E-ESG model

E.ESG Model: Integrating the sustainability of employees

The Esade Chair in Leadership and Sustainability, in collaboration with Alsea, Bonpreu and Randstad, has decided to promote a comprehensive sustainability management model that pays greater attention to employees as an essential stakeholder for the company, giving them their own category of analysis and differentiating them from the social pillar in which they have traditionally been included.

This involves extending the ESG criteria to convert them into the E-ESG model, giving E for employees all the relevance we believe it deserves. This change is based on the conviction that only by also being sustainable with the people within companies can the impact on the environmental, social and governance dimensions be achieved with solvency and coherence.

If sustainable companies combine the three P's (people, planet and profits) in a balanced way, then it seems logical to pay special attention to the P of the employees. If organisations are a community of people, the correctness of the model we propose helps to position them as essential stakeholders for companies to achieve their purpose and better contribute to sustainability based on their talent.

The E.ESG model defends the deployment of criteria already included in the ‘classic’ ESG vision but deepens it and is defined especially as a taxonomy of good sustainable practices of the company in relation to its people and teams. In this way, corporate sustainability is now also based on the contribution of life value and the contribution to the professional fulfilment of employees.

In February 2025, the first annual report on research into the ESG model was published, entitled ‘From ESG to E-ESG: The centrality of employees in corporate sustainability’, which offers a first insight into this model and its main themes.

Modelo EESG

To create and enhance a model for the implementation of employee-centric management that reinforces the ESG pillars.
Establish a set of themes and sub-themes in accordance with current regulations, the current business reality and future trends in responsible talent management.
To transfer the new ESG Model to the daily practice of organisations.
Establish evaluation tools to measure and assess the adoption of the model within business strategies.

The Community of Practice

The Community of Practice linked to the E.ESG model was created as a collaborative space for discussion, learning, practice and improvement of sustainability policies, processes and management systems focused on people. It is open to the participation of companies and organisations, experts and researchers who share the objective of promoting and facilitating the exchange of knowledge, addressing common challenges and contributing to research on the E.ESG model and the development of methodological tools that strengthen its application.

Moving from ESG to E.ESG

The centrality of employees in corporate sustainability

Download the report

Organizations must be sustainable first with their employees. Only then will they be able to make solid progress in the other ESG areas

Àngel Castiñeira talks to Mar Romero, Director of People and ESG at Alsea, Albert Aranda, Director of People at Bon Preu and Carlos Cortés, principal researcher of the project, at the presentation of the first annual report