The keys to your heart

The business brunch entitled ‘Jobs are Waiting for You’ was held by Eurobuild Conferences on behalf of warehouse and logistics developer Segro in Warsaw on March 1st. It started with a presentation of the ‘Warehouse and Light Production – Challenges and Trends in Employment’ report drawn up jointly by representatives of Segro (16 warehouse parks in eight locations in Poland) and labour market experts Randstad Polska. Agnieszka Sabat, Segro’s marketing and communications manager, set out her “seven steps to an employees’ heart”, which was an accurate summary of the publication. It’s worth remembering that remuneration plays a key role and even small changes can have a significant impact on employees’ household budgets – and can even prompt them to look for a new employer. “In my opinion, competitive salaries are extremely important. It is also crucial to analyse the business environment. Salary reports have to be prepared at least quarterly and we need to respond to them on a regular basis,” insisted Piotr Sprzęczka, the managing director of Logwin Air + Ocean Poland, who took part in the debate led by Ewa Andrzejewska, the editor-in-chief of Eurobuild Central & Eastern Europe magazine, after the report’s presentation. Wages are the bottom line, but the present conditions also require the provision of such benefits as sports cards, medical care, free transport and subsidised meals. The workplace is also important: the location as well as the standard of the building, along with good lighting, decent kitchen equipment and places to relax. “An increasing number of our clients are asking us how it’s possible to provide decent social space for staff, because employees notice this and appreciate it,” emphasised Joanna Janiszewska, Segro’s regional director, during the discussion. “We have invested in LED lighting; we know how a canteen and social areas should be fitted-out; we offer relaxation rooms for employees and even such fancy ideas as green terraces with garden furniture on the roofs of the warehouses,” added Waldemar Witczak, Segro’s regional director. The summary of the report also mentions recommendations made by the employees themselves as well as the online image of the employer (e.g. on social media). It’s also worth remembering that warehouse employees are usually young people (both men and women – the survey shows that the proportions are 50:50) and so the communication with them should be adjusted to generations Y and Z. Szymon Górski, the director of logistics at Volkswagen Group Poland, Paweł Kopeć, the international account and bid manager at Randstad Polska, and Paweł Sitkiewicz, the production director of Jiffy Packaging, brought up the topic of treating employees with the appropriate respect, rewarding their loyalty by training as well as promoting them. And it doesn’t hurt to organise integration events, picnics on Children’s Day and Christmas parcels when it comes to managing human resources issues.