to come to the office. We’ve also given managers the ability to organise their teams work in a model that supports their teams’ effectiveness, taking into account the business processes they run and the types of tasks their team perform.

Leadership pipelines are under demographic strain. With talent pools shrinking in Poland, how is Pru Poland building its new generation of leaders, particularly in risk, compliance and technology – and which capabilities matter most for future leaders?

Most of our leaders come from our organisation, we rarely recruit them externally; this is a natural development path. Leaders’ core competencies are evolving as business, social, and labour market conditions change. Today’s leaders, and future leaders, are increasingly skilled in using new technologies and managing dispersed, often multigenerational, teams.