Large Polish listed companies have until 30 June to meet the requirement for women to hold 33% of seats on management and supervisory boards, in line with the EU Women on Boards Directive. At the end of 2025, however, this figure stood at only 19.9%, leaving a significant gap to close in a very short period of time. Experts from Wyser Executive Search stress that avoiding rushed decisions under regulatory pressure will require companies to break down internal barriers and implement transparent, objective recruitment procedures for top-level positions.
Management and supervisory boards under time pressure
By the end of June 2026, listed companies employing more than 250 people will have to comply with EU rules on the representation of women and men in corporate governing bodies. This follows Directive 2022/2381, known as Women on Boards, which aims to increase gender balance in corporate leadership and standardise nomination processes by making criteria more transparent and reducing the influence of informal decision-making mechanisms.
Member states may choose one of two options: ensuring that the underrepresented sex accounts for at least 40% of non-executive directors, meaning supervisory board members, or 33% of all director positions, including both management and supervisory boards. Poland has opted for the latter solution.
Legislative work has not yet been completed in Poland, but this does not release companies from the need to prepare for the upcoming requirements. In practice, businesses have limited time to adjust their corporate governance structures, nomination policies and executive recruitment processes to the new rules.
“Building more balanced representation on management and supervisory boards is a process that takes time. Postponing these actions increases the risk of making decisions in haste, which often leads to short-term solutions. That is why organisational structures and nomination processes should be treated as part of long-term corporate governance development, rather than postponed until regulatory pressure appears,” comments Karolina Popiel, Associate Partner at Wyser Executive Search.
The implementation of the Women on Boards Directive reflects a broader shift in Europe’s approach to the labour market and corporate governance. Greater importance is being attached to transparent promotion rules and equal access to positions, including decision-making roles.
“The purpose of the regulation is to reduce barriers that for years have contributed to the underrepresentation of women at the highest management levels, and to promote more transparent recruitment processes based on substantive criteria. In a broader perspective, this regulation reflects a change in the understanding of organisational efficiency, where diversity and the quality of decision-making processes are becoming important elements of economic competitiveness,” explains Antonio Carvelli, CEO of Gi BPO Finance.
Women remain underrepresented despite recent progress
The pressure to adapt quickly, together with the related staffing risks, stems from the current situation on the Polish capital market. According to the 30% Club Poland report “Women’s Representation in the Governing Bodies of WIG140 Companies at the End of 2025”, women accounted for 19.9% of management and supervisory board members in the 140 largest listed companies in December last year.
Although this marks an increase from 15.5% recorded in 2020, the result is still far below the target threshold of 33%. Moreover, almost 18% of the companies analysed had no women at all in their decision-making bodies.
Inequalities are also visible in the structure of corporate bodies. Women are more likely to sit on supervisory boards, where they account for 23.1% of members, while their share on management boards falls to 15%. The imbalance is even more pronounced at the very top: at the end of last year, only eight women served as CEOs in WIG140 companies. At the same time, 18 women chaired supervisory boards.
Differences between sectors are also significant. The highest share of women is recorded in the financial sector, at 30.6%. It is followed by retail, at 23.4%, and real estate, at 22%. The largest gender representation gap at senior levels is seen in the agri-food sector, where women account for only 10% of management staff. Industry performs only slightly better, with a result of 15.3%.
What companies need to do now
Failure to comply with the directive carries serious consequences that companies cannot ignore, including financial penalties. For listed companies, reputational risk is equally important. Failure to meet gender balance requirements and irregularities in reporting may reduce investor confidence, make access to external capital more difficult and weaken competitive position.
To ensure compliance with the new regulations and reduce market risk, organisations should treat the transformation not only as an operational priority, but also as a strategic one. A reliable audit of management structures will allow companies to identify the gender representation gap precisely and determine their staffing needs.
Cultural and psychological barriers still hold women back
At present, the main obstacles to women’s promotion to top positions include entrenched unconscious bias in internal evaluation processes and the frequent requirement for previous C-level experience, which automatically narrows the pool of female candidates. The “glass ceiling” remains another challenge, as does the lack of structured mentoring programmes supporting women in building pathways to decision-making roles.
“Breaking these patterns requires the implementation of objective evaluation rules based on an analysis of real leadership potential and existing competences. Long-term recruitment plans and programmes preparing women to take up top positions in companies are essential,” explains Karolina Popiel.
According to the Polish Economic Institute report “Business in High Heels”, cultural and psychological factors play an important role in slowing women’s career development. Women are more likely than men to struggle with fear of failure and to assess their own business skills and competences less confidently.
“Recruitment and promotion policies are still largely based on established evaluation patterns that limit women’s leadership potential, overlapping with deeply rooted social and psychological patterns. Changing this approach remains one of the key challenges. In the context of the new regulations, it means the need to implement objective and transparent evaluation criteria, make broader and more systematic use of internal resources, and consistently include women who have so far not been fully visible in succession and promotion processes,” Popiel stresses.
Diversity as a competitive advantage
Overcoming these barriers is not only a matter of regulatory compliance. For organisations, it is also a real opportunity to improve the quality of management and business effectiveness. Increasing diversity in companies translates into concrete effects: better decisions, a broader perspective on challenges and a greater ability to respond to changing market conditions.
According to the latest report by the Businesswomen Leaders Foundation, “Women in the Governing Bodies of Listed Companies in Poland. Where Are We After 10 Years?”, greater diversity in corporate authorities is increasingly becoming a factor in effectiveness and competitive advantage.
A higher share of women in management is also associated with bringing important leadership competences into organisations. Studies indicate that women more often use a management style based on cooperation, communication and building team engagement. They are also distinguished by flexibility in change management, high emotional intelligence and the ability to build long-term relationships, both within the organisation and with business partners.
This approach supports stable corporate development, strengthens organisational culture and increases companies’ resilience to market uncertainty.
“Diversity in corporate bodies is not merely a matter of regulatory compliance, but an element of the quality of management decisions. It broadens the strategic perspective and supports a more balanced approach to management and organisational development. At the same time, competences remain crucial and should be the fundamental criterion when selecting candidates for top positions. In this context, the Women on Boards Directive may become an impulse to organise nomination processes which, in the long term, build greater organisational resilience,” says Paweł Prociak, Managing Director at Wyser Executive Search.
The risk of tokenism and artificial compliance
Although building diverse teams brings multidimensional benefits to organisations, implementing EU requirements may also involve risks. Labour market experts point to the possibility of “tokenism”, meaning the appointment of women to senior positions solely to meet formal requirements, without giving them real influence over business operations.
In male-dominated sectors such as heavy industry, energy and advanced technology, the number of women available and ready for promotion to senior leadership roles remains limited. If companies focus only on numerical indicators, there is a risk that decision-making processes will become subordinated to formal compliance and will not be properly linked to the actual competences and experience of candidates.
“The implementation of the Women on Boards Directive, like the earlier Pay Transparency Directive, aims to increase transparency, reduce systemic inequalities and build a more open and fair labour market. For companies, it will largely be a test of organisational maturity and part of a broader process of change, in which equal access to management positions and competence-based decision-making are becoming increasingly important,” says Karolina Popiel.
“In practice, women still do not have equal promotion opportunities due to limited access to development paths leading to the highest levels of management, informal nomination mechanisms, persistent stereotypes about professional roles and the unequal division of household responsibilities. That is why it is so important that the changes being implemented are not reduced merely to meeting formal indicators, but genuinely strengthen a culture of competence-based decision-making,” she concludes.
