Harnessing Human Capital in an Intelligent Age

It might feel like there are gloomy days ahead for the concept of ESG but actually there are several reasons to be hopeful. And the first and most important reason is that good sustainability strategy is good for business and its resilience. ‘Sustainable’ should refer to a business’ longevity, and that of its employees and other stakeholders, as much as it does to the environment.
Yesterday, at our event in the SDG Tent during WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, we gathered senior executives from across sectors and industries. The stage was shared by a diverse and vibrant panel including:
- Sahil Tesfu, Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer of Essity
- Karl Schmedders, Professor of Finance at IMD
- Donata Garrasi, VP at Peaceinvest
There were some important take-aways:
- We need to create the right logic for ESG, starting with strategy, data gathering and risk analysis, reporting the sustainability principles and a double loop back to improve strategy
- There is untapped opportunity to create business resilience, and new business products and solutions, focusing on the human capital
- Organisations need internal alignment and specific focus on being designed success
- It is very clear that people and human factors are critical for internal and external engagement. The role of the workforce is essential in any organisation’s ultimate success
- The current landscape requires different types of stakeholders to be addressed, including unusual suspects. However, that is no excuse for forgetting core stakeholders, in particular employees
The discussion made me reflect how our debates in the SDG Tent have progressed over the years. We started with discussions about the context for evolution to meet sustainability ambitions, and now we are very definitely talking about action and implementation. As Peter Drucker said, strategy is implementation. The changing focus of our conversations very clearly shows the maturing of corporate approaches to ESG and sustainability. And his maturity allows tighter implementation of the sustainability principles into corporate strategies.
Underlying all sustainability actions are leadership principles, ethical values and an organisation’s North Star.
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Lukasz Bochenek
Managing Director / Deputy CEO, based in Geneva
Lukasz is Managing Director for Switzerland, Belgium and UK offices as well as deputy CEO for Leidar. He oversees key international client projects and relationships. In addition, he manages external partnerships and memberships of Leidar.