"The culture of the future is built today. Innovation challenges the existing culture, challenges people’s status quo, mobilises leadership, and contributes to fostering environments where people can grow, learn, and feel that they are evolving with purpose."
Susana Gomes, Chief People Officer, BPF
With the start of 2026, an innovative project is born within the Grupo Banco Português de Fomento. We are launching "Fomento+”, a new Human Resources platform where employees will be able to access information, issue payslips and certificates, consult working time records, access training processes, review their career path and plan new directions, allowing each employee to provide the organisation with always up-to-date information.
This project, which has just been brought to life, represents the continuation of the transformational journey within the BPF Group. A technological advancement at the service of people, reinforcing transparency and day-to-day proximity, promoting process simplification, internal agility and encouraging continuous learning.
This digital space also allows the Human Resources team to have simpler tasks now automated, reduce risks, offer a high-quality internal service, and access accurate, real-time management information.
This innovation is, in itself, a contribution to the process of cultural transformation.
The implementation of new IT tools, which automate and bring procedural rigour to tasks, often represents not only an advance with gains in efficiency and productivity, but also a very valuable contribution to organisations. When processes do not work, tasks are repetitive or require constant rework, when systems fail, the impact is felt directly by people: frustration, fatigue and wear emerge, contaminating the company’s culture.
Investment in process innovation and new technological solutions, sometimes seen as a threat, can be a lever to increase internal satisfaction, reinforce trust and enhance collaboration. Organisations with healthy cultures tend to deliver better results, with lower reputational risk and greater ability to attract talent.
From a practical standpoint, the Human Resources team is freed from repetitive tasks and gains the time needed to assume an even more strategic role. Today, Human Resources professionals must support the development of new business models, focusing on the organisation in its transformation process, ensuring that people are integrated and fulfilled throughout this continuous evolution.
This dichotomy between systems and talent is a path with challenges, but also with clear advantages. The greatest challenge is recognising that the organisation is an ecosystem in permanent transformation, and supporting people in a process of continuous learning.
The labour market itself is undergoing a clear transformation. The most sought-after professional qualities are no longer limited to technical knowledge. Autonomy, critical thinking, teamwork skills, confidence, adaptability, a genuine willingness to learn, curiosity and the courage to face the unknown are increasingly valued. Leadership is also under pressure and must reinvent itself. Flexible leaders are required, capable of fostering psychologically safe cultures and creating environments where it is possible to make mistakes, learn and improve. Leading today requires daily adjustment, ensuring that everyone feels included in the journey the organisation is undertaking.
The digital platform that is being launched today within the BPF Group, "Fomento+”, was created to bring this vision to life: placing people at the centre and making technology an ally in building a dynamic, motivating culture aligned with the future.
