Workplace culture in practice
How employers build trust and engagement
Trust, mutual respect and engagement are rooted in employees’ everyday experiences. In our Friendly Workplace editorial assessments, we pay particular attention to how employers encourage dialogue, recognize collaboration and involve people in organisational life. The practices of Coca-Cola HBC, Henkel, Grupa Pracuj, DPD, PZU and BGK illustrate different ways of building this kind of culture.
Company values must be reflected in decisions
Most large employers declare a commitment to openness, collaboration and respect. Yet the quality of workplace relationships is revealed in everyday decisions: whether people can raise concerns, receive feedback, see responses to their ideas and discuss disagreements constructively. These mechanisms help show how corporate values work in practice.
Since 2018, the Friendly Workplace program has assessed practices described by employers in questionnaires covering five areas: relationships, development, work-life balance, a healthy workplace and benefits. Recognition is awarded by the editorial team at MarkaPracodawcy.pl against established criteria. Our published assessments identify initiatives worthy of recognition and explain their significance for the working environment.
One question is particularly relevant to these criteria: does an organisation’s culture hold up when challenges, disagreements or the need for change arise?
A culture of recognition: from gestures to management practice
In our assessment of Coca-Cola HBC Poland and the Baltic States, we highlighted initiatives that strengthen appreciation and collaboration. The “Bravo” program included messages of thanks from leaders to their teams. Employees also developed a grassroots initiative to recognize one another. According to the company’s account, more than 400 acknowledgements were posted. The initiative was extended beyond digital channels to include production and warehouse staff.
We rated both the employee-led nature of the initiative and its accessibility highly. Recognition from colleagues strengthens relationships across teams, while including people with varying access to internal communication tools increases its relevance throughout the organisation.
At Grupa Pracuj, we highlighted the consistent development of “Dzień Doceniania” (Appreciation Day), the “GP Superstar” recognition initiative and the “Główka Pracuje” ideas competition. These initiatives support different aspects of culture: recognising behaviours aligned with company values, acknowledging colleagues and encouraging ideas that improve operations. Together, they demonstrate that recognition can extend beyond results to collaboration and employee initiative.
Recognition becomes credible through consistency. When an organisation emphasises teamwork, that priority should also be reflected in decision-making, performance assessment and rewards.
Having a voice is a test of organisational maturity
We are particularly interested in mechanisms that turn employee feedback into improvements. DPD Polska presented “DPD GO”, a program through which employees can suggest ideas, test them and, where appropriate, incorporate proven solutions into standard practice. In our editorial assessment, we recognized this clear path from identifying a problem to implementing change as a particular strength.
Henkel Polska develops its ACT — Accelerate Cultural Transformation program and “Team Moment” sessions, in which managers and teams discuss collaboration, expectations and their sense of influence. We rated highly the space created for employees to help shape workplace culture. Feedback workshops and the “New Leader Assimilation” program, which supports cooperation between teams and newly appointed managers, are important complementary measures.
Square One Poland pursues similar goals through “Company Day” meetings, satisfaction surveys and communication that enables employees to participate in company life. The scale differs from that of multinational programs, but these initiatives address the same need: a sense of influence over one’s immediate working environment.
The true measure of mature dialogue is how an organisation responds to what employees say. Opportunities to share views matter, as does communicating the decisions made and the reasons behind them
Diversity must be more than a slogan
Across successive assessments, we have observed the growth of employee-led communities. At Polpharma, we recognized employee networks and diversity-related initiatives, including “Różni Razem”. At T-Mobile Polska, we highlighted the Magenta Women Network, Magenta Pride and Pokolenie T communities, and their place within the #MagentaTeam culture.
Such groups give employees space to share experiences and articulate their needs. They also provide organisations with insights into barriers that may be overlooked by company-wide HR policies.
Their value increases when employers act on the issues raised and equip leaders to manage diverse teams. That is why our assessments consider employee-led activity alongside managerial accountability and the accessibility of organisational initiatives.
Relationships must be built across the organisation
In large companies, employees’ experiences can differ depending on their location, responsibilities and access to information. People at headquarters, in production facilities, retail outlets and regional branches participate in organisational life in different ways. Assessing workplace culture requires attention to these differences.
Coca-Cola HBC extended its recognition initiative to production and warehouse teams. During the period assessed, T-Mobile Polska ran programs involving both headquarters staff and employees working directly with customers. Mondi Świecie described a system of meetings at plant and departmental level that created opportunities to discuss day-to-day operational issues. We recognized these as examples of communication adapted to the realities of work.
Access to dialogue and information can be organised in different ways. What matters is whether a practice meets the needs of a particular group and reaches employees who might otherwise remain outside the main flow of communication.
A sustained commitment to workplace relationships is also evident in initiatives developed over several years. At the PZU Group, the annual #RazemTworzymyPrzyszłość conference deserves attention for its focus on topics including new technologies, future skills and employee and customer experiences. The separate #DobryStan initiative supports employee wellbeing. At Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), we highlighted “Filary Kultury” and “Filary BGK”, which reinforce recognition and give organisational values practical meaning. Here, consistency is just as important as the originality of individual initiatives.
Culture made visible through everyday actions
Examples from different industries point to a common conclusion: lasting relationships grow through mutual recognition, opportunities to speak up and leaders taking responsibility for communication. Our editorial assessments consider an initiative’s purpose, implementation, accessibility and the employer’s consistency. This enables us to explain why a practice at a global organisation may deserve recognition just as much as a well-designed solution at a smaller company.
Candidates can ask specific questions: how does the company gather employee feedback, what changes have resulted from it, how does it prepare new leaders, and how does it recognize people working outside headquarters? Employers can use the same questions to assess their own practices.
Trust, respect and collaboration matter when people experience them in everyday work. The initiatives described here show how employers can deliberately strengthen organisational culture — and why such efforts merit editorial recognition.
Sources: published Friendly Workplace editorial assessments and employer profiles on MarkaPracodawcy.pl. The practices and figures refer to the periods specified in those materials.
