CSRD S1 Decoded: Audit-Ready Workforce Data Strategy

Turning compliance into trusted people intelligence
Maria Rosaria Bonifacio Ian Pinkett
Maria Rosaria Bonifacio, Nokia
Ian Pinkett, Arcadis

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CSRD’s first-year deadlines leave many HR leaders scrambling to meet Finance’s disclosure requests. Drawing on an 18-month journey across Arcadis’s 36,000 employees, Ian Pinkett shows how to convert 200 pages of European regulation into board-ready, audit-ready insight—without ballooning headcount. He outlines a minimum-viable data layer, shares the maths that cuts an adequate-wage study from 36,000 to 3,600 records, and demystifies limited assurance, evidence packs and dual-materiality politics. Finally, he demonstrates how the same datasets drive reward decisions, budget planning and investor narratives, proving compliance can create genuine business value.

European investors and regulators now scrutinise workforce practices as keenly as financials. From 2025, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive obliges large companies to disclose S1 social metrics—turnover, pay equity, adequate wage and more—under limited assurance. Failing to supply robust, auditable data risks reputational damage, capital penalties and missed strategic insight.

This session will explore:

  • Why CSRD S1 workforce disclosures demand HR ownership and cross-functional stewardship.

  • Building a minimum-viable data foundation: definitions, prioritised metrics, lean governance.

  • Adequate wage methodology: benchmark selection, 10% sampling logic, audit validation.

  • Evidence packs, lineage documentation and managing limited assurance with Finance and auditors.

  • Converting compliance insight into reward, budgeting and investor value.

  • Five-step action playbook, first-90-day quick wins and pitfalls to avoid.

Learning outcomes:

  • Recognise the hidden financial and reputational risks of delaying HR leadership on CSRD.
  • Translate dense legislation into clear, auditable data specifications and metric definitions.
  • Design a scalable approach to adequate-wage analysis, including sampling and external benchmarks.
  • Create evidence packs and lineage documentation that withstand limited assurance.
  • Leverage CSRD outputs to inform reward strategy, workforce planning and investor narratives.