Only 3% of large and medium-sized firms in Poland have a specific diversity management strategy document, a report by the Responsible Business Forum – which coordinates the Diversity Charter in Poland on behalf of the European Commission – has found.
The study, which was based on a survey of 800 businesses, noted that only one third reported having taken any action towards diversity management, with the aim of supporting people with disabilities, carers, as well as in relation to gender, age and cultural background.
Only one fifth declared having adapted the workplace to the needs of wheelchair users, 8% for the hearing impaired, and 2% for the visually impaired.
While 64% of firms said that they hire staff with citizenship other than Polish, only around 7% offered support programmes for people of different nationalities. Around 1% of firms provided specific support for LGBT+ people.
Less than 6% of train stations in Poland are fully adapted to the needs of disabled people, the government has admitted.
It comes after a video showed how markings outside one station lead blind people into a wall rather than the entrance https://t.co/Vnfeyc9jvf
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 14, 2021
Only 12% of companies offered support to staff caring for children and just 2% to those caring for adults, despite Poland having one of the fastest ageing populations in Europe.
The study also examined the proportion of women in management positions. In 66% of the companies surveyed, men were predominant in such roles, in 18% women were, and in 15% there were equal numbers.
The figures were even starker when it came to top management positions, with 75% of firms having men dominant at this level.
Two thirds of the surveyed companies monitored the wage gap between male and female employees, and 78% reported that there was no difference in salaries. At 16% of firms, men earned more than women.
Poland is the fifth best country in the world for female entrepreneurs, and the best in the EU, according to the latest Index of Women Entrepreneurs.
It has risen 11 places from its position in last year's ranking https://t.co/acCThIbC82
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 24, 2020
Larger companies were found to be better at implementing diversity measures, with 63% of them saying they are taking action compared to 29% of medium-sized firms. However, when it comes to codifying these diversity strategies into specific documents, only 3% of companies do so (11% in the case of big companies).
But the study did find improvements since 2011, when research using the same methodology was carried out by Confederation Lewiatan, a large business organisation. By 2022, the proportion of firms claiming to implement diversity measures increased from 21% to 34%
“Over the last decade, there has been an increased awareness and knowledge among employers of what diversity management is diversity for large companies,” noted Ewa Lisowska, a professor at Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), quoted in the report as an expert.
She added, however, that “most companies do not feel the need to develop a diversity management strategy” and the diversity and inclusiveness policy efforts implemented by companies are largely limited to “one-off events”.
The proportion of medium-sized (średnie), large (duże) and all medium and large (ogólem) firms declaring taking action towards diversity management in 2011 and 2022 (Diversity Management in Poland report, Responsible Business Forum)
Main photo credit: Marcus Aurelius / Pexels
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
