HR Director of the Year Pernilla Brolin on the key to a sustainable workplace

HR Director of the Year 2024

Pernilla Brolin has worked in HR since 2004 and leads People & Culture at B3 Consulting Group – around 800 employees in Sweden and 200 in Poland. She was named HR Director of the Year 2024, and B3 won Employer Branding Company of the Year. A must for her: HR has a seat in group management.

HR as a toolbox

With 26 subsidiaries, HR works as a partner, offering a toolbox each company can adapt, and involves subsidiary CEOs in a reference group before decisions. Work is linked to B3’s values – energy, diversity and experience – through onboarding, the B3 Include network, a Women in Tech partnership, tech talks and Lunch and Learn sessions.

Team B3 and wellness ambassadors

Local wellness ambassadors, a central coordinator and a group budget drive activities from Ironman and Vasaloppet to games nights and craft cafés. Every day at 13.55, colleagues do a plank together – or take a breathing break. “Health is so much more than Ironman.”

Boundaries in consulting

When work is also your hobby and clients email across time zones, close dialogue and role modelling matter: ask whether that Saturday email really needs sending, and make clear you don’t expect a reply.

Making the case to leadership

Point to engagement, KPIs such as surveys, sickness absence and turnover, and attractiveness – colleagues and culture are often why consultants stay.

Key takeaways

• HR needs a seat in leadership to make an impact.
• In decentralised organisations, HR works best as a partner with an adaptable toolbox.
• Link wellbeing work to your values.
• Wellness ambassadors with central support reach every office.
• Role-model boundaries and clarify expectations.