The global ESG Planning and Performance Survey was published in September by OCEG (Open Compliance & Ethics Group), an American non-profit think tank focused on GRC. It looked at what organizations are doing to address governance, risk, and compliance in terms of planning, communications, budgets, technology, and other activities. The respondents included 530 executives, most based in the United States and European Union. Approximately two-thirds were involved in managing and reporting on ESG or ESG policies for their companies. Read the full story here

The transition to remote work in 2020 has driven technology adoption at an unprecedented pace. Online events, teleconferencing, and virtual meetings quickly became the standard. “Zoom” entered the vernacular seemingly overnight. At virtual happy hours, conversations swirled around whether Microsoft Teams or Slack was the better collaboration tool. Necessity became the mother of adoption. Read the full article here

While so much of the world around us is changing, there will come a time when people around the world will look for signs, evidence and leaders in whom they can believe and put their trust for better things to come in the future. There is no better economic and social flashpoint to prove this point than the continuing global struggle to contain the spread of COVID-19, the pandemic that has dealt death and political division like no previous scourge of humanity. Read the full story here

In 2021-2022, the boards of listed companies in the Nordic countries will especially focus on responsibility, digitalization, and dealing with the coronavirus crisis. This is according to the Nordic Board Study 2021 conducted by Russell Reynolds Associates, a global advisor to governments and business leaders on the strategic priorities, composition, and working practices of boards. The post-pandemic handling of the coronavirus crisis is currently seen as one of the greatest risks for boards at present. In addition to coronavirus, responsibility, cybersecurity and geopolitics are seen as risks for 2021-2022. Read the full article here

Could anyone have imagined in January of 2020 that 18 months later we’d have met our colleagues’ pets and children? That those digital tools the IT folks had been pushing (that we resisted) would become second nature? Remote work, flex schedules, tech adoption and other COVID era adaptations ensured business continuity when so many people suddenly had to work from home. The workplace flexibility that allowed this massive shift to remote work was already gaining traction in certain environments well before COVID-19, and now it is unlikely that the world will return to pre-pandemic norms. How organizations adapt to this disruption will have significant, lasting implications for organizational success, however that success is measured. Read the full story here