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“B Corp is one of the few standards that focuses on the whole business and considers all kinds of social as environmental issues."
Jessica Ferrow, co-founder of Twelve
Profit without purpose is increasingly being shunned – at least within the context of the prevailing corporate narrative – as businesses seek to provide an enterprise that promotes social and environmental value in the communities in which they operate.
One way of demonstrating this commitment is through B Corp. A demanding, year-long accreditation process, B Corp requires organisations to demonstrate commitment to – and evidence of – balancing profits with purpose, specifically by adding environmental and social value.
“B Corp is one of the few standards that focuses on the whole business and considers all kinds of social as environmental issues,” says Jessica Ferrow, co-founder of Twelve, an agency supporting companies to become B Corps. “As well as looking at things like how you measure your carbon emissions and water use, it also covers how your business is structured and run, how you treat your staff, how you interact with your community and the way you treat your customers. It’s this breadth and depth as well as its suitability for all industries that make B Corp unique.”
B Corp certification requires a significant shift to the way businesses are run, including legal change to Articles of Association, maximising value for all stakeholders not just shareholders. “It’s a long-term commitment to being a better business,” says Mehalah Beckett, founder and executive coach at Lead Powerful Impact.
For flexible workspaces provider x and why, becoming a B Corp was a way of contributing to “meaningful and lasting change”, says Rupert Dean, co-founder and CEO. “The certification is credible and meaningful, and gives us a framework to keep us accountable.
“Us finally achieving B Corp Certification – something we have been working on since our inception – has also inspired and re-motivated a lot of our members to start or revisit their own journey to certification. Our most recent Why B Programme was full, with members taking a third of the places,” says Dean. These programmes typically address topics on sustainability and being a better business.
Ferrow explains: “B Corp is really becoming recognised as a universal standard for good business practice so it’s a great way to communicate to stakeholders that you’re walking the talk. Many people say the best bit is being a part of such a vibrant and global community of leading businesses which enables collaboration and sharing best practice.”
“B Corp is really becoming recognised as a universal standard for good business practice so it’s a great way to communicate to stakeholders that you’re walking the talk."
Why choose B Corp?
- It's global – and many other certifications are not, so organisations can apply from anywhere in the world;
- It's not industry specific;
- Your company can be any size; and
- You can supply goods or services.
A client organisation perspective
For chocolate makers Montezuma’s, the B Corp accreditation process is still underway, having been delayed somewhat by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Montezuma’s current marketing director is a former employee of B Corp Ella’s Kitchen, the baby food company and a B Corp. Plus the chocolate maker has connections with frozen food company Cook, also a B Corp. “They validated why B Corp was their preferred route and having industry wide recognition of an accreditation is important otherwise it just becomes another label that is not necessarily recognised by consumers,” says CEO Bruce Alexander.
Alexander attests to the demanding requirements of certification. “There are around 200 questions that can be challenging to answer. For example, there are questions related to certain policies. If an organisation does not have a policy in place, it has to create one before continuing.”
B Corp accreditation isn’t a one-off process either. Organisations need to re-certify every two to three years, Alexander explains, and you have to improve your impact score on each recertification attempt. “Once you embark on this, you’re committed and you have to keep improving.”
From a facilities services perspective that means asking all suppliers to sign a code of conduct as a starting requirement and declaring the source and choices of materials and products. “They need to demonstrate why we should be working with them rather than somebody else. So if suppliers are not giving us a good clear reason then we just can't work with them. And the standards are only going to go and get more and more intense, I think.”
Challenges to overcome when striving for B Corp status
“Time is probably one of the biggest challenges,” Beckett says. “But I would add to that commitment from the whole company – and most importantly at the top. You don’t just tick a box. It does require legal change and it does require you to keep it up. A lot of the requirements are easy, but a lot are not. They are, however, the right things to do. It's a long-term commitment with long-term benefits.”
Another major challenge is data. Organisations have three ways to score B Corp points:
- Show commitment through official policy such as committing to giving 5 per cent of revenue to a charity and showing this to be true;
- Take action – show through financial records that the company donated the 5 per cent; and
- Harder to quantify and record is the impact of the 5 per cent donation – for example, if the charity helped refugees find work, the company could count how many refugees are now employed based on the money given.
This article comes from various interviews as part of the ethical business models feature in the January-February 2022 edition of Facilitate.
