Shared Directions, Tailored Responses:
Best HR Strategies and Solutions in the Changing Environment of the V4 Region
Authors: Edina Kálmán and Prof. Dr. József Poór
HR practices are shaped by local culture and corporate context. However, a clear trend can be observed across the V4 region. Development indicators are gradually converging. The project “Best HR Solutions in V4 Countries” runs from October 2025 to June 2026. It is supported by the Visegrad Fund and coordinated by Knowhouse Consulting. A workshop on March 17, 2026 explored key trends, recurring HR challenges, and regional responses. The online workshop brought together 44 HR professionals and university lecturers. They came from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. The group discussed key HR challenges in the region. A key objective of the project is to bridge the gap between academic HR research in the V4 countries and the everyday practices of companies and organizations.
External and Internal Pressures Are Overcoming Regional Differences
Before turning to our main topic, here are some key indicators for the V4 countries: The populations of the Czech Republic (10.9 million) and Slovakia (5.45 million) have increased, while those of Poland (38.4 million) and Hungary (9.6 million) have declined. GDP growth has slowed significantly across all countries (0.5–2%). Unemployment remains lowest in the Czech Republic (2–3%) and highest in Slovakia (5–6%). Hungary’s rate—apart from recent years—has typically exceeded that of Poland.In terms of minimum wages and hourly labor costs, the ranking is: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. Due to labor shortages, the presence of foreign workers has become significant everywhere: Poland hosts 1.1 million, the Czech Republic 935,000, while Hungary and Slovakia each have fewer than 150,000.
In connection with the mentioned project, the characteristics, challenges, and potential development directions of five different HR areas were examined and discussed within the framework of the program.
HR as a Strategic Function Is No Longer an Internal Matter but a Competitiveness Issue
HR professionals often ask whether having a dedicated HR function improves its acceptance. They also question its strategic positioning within the organization. The project clearly showed that having a dedicated HR leader or responsible person strongly influences whether an organization develops an HR strategy at all. The importance of HR depends on its strategic role within the company. For example, it matters whether the HR leader is part of top management. It also matters whether they shape corporate strategy. These factors also determine whether HR is actively developed and modernized within the organization.
A Shift in Mindset: Focus on Skills and Digital Awareness
There is broad agreement among HR professionals that job descriptions have evolved from traditional task-based lists toward a skills- and competency-based approach. Technical knowledge and experience are still important. However, managing human factors is now essential. This includes emotional and cultural intelligence. Leading companies in this area take a conscious, structured, and digitally supported approach to developing and updating job descriptions. However, empirical findings from the project suggest that, across the V4 region, job descriptions are generally not very up to date.
The End of the 1:50 Rule: How Technology Is Reshaping HR Workload
There is a clear gap between large corporations and SMEs in HR digitalization. This applies to both technology and strategic thinking. Across the V4 region, just over a quarter of respondents (26%) use employee self-service (ESS) systems. HR digitalization increases the number of employees per HR professional. The earlier benchmark of 1 HR per 50 employees has shifted to 70–90 employees per HR professional in leading companies. This raises the question: what happens to the “redundant” HR staff? The answer is not unemployment, but rather role transformation through upskilling and reskilling.
Beyond Formal Performance Management: The Importance of Leadership
One key research finding—based on responses from over 2,000 organizations in the V4 region—confirms earlier results (Cranet, 2023): performance appraisal is most commonly used for compensation purposes. Encouragingly, the second most frequent purpose is training and development. Participants emphasized the role of leadership behavior and organizational culture. These drive effective performance management. HR tools alone are not enough.
A New Era in Training: E-learning and Continued Commitment to Development
E-learning, which gained strong momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, now ranks among the leading training methods. Despite challenging economic conditions, many organizations have not reduced their training budgets.
Conclusion – A Compass for HR Leaders
The discussions and research findings all point in the same direction: most organizations recognize the need for change in these areas, but real progress requires not isolated HR tools, but a more coherent and integrated operating logic.
It was widely agreed that significant differences still exist across all four countries between foreign- and locally-owned companies, as well as between large and small enterprises in terms of HR practices.
Perhaps the most important takeaway from the workshop is this: HR insights from the V4 region are not merely academic findings—they are practical guides for managerial decision-making.
HR professionals can draw immediate, actionable conclusions from these insights:
they can benchmark their own practices against regional patterns, identify gaps in organizational maturity, and recognize which HR areas can deliver measurable business results in the short term.
The project focuses on developing evidence-based, practical HR tools tailored to the V4 region, including a shared toolkit, national workshops, a transnational summary, and a final online conference.
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