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What are B Corp companies, and why should you care? 

 

Maybe you have heard about changes in businesses, trials of new approaches to work, and employees. Corporations assure about the values they want to implement in everydayness. The real question on this topic is: is there some guarantee they are what they claim to be?

One of the known certifications, acting as a warrant for companies, is a B Corporation Certificate.  This feature confirms a company’s focus on other values than just profit and money. Businesses taking part in this program desire to create an inclusive and sustainable environment. They prioritize solving problems in terms of inequality, poverty, the quality of the job one does, and the surroundings. The B Corp community aspires to have a real impact on changing the industry into a force of good. Moreover, B Corp Certification is accessible for companies with at least one year of operations.

How to receive B Corp? As said before, this type of certification is proof your business by all its means has a top-level standard of performance. Concerning influence on staff, suppliers, clients, and the environment. Moreover, that should be a long-term change. This kind of corporation certification is proof of social and environmental performance and b corp status. When the business decides to properly prepare, they need to follow some steps.

How to get B corp certification?

1. First, keep in mind that B Corp is becoming more and more popular. Therefore, the process  of reviewing registration can take from 6 to 10 months. Furthermore, not all submitted  applications can be certified.

2. Then, the first step in the registration is completing the B Impact Assessment. BIA is a  platform which measures your influence of your performance and business model on  everyone involved with your company and the surrounding environment. The questions and  their total number depend upon the size of the company and market. Nevertheless, there  are around 200 questions to answer. The score depends on the responses and a minimum  grade is 80 points.

3. In the next step, the company must meet the legal requirements. It means considering the  influence on shareholders and stakeholders. Through that, legal requirements demand legal  protection for directors and officers. Then, supplementary rights for shareholders in order to  hold directors and officers accountable. Last but not least, restrict expanded rights to  shareholders. Due to changing structure being time-consuming, mid-to-large companies can  fulfill the legal requirements after certification.

4. After completing every step above, there is a time for verification and transparency. The  business must discuss the received score in the meeting with B Lab employees. In terms of  maintaining the certificate, companies have to update their BIA every three years. Moreover,  for transparency purposes, reports must be shared.

 

Corporation certification as a way to sustainable economy

The way to the B Corp can look challenging, but the outcome should reward all of the effort.  Nowadays, an increasing number of employees and employers pay attention to these types of  certificates. Certified B corporations with this corporation status chose to mix public transparency, financial profits and wellness of their community.

That can be a chance to find new talent or to change the world to be more sustainable  and aware of the ongoing situations. Corp movement of B corporation certification is a legal structure of corporate social responsibility and fair trade with balance profit.

This global movement changes the old schemes of minimum score in business as a force and success. Communities of the biggest corporations care for their workers and consumers creating society with a higher goal. It provides a positive impact on the global economy and changes the way of seeing the social mission of investors, workers, leaders and all employees and employers reaching for the highest standards of sustainability.