We’ve finally made it to B Corp: now what?

We all know what it used to be like to start doing business more responsibly. You’d start by setting some new company goals for recycling or community engagement. Perhaps rethink a few policies here and there. Maybe even create a new sustainability officer role. That was then. Today, the stakes are higher, the scrutiny is more intense, and the commitments need to match. Right now, the highest target you can shoot for is B Corp accreditation. Becoming a B Corp means taking a hard look at everything your business does to impact the environment and the people around it, and pushing yourself to become a force for good.

We started our own B Corp journey last year and finally got accredited in December. But now that we’re across the line, we’re asking what’s next. How do we enshrine our B Corp commitments so that they continue driving our purpose? And more importantly, how do we make sure we don’t lose sight of them now that we’ve got the certification?

One mountain down, onto the next

Becoming a B Corp is a bit like passing your driving test. It’s not something that happens on the day of the assessment. You’ve spent weeks and months busting your gut to get this far, learning things you’d never thought of before and unlearning plenty more things you thought you already knew.

Then even when you pass your test, it’s not the end of your journey learning to drive. Getting your licence doesn’t mean you’re now a flawless driver with nothing more to improve on, it just means you’ve passed the threshold of being capable of driving by yourself. Even if your only fault was hesitating too long at a junction, that’s still something to iron out going forward.

Achieving B Corp accreditation is a huge achievement, and we definitely want to celebrate the hard graft that’s got us here. But in its purest sense, the threshold for B Corp status is a number out of 100, and anything less than full marks is a place we can keep on improving.

If there are points still on the table, there’s no point in leaving them there. Climbing the B Corp mountain has given us a clear view of how far we’ve come. But it’s also shown us how much further there is still to go – and more than that, exactly where it is we need to do better.

Our new goal is to keep that score improving every single year. One of the worst things you can do as a B Corp is sit back and bask in it, because you can lose your accreditation much faster than you can get it. Plenty of companies have already lost theirs for not keeping true to their commitments. Now that we’ve earned ours, the job is to keep earning it every day.

B Corp is a mission, not a badge

If we’ve only just got our B Corp certification, why are we already talking about what we need to do next to improve our score? Why aren’t we taking a moment to relax after all the hard work to get here?

The answer is because becoming a B Corp isn’t really about us. Yes, it gives us a shiny badge to put on our website. But B Corp status is about doing better by everyone our company touches. Every decision we make as a business impacts real people. The more we keep trying to improve by their standards, the more good we’ll do where it counts.

One of the first areas we’re turning our attention to is improving the diversity and representation within our team. We knew we needed to work on that before our B Corp journey, but knowing it isn’t hard. It’s 2023, everyone knows they need to be more aware of diversity. What becoming a B Corp has shown us is exactly what we need to improve and how to get there.

We’re already looking at our recruitment strategy. Judging talent primarily by their qualifications is already limiting enough, especially when the current cost of living crisis is slamming university doors shut for brilliant people from less affluent backgrounds.

Now that we have that clarity from our B Corp application, we can stop saying “we need to do better” and start doing it.

A global community to hold us accountable

With over 1,000 B Corps in the UK and over 6,000 worldwide, we’re now part of a huge community of businesses all aligned on the same big picture goals as us. The closer we work with them, the more their own commitment will help us hold ourselves to account.

Striving for change alongside so many other like-minded businesses also means we get to see proof of that impact on a vast scale. That’s true for any part of the B Corp mission, from engaging local communities to revolutionising the lives of employees. But it’s especially powerful on the environmental side.

Individual people are already doing everything they can to combat climate change, but in the end that’s not going to be enough to tip the scales. Saving our planet will mean governments and businesses making the same commitment as consumers. As a B Corp we can see the efforts we’re making echoed thousands of times over, and we know that we’re not fighting this crisis alone.

As we celebrate our B Corp status, we hope it will be many things. A flag in the ground that shows how far we’re willing to go for our people. A roadmap to take us where we need to go next. A seat at a table of constant inspiration.

But above all, we want it to be a call to arms to other businesses out there considering B Corp themselves. We won’t sugarcoat it – it’s a long journey. The questions you’ll face along the way will be some of the toughest you’ll have to ask yourself. But the answers that come out of it will not change your company, they’ll start changing the world.

If we can do it, so can you. If you want to turn your business into a force for good, read more about how sustainability needs action, not perfection.

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