From Uncertainty to a Compass:
Rethinking HR Across the V4 Region
Author: Edina Kálmán
Built on data from more than 2,000 organizations, the experiences of four countries, and real corporate case studies, an international HR initiative concluded with its final online conference on May 14. The event’s central message was clear: while HR is surrounded by countless fashionable buzzwords and assumptions, companies today need research-backed, practical solutions they can apply immediately.
The closing conference of the Best HR Solutions in V4 Countries project was significant not simply because it marked the end of another professional initiative, but because it opened the door to a fundamentally different, evidence-based approach to HR. The project’s findings demonstrated that HR becomes truly credible not when it sounds impressive, but when it helps organizations make better day-to-day business decisions. Throughout the conference, speakers repeatedly returned to the same conclusion: the V4 region possesses a strong foundation of HR expertise and academic research, yet this knowledge rarely reaches companies in a clear, accessible, and implementable form.
Bridging Academic HR Knowledge and Business Practice
At the beginning of the conference, project lead Edina Kálmán emphasized that while the Visegrád countries have a rich body of HR research and academic expertise, organizations rarely receive this knowledge in the form of practical guidance they can easily apply. The project aimed to close exactly this gap by transforming research findings from more than 2,000 organizations into practical toolkits, templates, process descriptions, and KPI packages.
This is precisely what gave the conference its relevance: the discussion was not about future plans, but about concrete materials already available to companies today. The international consortium behind the project delivered a clear message: instead of vague HR narratives and misconceptions, organizations need recommendations grounded in large-scale research and proven practice.
Five Areas Where Companies Still Face Uncertainty
The research presented at the conference highlighted five critical HR areas:
- strategic HR integration,
- job design and role descriptions,
- performance management,
- HR digitalization, and
- talent management.
According to the researchers, these are not isolated issues but symptoms of the same underlying problem: many organizations still fail to think about people management systematically, instead treating HR as a collection of disconnected administrative tasks.
The findings were revealing. Across the V4 region, a significant number of organizations still operate without a formal HR strategy, while job descriptions are often outdated and performance evaluations remain more closely tied to compensation than to employee development. Increasingly, organizations consider this approach counterproductive and are moving away from it. The issue, therefore, is not a lack of awareness of HR topics, but rather the absence of coherence, logic, and consistent application among the many HR tools companies already use.
The International Consortium Debunked Several HR Myths
One of the conference’s most compelling messages was that several widely repeated HR assumptions simply do not stand up to data. One such misconception is that strategic HR is a luxury reserved for large corporations. Researchers stressed the opposite: small and medium-sized enterprises also need at least a minimalist HR strategy with three to five clear priorities, assigned responsibilities, timelines, and basic KPIs. SMEs with such structures in place — and actively used in everyday operations — consistently prove to be more competitive.
Another common myth is that digitalization automatically means implementing complex technologies. In his presentation, Sampras Femi Robert from the University of Silesia explained that transactional-level digitalization in the region is progressing much faster than the integration of systems that support managerial decision-making. In practice, many companies already use digital administrative tools, but far fewer have established transparent HR systems connected to leadership routines and decision-making processes.
The presentation on HR digitalization did not argue that every organization must immediately adopt artificial intelligence. Instead, it emphasized that companies first need to make their daily operations simpler, more transparent, and more trustworthy.
Two Roundtables, One Shared Message: HR Can No Longer Be “Just” a Partner
The conference’s two roundtable discussions clearly demonstrated how academic research and corporate reality intersect.
The first panel, focusing on corporate HR challenges, featured Dr. Klára András, HR and Communications Director of the Egis Group and Vice President of HSZOSZ; Jozef Ďurian, Managing Director of ZIAROMAT, A.S. and Associate Professor at Matej Bel University; Helena Marková, Assistant Professor at the School of Business Administration in Karviná, University of Silesia; and Magdalena Jóźwiak, Talent Management Specialist at Coloplast Business Centre.
One of the panel’s strongest conclusions was that HR today can no longer function merely as a support department. It must speak the language of business and provide tangible answers to organizations’ most pressing human and organizational challenges.
The second roundtable explored the role of the V4 HR ecosystem, public policy, and professional networks. Participants included Noémi Csaposs, Head of HR Advisory at BDO Hungary and President of OHE; Jana Blštáková, Associate Professor at the University of Economics in Bratislava and Vice President of the Slovak Academic Association for Personnel Management; Dana Chlupová from the University of Silesia in Karviná; and Łukasz Chodkowski, CEO of HR House.
The shared conclusion was that companies — especially SMEs — can only accelerate their HR development if universities, professional associations, and market players stop operating separately and instead create common language, shared tools, and regionally adaptable solutions.
The Real Question: What Can Companies Do With This Tomorrow?
The conference consistently focused on practical application. Speakers presented not abstract theories, but concrete ways organizations can create clarity through simple HR audits, updated job descriptions, transparent performance conversations, gradual digitalization, and clearly defined talent frameworks.
Importantly, the recommendations were not designed around large-corporate realities, but around the actual business environment of the V4 region. This is particularly relevant in a region where many SMEs still approach HR as firefighting rather than as a conscious business development tool, while simultaneously facing labor shortages, AI-driven transformation, changing job roles, and leadership succession challenges.
A Message in a Bottle for HR Professionals
The May 14 online closing conference did more than conclude the project — it openly acknowledged something the HR profession has long circled around: companies are tired of vague promises. They are looking for solutions that are both professionally grounded and genuinely usable within real business environments, especially within the specific context of Central Europe.
The conference’s strongest message was therefore that HR misconceptions can only be challenged through data and proven practices. The Best HR Solutions in V4 Countries project offers exactly that: not new slogans, but tested and adaptable solutions for companies across the Visegrád region.
About the Project
The Best HR Solutions in V4 Countries project was supported by the International Visegrad Fund. Running between October 2025 and June 2026, the initiative brought together universities and professional partners from four Visegrád countries: the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia.
The consortium was led by Knowhouse Consulting (Hungary), with partners including Matej Bel University, University of Silesia in Karviná, University of Szczecin, and Kodolányi University.
The project aimed to transform the results of a previous HR research initiative involving more than 2,000 companies into a practical toolkit. The completed materials — including templates, process descriptions, and KPI packages — are available free of charge in five languages on the Best HR Practices website.
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