Talent as the common language of an organization. How Egis Polska is building a culture of inclusion based on the Gallup method

Egis Polska: Our work with Gallup talents began with the Q12 engagement survey, which we first conducted in 2019. Its results became the impetus for deepening efforts to build a work environment based on dialogue, engagement, and a sense of belonging.

We were looking for an approach that would not only diagnose the level of engagement but, above all, genuinely strengthen it. In this context, a natural step was to adopt the strengths-based concept (CliftonStrengths®), according to which individuals who focus on their talents are more engaged and achieve better results.

We decided to build our organizational culture based on talents, believing that the conscious utilization of employees’ strengths translates into their effectiveness, satisfaction, and development. We want Egis Polska to be an organization where people know their talents, understand what drives them, and can perform tasks in a way consistent with their natural predispositions.

This approach also addresses the challenges of a dynamic and demanding business environment, including market turbulence in the pharmaceutical industry. In such conditions, having engaged teams, aware of their strengths, who can react flexibly and overcome difficulties together, becomes crucial.

Today, we know that investing in talent development was the right decision – it strengthens engagement, builds responsibility, and allows for the creation of an organization based on people’s potential.

The Gallup talent-based approach has influenced how diversity is understood in the organization, expanding it beyond demographic dimensions to include diversity of thinking, acting, and collaborating styles.

Talents do not define our professional predispositions or the areas in which we can work. Instead, they help find an individual path to achieving goals. As a result, everyone has the chance to discover the best way for themselves to perform tasks and take on challenges.

In our organization, we create talent maps – both at the company-wide level and for individual teams. Every person joining Egis Polska has the opportunity from the very beginning to learn about their talents and understand how they can use them in their work. We want everyone to discover their potential, their individual “zone of power,” develop it, and build their career path around it.

This approach changes the perspective on diversity – instead of focusing solely on visible differences, we learn to perceive and appreciate differences in how people operate, make decisions, communicate, and build relationships. The diversity of talents becomes a real team value that supports effectiveness.

Gallup emphasizes not comparing oneself to others, but consciously developing one’s strengths. In this spirit, we encourage employees to recognize the value each person brings to the team and to complement each other with their talents.

We believe that for everyone to become the best version of themselves, they must first understand their needs and motivations and be able to communicate them. This approach builds engagement, strengthens the sense of belonging, and creates a more inclusive work environment where diversity is consciously utilized as a team strength.

We believe that several years of working with talents have resulted in more conscious, empathetic, and effective collaboration, where differences among people are utilized as an asset, not a source of problems.

Each team has its talent map, encompassing four domains: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking. Thanks to this diversity, teams better understand their strengths and areas for development, and consciously leverage the talents of others, strengthening cooperation and breaking down barriers.

Awareness of talents leads to better mutual understanding – employees know the reasons behind differences in work styles and communication, which reduces conflicts and builds greater acceptance. Diversity of styles ceases to be a barrier and becomes a value. People feel more “seen” and appreciated for what they are naturally good at.

Talents also support more inclusive onboarding through the role of a Buddy – a person who accompanies a new employee during their first weeks of work. From the start, the new person has the opportunity to complete the CliftonStrengths assessment and better understand their talents and how to utilize them in the organization. A key element is the talent conversation with the Buddy, which accelerates adaptation and strengthens the sense of belonging.

Initially, there was natural skepticism, which often accompanies new development initiatives. This stemmed mainly from a lack of familiarity with the tool and uncertainty about how talents could translate into daily work.

To address these needs, from the outset, we focused on systematic education
and “familiarizing” ourselves with the topic of talents. We conducted workshops and webinars for both employees and managers, gradually building knowledge and demonstrating the practical application of talents in team and individual work.

Managers played a key role, beginning to use the talent-based approach in their work with teams – in development discussions, task allocation, and fostering collaboration. As a result, talents ceased to be merely a diagnostic tool and became a real support in the daily functioning of teams.

Over time, with increased awareness and initial positive experiences, this approach gained greater acceptance and employee engagement, becoming a natural element of our organizational culture.

Utilizing Gallup talents supports equal opportunities in our organization primarily by shifting the perspective on employee potential. Talents do not determine who can perform a given profession or who will succeed in a specific role. Instead, they show how an individual can most effectively accomplish their tasks
and achieve goals.

In practice, this means that we do not exclusively match tasks to talents, as many roles – especially in areas such as sales – have clearly defined requirements and goals. At the same time, we are aware that there is no single correct way to achieve them. Different individuals can achieve very good results by using diverse operating styles, stemming from their unique talents.

This approach allows for a more equitable recognition of the potential of all employees
– not through the lens of a single “ideal profile,” but through the diversity of approaches to achieving goals. As a result, everyone has the space to work in alignment with their strengths, which increases effectiveness, engagement, and a sense of impact.

Consequently, talents support the creation of a work environment where diversity is valued, and equal opportunities mean the ability to achieve success on one’s own, individual terms.

Managers in our organization primarily use knowledge about talents in their work with teams, building a more conscious and inclusive environment for collaboration.

Supervisors are familiar with their employees’ talents and refer to them in various situations – during team meetings, individual discussions, and business reviews. Talents serve as a reference point in conversations about work styles, approaches to task execution, and individuals’ strengths.

This approach influences team management – leaders are more attentive to the diversity of operating styles and communication, which allows them to better support employees in achieving goals. Instead of expecting a single model of action, they consider different work styles and encourage the use of individual strengths.

Talents are also present in development discussions – they help identify employees’ potential and directions for their further growth. As a result, development decisions are better tailored to individual aptitudes and needs.

Although this approach is primarily practical, it gradually builds an organizational culture based on understanding, acceptance of diversity, and conscious utilization of people’s potential.

Based on our experience, we can identify several key conclusions for organizations that wish to leverage a talent-based approach to support diversity and inclusion:

In summary, a talent-based approach most effectively supports diversity
and inclusion when it becomes part of the organizational culture, rather than a one-off development initiative.