“A lot of people think that sport is a nice analogy. It’s really an outstanding analogy. World-class athletes have natural breaks in their schedule. Corporate athletes don’t. I mean, look at the HR data on executives taking vacations. They don’t do it. And if they do, they keep working. So there’s no downtime. And then when you do have downtime, wh…

''From an ESG perspective, we're looking at the environment, we're looking at social aspects, and we've got increased level of reporting requirements and regulations that have come in. But we've sort of forgotten about the most critical part that sits at the core of every organisation - that's the human being''. In this 14th episode of the Sustaina…

''What may hurt somebody, or what somebody may find unacceptable, might not even bother me. We’re all very subjective in that way. But I think coming from a neuroscience point of view, it's the damage that we know that it (bullying) does to the brain. However it manifests itself, however people experience it and whether they call it out or they don…

''Are we making enough progress when it comes to the social elements of sustainability? I don't think we are because we're overly stressed, we're burnt out, we're anxious, we don't spend enough time in nature, with our families, with ourselves really. And from an economic point of view, I also think we're far from where we'd like to be. I think we …

''From an investor's perspective, it's hard to identify intangible benefits from the financial statements. So, when we talk about human sustainability, we need to be clear, because investors pay more attention to actual numbers than whatever term we put those numbers under. The key challenge for evaluation is that we sometimes have to rely on econo…

''Air quality is periodically horrible. Periodically, when needed to be good, it's horrible. When the office is empty, it's pretty good. When you put people in a meeting room, close the door and ask them to start thinking about problems and investments, that's when air quality starts getting really bad. That's when it starts affecting their cogniti…

''You need to realize that if you're 40 years old and if you want to live to be 80, thinking, you know, I'll eat healthy when I turn 60, 70, let me live my life now. It doesn't work like that. One of the biggest risk factors for developing dementia later in life is how you lived your life in your midlife. So we have to realize that actually we have…

''Businesses that take a people first approach, do better when it comes to attracting and retaining talent. They perform better financially. They're more resilient. They bounce back faster. Their people are healthier... So I think many executives that I speak to intuitively understand this, but I also think that they are completely disoriented. Tha…

''As a leader, you have the ability to write your company's brain story for the first time. That's your job as a leader. You need to have a compelling vision that makes sense to as many of your employees as possible. So write your brain story for your company. Talk about mental health, talk about neurodiversity, talk about dementia issues, to boost…

''I do think that right now, the way that the balance sheet works, humans are seen as an expense and not an asset, technically. Until that changes, and there is a movement to change that, that's what it will be seen as: an investment in a human is an expense, not an asset. There's got to be a mind shift'' In this sixth episode of the Sustainable Hu…

"There is a huge gap in knowledge. If you work as an HR Director or a Sustainability Director, you need to know what it is. You need to understand Social Sustainability. And not only understand. I have never met a Sustainability Director that doesn't care about the planet. But I have met a lot of people working in important roles in companies that …

''We tend to think of health as a risk, which it is, but what about thinking about health as an asset? Then it will become our duty to also understand that we have an opportunity to account for everything that provides an opportunity to a business, not just the risk''. In this fourth episode of the Sustainable Human Podcast, our host Linda Jarnhamn…

''Are we capturing the correct metrics? Are we even capturing metrics that matter? How are we leveraging those metrics? How are we interpreting those metrics and are we having honest conversations around what those metrics might show - even though it can be awkward and tough? And then how do we use that to make a difference? Both for the employees …

''We need to be really clear about how an organisation measures human capital and assesses the capabilities overall. As investors become more and more demanding about seeing a more comprehensive overview of ESG, organisations will need to look across HR, ESG, finance and investor relations to take a more integrated approach''. In this second episod…

''Human sustainability takes on a lot of different layers… it’s about making sure that the human element of us has a positive impact on the world, that what we do, doesn’t take away from future generations'' In this first episode of the Sustainable Human Podcast, our host Linda Jarnhamn and Tauni Lanier, Director of the BDO ESG Hub in the UK take a…

A first, short introductory episode of the "Sustainable Human Podcast". A podcast dedicated to the H in the S in ESG. A podcast for leaders who are committed to changing the way organisations approach, measure and report on human sustainability, within and outside of ESG regulations and standards. Hosted by Linda Jarnhamn, founder of flow2thrive, t…