We strive to provide employees with the tools and opportunities to reach their full potential. We view each career as unique and believe that an employee’s development path should be an experience based on self-knowledge and individual accountability, in line with our principles, needs and challenges. As such, we have mechanisms that include performance appraisal, feedback, potential assessment, personal development plans, and opportunities for internal mobility and progression. We also invite employees to actively participate in building the organisation of the future.
Potential and performance appraisal
Our performance management cycle, which is based on equal opportunities and meritocracy, is intrinsically linked to business priorities. Every year, employees are challenged to achieve new goals and develop their skills in a journey monitored by their managers, who are responsible for sharing regular and individualised feedback.
Potential assessment is a strategic tool for monitoring talent within the organisation, anticipating next career steps and promoting employee development and growth. The process covers managers and operational employees who carry out critical roles. In all, 5,465 employees were covered in the process.
Managers and operational employees identified as having potential for progression or urgent development needs were given the opportunity to design their personal development plan and receive training tailored to their needs. In 2023, our Companies monitored 3,019 personal development plans.
Biedronka revised its development process for store managers in 2023, including a review and feedback stage in personal development plans and greater involvement of HR Business Partners (HRBP), who are responsible for monitoring employees and their goals. For the other roles included in the potential assessment process, the Company relaunched the Sukces(i)ja (You are Success) talent programme, focusing primarily on self-developing “learning agility” skills and which saw the proactive participation of 70 employees with progression potential. Biedronka also held the third edition of the business coaching programme for the operations and logistics areas, focusing on the implementation of personal development plans for high-potential employees. Since the initiative was launched, 50 employees have been accompanied by in-house coaches.
The work done by Biedronka to develop talent, particularly as part of the Development Embassy project, was recognised in 2023 with the HR Dream Team award from the recruitment website pracuj.pl.
Internal mobility
We promote internal growth opportunities and challenge our employees to take on new roles in other areas, Companies and/or countries. Internal mobility is a key tool for professional and personal growth, benefiting all those who seize the opportunity while helping to meet business needs.
62,689
people changed roles, workplace or Company
(46.7% of total employees)
15,755
people were promoted
(11.7% of total employees)
Listing internal job openings gives employees the chance to decide on their career path within the organisation. Other moments, such as performance appraisals, allow them to express their desire to change areas. In Portugal, Pingo Doce employees can submit transfer requests between stores via Sou Pingo Doce (I am Pingo Doce) app. In 2023, 280 transfers were executed using the app.
Active participation
Employees are invited to actively contribute in sharing experiences and to participate in the life of the organisation.
Biedronka’s action plans
Following the Group-wide employee satisfaction survey launched in 2022 in all of the Group’s Companies, Biedronka held analysis and discussion sessions with representative groups from across the Company to hear and better understand employee perceptions.
The joint results of the Group-wide survey and the subsequent focus groups, in which more than 100 employees took part, served as a guide for establishing an action plan for the whole company, including measures to optimise logistics processes, store efficiency, health and safety at work, service quality, and transparency in HR processes.
Managers were also asked to communicate the results to their teams and create an action plan for their areas, compliance with which is integrated into the performance management metrics. A total of 548 Biedronka managers created an action plan.
Biedronka and Pingo Doce launched another edition of their internal competitions to generate innovative ideas, aimed at solving operational challenges, promoting a culture of continuous improvement, and involving employees in solutions. A total of 2,915 employees took part in the competitions, sharing more than 5 thousand ideas, of which 107 were selected for implementation.
Our employees can also refer candidates to join the recruitment and selection processes, thereby helping to secure the future of the teams. Around two thousand people were referred across all the Companies and, in all, 674 employees were hired through this source of recruitment.