Having seen an increasing number of multinational corporations become B Corp certified, I’m being asked more regularly, should my business become a B Corp, or not?
My response is that when I’ve either chosen to work with a client, join a business or start a friendship, the most important question I ask myself is, “What are their values?” This same approach can be applied to B Corp and, given their theory of change is to transform the economic system into a more inclusive, equitable, and regenerative global economy, this is something most people can get on board with.
The B Corp framework is a powerful business tool and when put in the hands of someone with genuine authentic intentions to use their business as a force for good, great things can happen. On the flip side, it can be damaging, which is why B Lab has a robust verification process in place.
B Corp is an holistic assessment that measures a company’s social and environmental performance across five impact areas – governance; in how you’re running business; how you treat your customers and workers; your engagement within the community; and your environmental impact.
Your business is scored throughout the Business Impact Assessment and to be certified you must score a minimum 80 points. The mean score of businesses that have used the assessment tool is 50, and only 7,000 or so companies globally of the 250,000 that have used the tool have been certified.
B Corp standards are in their sixth iteration, and are about to launch a transformation of standards which is currently in its second stakeholder consultation process to ensure the robustness in measuring an organisations’ social and environmental performance is of the highest standards possible. The fact that a company needs to amend its articles of association to have a legal obligation in its decision-making process to all stakeholders (not just shareholders), sets B Corp apart from other frameworks and third-party certifications.
Having led my previous company on a transformative change journey that culminated in B Corp certification, the most important thing was taking all stakeholders on our journey. That saw significant social and environmental impact and, without question, made our business more resilient and a force for good. Interestingly, by looking at our business through a different lens, we increased our profits through efficiency gains, significantly improved employee morale and gained new opportunities by engaging with like-minded values-led businesses.
Having redefined in my own mind what a successful business is, and with an intrinsic motivation to help others succeed, I formed Impact for Good, where I use my experiences to help business leaders overcome the same hurdles I faced. With only 24 certified B Corps out of the 100,000 companies operating within Surrey, there’s still benefit that can be achieved as a differential to your business. If you’re interested in hearing more, you can join B Local Surrey, where you get to meet businesses that have started their B Corp journey, gather insight from those that have certified or if you’re just a little curious to hear more.
