Alberto Castilla, partner of EY, starts the discussion paper by making reference letter to a new reporting regime, which highlights the effort being made by Europe for the creation of homogeneous standards in the field of sustainability in order to make good decisions. In addition, he commented that a Human Resources director has to defend the data obtained with respect to this topic in front of investors and, especially because the scope of "People" is transversal to each area that makes reference letter ESG: Environmental, Social and Governance. 

He also highlighted that people aspects are not only found in ESRS S1 and S2, but are integrated transversally in all standards.

He also emphasized that the great novelty of the standards is that they look at the business in focusing on the entire value chain, not only in its consolidation perimeter.

Castilla further noted that all standards require business to pay attention to four elements core topic to consider in how sustainability impacts the management of people:

- Governance: there must be standards for decision making.

- Strategy: define it in each ESG area.

- management impact, risks and opportunities: in-depth analysis in all areas of people.

- Objectives and metrics: report performance against proposed objectives.

At the beginning of the dialogue, together with Marta Machicot, Global Director of People at Telefónica, and Alberto Andreu, President of DIRSE and Director Executive of Master's Degree at Personnel Management Service of the University of Navarra, they discussed the challenges and difficulties faced by companies today. 

The dialogue was structured along three axes: disclosure, performance and the cultural shift from reporting to focusing on the achievement of objectives.

Regarding disclosure (reporting), Alberto Andreu mentioned that the basis for being able to report data is the digitalization of processes, since only on this basis will it be possible to implement a system of management for non-financial information, which is as necessary for business as having a system of management for financial information. Currently, only 30% of IBEX 35 companies have a system of management for non-financial information. But to do so, he indicated that they must ensure that the basis is in the implementation of internal control systems for non-financial information. 

Marta commented that at Telefónica they have a team of 60 people across many countries working on the governance of data, in order to ensure that these are consistent and distribute responsibilities across agents. With this, they can give a more personalized service to their internal customers and make better decisions based on people analytics.

In relation to performance, Alberto Andreu added that the most important challenge important is to stop thinking about consolidation perimeter to think about value chain and how to export the new sustainability practices in aspects such as labor safety, human rights, working conditions and decent work .

On the other hand, Alberto Castilla asked Marta to think about what objectives will have been achieved at Telefónica by 2025, taking into account the standard that will apply to ESG issues. To which she replied that it is important to set concrete objectives, in addition to having information. For example, they have already planned to have a gender pay gap of +/-1%, also to improve the fees direct hiring of people with disabilities, work-life balance objectives including teleworking and also in training with reskilling as new needs, new profiles and new skills to be covered arise. He indicated that this is also related to the value chain, since the clearer the company is, the clearer it will be to make decisions along the way.  

Finally, in relation to the challenges facing corporate culture, they commented that it is important to accelerate this transition and improve the gap that Spain has compared to other European countries in terms of sustainability concepts. Alberto Andreu emphasized that the core topic is to incorporate sustainability in the ordinary decision making process and to bring to the minds of managers that it is not only important how much money is going to be earned but also how it is going to be done. Companies have to make an alliance with sustainability and introduce non-financial criteria in decision making, training managers to promote this great cultural change. And Marta supported this idea, indicating that, if the company focuses on it, the acceleration of change is much greater than expected. To a greater extent if it is possible to link remuneration as a communication tool by breaking down structural barriers and, above all, by training people in sustainability issues.