Glow is striving to become a Certified B Corporation.
While we’re still working on our submission, we wanted to share with you some details about the B Corp Certification. We have found that the more knowledge and advice you have at the start of your journey, the smoother it will be.
After all, the more companies that become B Corp certified, the better off we’ll all be 🙂
What is a B Corporation?
Certified B Corporations are a new kind of business that balance’s purpose and profit, using business as a force for good. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.
B Corp Certification doesn’t just evaluate a product or service; it assesses the overall positive impact of the company that stands behind it. And increasingly that’s what people care most about. In case you were wondering, the B in B Corp stands for ‘benefit’.
B Corporation Assessment
At Glow, we are currently working through the online B Impact Assessment. This involves answering an in-depth series of questions to establish the current social and environmental impact of the company. Simply starting this process has opened our eyes to the number of business areas that sustainability and ethics touch on. It is very much a journey of learning and adapting and we’re really excited about working to achieve this accreditation in 2022.
The Three Ps
Becoming a Certified B Corporation can be a lengthy process and not something to take lightly. There has to be a fundamental drive within the business to pursue the ‘triple bottom line’, which entails taking into equal consideration, people, planet and profit (also often referred to as the three P’s).
One of Glow’s values is ‘Human’ (you can see our three values on our About us page) and it focuses on promoting wellbeing, to harness emotional intelligence, to continually learn, grow stronger and to work with compassion for the environment and community. This value, along with our nurturing strategy, helps align to the drivers behind B Corp’s mission. We feel this is the next step for Glow in demonstrating our commitment to joining the global movement for positive change.
Where to begin
We have one piece of advice for anyone starting the B Corp certification journey. TALK TO ALREADY CERTIFIED B CORPS!
There’s a wealth of knoweldge and information out there. At Glow, we’ve found everyone we’ve contacted to be super helpful. We’ve been provided some valuable insights and tips. We’ve had a zoom call with the Sustainability Manager at Coutts. Coutts has been shouting loud and proud about its B Corp certification. In July 2021, the windows of its headquarters on the Strand in London and its Manchester office were decorated with an invitation to all businesses to join them on the journey, along with the logos of all UK-based B Corps.
There’s also lots of useful information available online. We love Given Agency’s blog, published just over a year ago. It lists 5 things they wish they’d known at the start of their B Corp journey, and we whole heartedly agree with each of these:
Start anywhere
The journey to certification doesn’t need to start with management.
Make a lot of friends
Having a shared goal and buy-in from all levels will make the process a whole lot easier, so start early and don’t be afraid to put your big B Corp dream out there, you might be surprised at how willing others are to help.
Think big picture, via little projects
With five areas of assessment and over 150 questions to complete, it can be tempting to try and tackle it all at once. But by taking it section by section, task by task you can keep on top of to-do lists and working groups. Create small manageable goals and don’t take on new projects until they’re done.
Soak up experience
From B socials, where you can ask as many silly questions as you like, to helpful people who have already gone through the process there are loads of resources available to you.
Get Formal
You might already have awesome flexi work policies, healthcare and volunteering opportunities, so now’s the time to formalise them.
Doing so will not only make the assessment process easier but remind you of what a great place you’re part of. B Corp certification is the perfect time for self-reflection. By examining closely the areas you can improve on you’ll create the best version of your business, which is good for employees, customers and of course, the world!
Glow’s next steps
We’re working hard on getting our application completed, and look forward to providing you with an update soon.
And if you’re an organisation that is already certified, we’d love to hear from you!
