Worldline, a Great (Polish) Place To Work

In this interview, Damian Nowak, Head of Customer Service Poland, Anna Michalska, Head of Human Resources Poland and Hungary and Marta Przewalska-Roszkowska, Deputy of Onboarding Switzerland and Germany, answer questions about Worldline as a Great Place to Work. Indeed, our Polish offices have just received their GPTW certification this year.

Worldline Poland has just been certified by the Great Place to Work® institute, what were the deciding factors for this certification in your opinion?

AM:  I would say that our collaborators are really listened to. We have really good communication, common rules that are respected and were established using a bottom–up approach. It is extremely rewarding to see that our employees appreciate these efforts, for instance in the 2018 survey, 79% of employees agreed that the management is approachable and easy to talk to. We are lifting people up on many levels. We also tend to shape the company together. We do what we say, promises are never broken and employees are grateful for that. Management maintains an open door policy and colleagues know they can rely on each other. Based on the GPTW survey results and the cultural audit that we have documented, we have been able to demonstrate Worldline Poland's holistic approach to secure, ease and improve our employee experience.

DN: The most valuable point is that grassroots initiative, named Peacock project, and Marta actually worked on it.

MP: I have been working in this company for four years now, and what I really liked from the beginning was the idea of supporting each other, regardless of job or level within the company. We enjoy working together, we are a family. We have a feeling of security, stability; people listen to our needs and focus on how to respond to them. It corresponds to our business needs and development possibilities, with internal and external trainings for example. But also our personal life plays a big role, our well-being and a proper work-life balance. Without these actions and this trust, it probably would not have been possible to be distinguished as a Great Place to Work. The benefit system is constantly being adjusted to what our staff needs. Employees are empowered, and this results in them wanting to stay for a long time. After SIX Payment Services was acquired by Worldline, our colleagues created an initiative within Great Place to Work, the Peacock Project. I had the pleasure of being one of its coordinators. Twelve members from different teams worked closely with management and HR to implement our colleagues’ ideas and suggestions. This project aimed to give all our colleagues the feeling of being important, proud of their work in the company and to give them the opportunity to be there for each other.

AM: I believe that the important part of this project is that it was created after the online survey; the participants were from both Worldline and SIX Payment Services. We were working on this project together, this was also part of the integration of SIX Payment Services in Worldline; it helped us to get to know each other. This was an important step from a network point of view, to see that we had common goals, and a real chance to get to know our new colleagues.

DN: Apart from this certification, we want to set an example within our company, but also for our competitors. This is our benchmark, because if we are not attractive to our employees, we will not be successful in employing new ones, or attracting new talents, and satisfying new joiners in the Worldline family.

What local practices would you like to share with your international colleagues? 

AM: I would like to highlight that this project is a local initiative: if you want things to get even better than they are right now, you should go for it. Every action, no matter how small, will impact your daily work life.

MP: It is important to give Worldliners a wide range of possibilities, and top management empowers our employees. To name only a few actions we put in place, we created a role of Team Ambassador, we have an idea board where everyone can write suggestions how to make our office life better, and we have an Ice Cream day on Wednesdays. We also organize small and large competitions with attractive prizes such as VIP tickets to events, cinema, theater… Every colleague participates in charity actions. We are giving more space to employees for them to show their interests, their feelings, to express themselves and tell exactly what they need. 

Your offices were part of the former SPS offices, now part of Worldline, how was the transition for you and what do you think made it so smooth?

AM: I think the communication was very important, first at the global level with the executive management but also at the local level. Indeed, in times of change, it is important to have people you can turn to, that will answer your questions and allow you to be more proactive than usual. We felt free to ask questions and I believe this is why everything went so smoothly.

DN: I can also add that the feedback from our colleagues from offices abroad comforted us. We saw how quickly the transition went for them and it was really reassuring.  We were the first office where this transition was formalized in practical, branding and mindset aspects. This was a turning point for us.

What do your offices look like?

DN: I would say that our offices are quite modern. We are not in the city center of Warsaw, but still nearby, with an easy access to the subway, which 80% of our employees use to get to the office. We are attracting highly skilled employees. Most of us speak 2 or 3 languages on average, which helps us to communicate with our colleagues internationally. 

AM: We are located on a 10th level of the office building, which gives us a great view of the city. There are about 210 people in our offices. The company was established in 2008, and last year we celebrated our 10-year anniversary.