IMPACT ON SOCIETY AND EMPLOYEES (S)PSE's priorities for HR development

We ensure balanced and consistent support of employee competency development to achieve results compliant with strategic objectives.

HR policy and presentation of HR priorities

The fulfilment of the Transmission System Operator functions by PSE requires a number of unique competencies, including in the area of power dispatch, project implementation and ensuring the maintenance of network assets and transmission grid availability on an expected level. High levels of expertise and education are the strengths of our company's human capital.

Our organisation supports the development of competencies. PSE's professional development activities for employees are aimed at meeting current and future needs in terms of the skills, experience and knowledge necessary to achieve the strategic objectives pursued by the company. The implemented solutions support long-term development of competencies, serve succession planning for key positions, and enable the identification of the best employees. At the same time, we do not forget about measures to promote work-life balance.

The HR policy in force at PSE is addressed to all PSE employees and defines key areas on which the effective implementation of the strategy depends. The foundation of the HR policy are PSE's values and corporate culture, and its pillars are values, high quality and improvement.

Competency model

In 2021, the organisation developed a proposal for the Personal Competency Catalogue, which includes company-wide, managerial and job competencies. Work was also underway to develop professional competencies, encompassing the knowledge and professional skills required to perform tasks assigned to a particular job. Our goal for the coming year is to identify the competencies that are key from the perspective of maintaining the continuity of the company's business processes.

The solutions worked out as part of the competency model are developed in close cooperation with the business side, also because business employees will be the key beneficiaries. From a strategic perspective, we are set on developing tools to support the achievement of our strategic objectives by effectively managing people as one of the key project resources.

Table GRI 102-8: Data on employees and other persons working for the organisation, broken down by duration of employment, gender and region

Table GRI 102-8: Data on employees and other persons working for the organisation, broken down by work time and gender

Employee development

PSE conducts development activities on an ongoing basis to continuously improve the competencies of employees and to ensure that the company's strategic objectives are met. These activities focus primarily on providing the knowledge and skills needed to ensure the proper functioning of the Polish Power System. As every year, two dedicated programmes aimed at the Operations Services and the Dispatching Services were important elements of the development activities in 2021.

We also continued to implement development activities as part of the training catalogue addressed to the employees of our company. Importantly, everyone at PSE has access to training on an equal footing, allowing all employees to benefit from various forms of development regardless of their position or job seniority.

The following forms of development are available as part of this solution:

  • Manager's Academy managerial training to improve managerial and leadership skills of the top management or managers. The choice of training depends on individual needs of each manager.
  • Specialised/expert training covering topics related to the tasks carried out by individual employees.
  • Training to develop soft skills aimed at improving personal skills and supporting effective task performance.
  • Adaptive/initial/periodic/on-the-job training covering all groups of employees regardless of the functional area and hierarchy and providing the baseline, universal knowledge necessary for the job.
  • Professional conferences

Due to the ongoing pandemic, most of the training was delivered online, which provided the opportunity to meet training objectives while ensuring safety. At the same time, to meet the expectations of employees, PSE has implemented a new training solution in 2022, the so-called EDU-MIX training, which combines participation in workshops conducted by trainers with the possibility of enhancing knowledge on one's own through e-learning.

In addition to attending various training courses and industry conferences, employees improve their qualifications also by taking advantage of subsidised study and language courses.

E-learning courses

In 2021, PSE provided employees through its own platform with training on a variety of topics to improve their knowledge and skills, which they can use as and when they need it or as recommended by their superiors.

Some of the material made available is mandatory training on issues such as information security, occupational health and safety and compliance. Optional training courses to choose from include, for example, organisation of remote work, problem solving and innovative thinking, and personal effectiveness. The training library is constantly being enriched with new items. In 2021, due to the ongoing pandemic, these were in particular suggestions on mental resilience and building a good atmosphere.

Personal Development Plans – PDP

One of our organisation's priorities is to enable employees professional development and to support them in this process. In the Pulsometre survey conducted at the end of 2020, PSE employees identified as important the need for personal development and improvement of existing solutions in this area. In response to these needs and suggestions, we launched a pilot of the Personal Development Plan (hereinafter the PDP) initiative in Q2 2021.

The PDP is a two-way process of creating a development action plan to improve competencies in the context of the organisation's goals, involving both the supervisor and the employee. A properly implemented PDP engages employees and makes clear what is expected of them. Through systematic feedback, it also provides an opportunity to communicate the expectations of both sides of the process.

The PDP consists of a development plan in the area of personal and professional competencies, as well as an indication of the development goal and how the employee will achieve it.

Table GRI 404-1 – Annual average number of training hours per employee by employment structure and gender

The e-DeK system – current status and development plans

2021 was the first year of using the platform with the full range of functionalities provided, following the completion of the SAP SuccessFactors – Learning Management System (SAP SF LMS) module implementation project at PSE.
A modern tool such as the SAP SF platform enables, among other things, comprehensive handling of training processes. It enables training to be more effective thanks to unrestricted access to educational content for employees, streamlines the document flow, and allows quick access to information.

Currently, the platform is widely used to make various forms of training available to employees (e-learning, training with a trainer, and mixed, sequential, cyclical training, etc.).

In 2021, due to the constraints of the continuing epidemic situation, training with a trainer offered in an online format was very popular. E-learning courses have now become a regular feature of the extensive training offer. The system's ability to provide ongoing reporting and performance monitoring means that the e-learning formula is also increasingly being used to design and conduct mandatory training.
Thanks to the automation of activities and processes, the new tool also proves its worth in the area of managing periodic OH&S training and supports the implementation of the training plan.
The platform is used by all PSE employees on an ongoing basis.

Given the capabilities of the system and the positive experience of its operation to date, the next planned step is work on the implementation of a module to support the management of goals and employee appraisal (SAP SF PMGM), which enables planning and monitoring of tasks, projects and development goals.

Recruitment and employer branding activities

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 had a significant impact on how recruitment processes were conducted and on employer branding activities, including PSE's participation in job fairs. During that time, our recruitment processes were conducted mainly remotely, which allowed us to acquire new employees without any interruptions. PSE also offered places in internship programmes allowing university students and graduates to gain their first work experience.

Internship programmes

'Energy for the Future' internship programme

In 2021, our organisation continued its participation in the 'Energy for the Future' internship program carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Climate and Environment and companies from the power sector (PKN Orlen, PGNiG, PGE).

The goals of the programme are as follows:

  • building human resources for the Polish power sector by attracting the best students from technical universities interested in working in this sector;
  • familiarizing interns with the specifics of working in the country's key power companies and the Ministry of Climate and Environment;
  • preparing interns for employment in the power sector.

During the year, PSE took on 4 interns under this programme. Internships were organised remotely or onsite, while meeting sanitation and safety restrictions.

Energy Academy

In 2021, the 10th edition of the Energy Academy took place. It is a training and educational project of the Lesław A. Paga Foundation addressed to those who see their future professional careers in the power sector. Its purpose is to provide an opportunity to learn about the best practices in the industry.

This year's edition featured meetings with managers and experts from the System Management Department and the International Cooperation Department, who told the Academy participants about the activities of the Electricity Transmission System Operator and, in particular, about its role in the development of the electricity market and maintaining safe operation of the Polish Power System.

Job fairs

In order to increase the effectiveness of recruitment processes and attract the best candidates, in 2021, PSE participated in selected job fair events: Energy Week in cooperation with the SGH Energy Students' Scientific Circle, online IT Job Fair (spring and autumn editions), Warsaw IT Days, Data Science Summit ML Edition and Data Science Summit (autumn edition).

Apart from participation in the fairs, PSE presented its offer in the Catalogue of the 25th Job and Internship Fairs for IT and Electronic Engineers at the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology of the Warsaw University of Technology in an online format.

Other initiatives to support the recruitment

We continued our employer branding efforts by promoting job offers on the company's LinkedIn profile, and by conducting the 'Fridays with a Recruiter' information campaign on LinkedIn to encourage participation in our hiring processes.

In March/April 2021, Digital+ advertising campaign was carried out in cooperation with Pracuj.pl service, with the aim of promoting PSE's job offers, among others, in social media (Facebook, Messenger, Instagram).

In order to improve the quality of recruitment activities, our company also made a dedicated e-learning course 'Recruitment for Managers' available on e-DeK educational platform. The training course consists of two parts. The first one deals with the recruitment process and the second one with conducting the recruitment interview. The complete training is obligatory for all those participating in recruitment processes.

Employee Performance Appraisal System

In 2021, as in previous years, all PSE employees were subject to a periodic performance appraisal. The performance appraisal of employees in specialist positions is conducted on a quarterly basis (provided that they have worked for at least 1 month), and focuses on the task completion level.

Persons in managerial and executive, expert and legal advisor positions are covered by the 'Management Through Objectives' individual salary incentive system. It is a comprehensive and result-oriented method of evaluation, but also, and very importantly, it fosters increased staff commitment to the achievement of strategic objectives, and it helps to monitor their achievement. The settlement of objectives takes place on a six-monthly basis.

Creating a space for employee development – mentoring

It is in the DNA of our organisation that sourcing of unique external expertise is difficult, as many processes and systems operate only in PSE. The role of the Transmission System Operator requires us to manage multiple areas systemically, which is often what makes for success in the role, while also being difficult for junior staff due to the need to understand many relations and dependencies. An additional obstacle to employees acquiring knowledge other than strictly job-related expertise is the complex organisational structure of our company.

Pulsometre

This year's Pulsometre Opinion and Organisation Health Survey was conducted in November/December 2021. The survey has been conducted for several years, and from 2020 onwards, using a new formula developed by the Human Resources Department. The flexibility of our Pulsometre methodology allows us to proactively relate to reality and ask adequate questions to receive answers that will allow us to improve our organisation and working conditions. The survey was expanded to include 2 aspects and covered 5 areas:

  1. Evaluation of task performance and engagement-building behaviour: Leadership and Strategy, Management Quality, Competence and Development, Knowledge Management, Work Structure and Organisation, Cooperation and Employee Relations, Remuneration and Recognition, Communication and Openness, Safety, Working Conditions and Resources, and Commitment.
  2. Assessment of the company's behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  3. What builds and influences employee motivation.
  4. Building positive employee experiences (new in 2021).
  5. Evaluation of the onboarding process (carried out by people with less than one year of seniority; new in 2021).

 

The 'Investor in Human Capital' emblem

In 2021, our organisation subjected the human capital management area to external certification. Underlying this decision was the conviction that our practices in this area can be counted among the best market practices. We applied to the 'Investor in Human Capital' programme run by the independent research company Experience Institute since 2006 (until 2019, the company operated on behalf of the Digital Knowledge Observatory Foundation). The programme is intended for all companies and institutions, as well as branches/subsidiaries of corporations operating in Poland that think responsibly about the development of the competencies of their employees and, through this, the entire organisation.

The analysis carried out as part of the PSE assessment was based on Pulsometre results for 2021, corresponding to the certification questions in each area. The Human Capital Investor Index was 73 per cent, placing PSE above the threshold for positive certification. As a result, the Jury of the programme decided to award our company the Investor in Human Capital emblem in 2021.

PSE's being awarded the emblem objectively confirms the fact that we are a company which cares about its employees and invests in human capital, and thus that we are an attractive employer in comparison with the market.

Table GRI 102-41: Employees covered by a collective labor agreement

Table GRI 401-1: New hires in 2021

Table GRI 404-1: Leavers in 2021

Table GRI 202-1: Remuneration of entry-level employees by gender, in relation to the minimum wage

Fringe benefit equivalent

Health benefits and programmes for employees

Our organisation provides employees with an extensive social benefits package. In 2021, PSE employees could use such benefits as: Employee Pension Scheme, meal subsidies, preventive program, holiday subsidies for employees and their families, housing loans, subsidies for nature schools as well as nurseries and kindergartens for the employees' children, and subsidies for cultural activities. 'You Can Count on us' employee support programme is a novelty offered from 2021. This programme allows employees and their immediate family members to benefit from free consultations with psychologists, financial advisers and lawyers.

Work-life balance measures

Based on the assumption that the life roles of our employees influence each other and that maintaining a work-life balance is an important element influencing job satisfaction, PSE implements measures to support the work-life balance approach. These include cultural subsidies (available to every employee) and the possibility to use Inspiro audiobook library. As part of the spring 2022 offer for parents, PSE organised two webinars on building relationships with young children and teenagers. The webinars were very popular (nearly 200 participants) and very well received. As it does every year, the Internal Communications Department organised competitions for employees' children serving not only to unleash the creativity and ingenuity of the youngest, but also to spread knowledge about the power industry through play. Thus, children up to the age of 18 could take part in 'Pssstryk' recitation competition and 'Świąteczny choinkosłup' art competition.

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