News
Beyond Compliance: How the EU Pay Transparency Directive Can Transform Employee Engagement
2026/03/09
The European Union's Pay Transparency Directive, which member states must transpose into national law by June 2026, has sparked considerable discussion among HR professionals and business leaders. While much of the conversation has centred on compliance requirements, reporting obligations, pay gap assessments, and potential penalties, there's a far more compelling story beneath the regulatory surface. This directive presents organizations with a unique opportunity to address what research consistently shows is one of the most powerful drivers of employee satisfaction: transparency in compensation systems.
Baltic salary markets in 2026: similar salary increases, different labour-market realities
2026/01/30
Figure’s forecast survey tells us that looking ahead to 2026, the Baltic countries appear, at first glance, to be moving in sync, but labour market dynamics are diverging according to perceived economic realities of the last few years. Salary growth is slowing down across the Baltics, and inflation is no longer the dominant driver of pay decisions. Employers across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are approaching the year with cautious optimism rather than urgency, being more optimistic towards the south of the region.
New EU directive encourages employers to hold more systematic salary discussions
2025/12/16
Next year, a new directive on salary transparency (No. 2023/970) will come into force in the European Union, with the aim of reducing and preventing the gender pay gap and strengthening employees' rights to information about their salary level and how it is determined. Although many employers associate the directive primarily with tedious reporting obligations and an increasing administrative burden, it also encourages employers to make their wage policies more systematic and transparent, and thus more motivating for employees. One very practical tool in this process, which also offers opportunities to promote employee-centered management practices, is the regular salary review.
Performance Reviews Are Not Exams
2025/11/12
The end of the year is traditionally the time when organizations evaluate work performance and plan employee development for the year ahead. Recent trends show growing dissatisfaction with performance evaluation - both among employers and employees. Employers often see the process as bureaucratic and lacking meaningful impact, while employees feel that the evaluation is unfair. Much of this dissatisfaction stems from a misunderstanding of the purpose of performance reviews and a deeply rooted perception that evaluation is a form of criticism - the belief that “if I’m being evaluated, I must have done something wrong.” But is performance evaluation truly just a stressful administrative task? Could development conversations replace formal assessments and reduce employee anxiety? And what would such a shift mean for employers?
71% of Leaders Are Burned Out - How to Prevent the Whole Team from Burning Out with Them
2025/11/10
Today, more and more people recognize that burnout is a real risk that can affect almost anyone, impacting both mental and physical health. However, conversations about burnout still tend to focus on employees rather than leaders. According to a Deloitte Global Survey, 77% of employees have experienced burnout due to workload and expectations, yet leaders face the same level of risk. The Global Leadership Forecast shows that 71% of leaders worldwide report heightened stress levels - not only due to long working hours and back-to-back meetings, but because of emotional strain, decision fatigue, and structural pressure in organizations. Together, these factors significantly increase the risk of burnout.