Human Resource Management Practices in Polish Companies During the Economic Slowdown

The objective of the paper is to present how companies operating in the Polish market faced challenges in the field of HR-function during the economic slowdown. As a source of data for the analysis two empirical studies have been used, which were conducted in 2009. In both studies structured questionnaires were used. The first study deals with turnover and retention issues and the second one focuses on trends in reward systems. Efforts have been made in the paper to examine how companies adapt their HR policies and practices while coping with changes in the environment. After presenting some general adaptation strategies, the authors will focus on two issues mentioned above. The findings of the empirical research indicate that typical reactions of the examined companies as a response to the crises in the financial markets were: freezing of recruitment actions, cuts in training budgets, changes in reward systems, limitations of benefits as well as restrictions of HR-departments budgets. The research evidence reveals that changes in the labor market caused by economic slowdown forced 46% of the firms to plan reductions of employment but on the other hand 41% did not plan to do that. The uncertainty in the business context of HRM makes HR-professionals rethink practices they have been using so far.