Time-Saving Practices for your B Corp Certification Process
When discussing the possibility of B Corp certification with an executive, the most common question we hear is not “Why should we become a B Corp”, but “do we have the resources to do this?”
What I hear most often is not only a question but also a concern: “Do we have the staff capacity to do this?”
Businesses seeking B Corp certification are typically successful and growing. They may already feel stretched or even overwhelmed, with employees typically at full capacity.. They want to become certified B Corps but struggle to see a way through. The process often seems daunting.
“Do we have the staff capacity to do this?”
There is no doubt that the process is rigorous; B Corp certification carries a lot of weight. It insists on high standards of integrity to indicate that a company is ethical and sustainable. It is not a way to “greenwash” or get a rubber stamp of “niceness”. The impact of a company is measured objectively, documents are required to prove the claims, and there is accountability to the B Corp standards team. Being a certified B Corp signifies that you are actually “walking the talk”.
Most of the overwhelm comes from a company reacting to the information and requirements of the B Impact Assessment (BIA). The project team or champion does not know what to expect and often means having to create systems and processes as they go.
Here are four essential resources to have in place:
1. Project management tools.
After you answer all the questions in the B Impact Assessment, your team will need to delegate many tasks to various departments, teams, and individuals. Enter the modern cloud-based digital project management tools!
Whatever tools you decide to capture information and track, they must be high on ease of use and efficiency. You will need a mix of applications, some of which your company may already use such as Slack, Asana or Monday. Other tools to consider are Hive, Basecamp or Trello, or online spreadsheets
2. A highly organized internal champion.
You need someone who can turn chaos into order, manage a wide variety of information, as well as the progress of multiple teams and individuals with different deadlines. If the champion does not have a flair for detail, make sure they work with someone who does.
There needs to be a person who can track all of the decisions and commitments made (e.g., “Smith & Co. will do a customer feedback session in person with every client, save the documentation and will review how client feedback might change our product offering.”)
3. People skills and Group facilitation
The champion will be interacting with people from all departments. To be effective, they need to be personable and respected. Without good leadership, the process will not be efficient and might stall unnecessarily.
Unless your organization is very small, you will probably require the services of a proficient group facilitator for team and stakeholder meetings.
4. The ability to process, track and monitor detail
Once the entire B Impact Assessment is complete, there is a large “data dump” into a spreadsheet. There will be decisions to make and tasks to assign, large and small, in every area across the company.
The champion, or an assigned person on the team, needs to be able to ‘comb out the decisions and tasks from the assessment, then assign them, monitor the details and follow up on the progress.
Many businesses do not have the resources necessary to release a dedicated internal champion or have the skills that allow their employees to handle the whole process. FutureProof can help.
FutureProof specializes in the project management and administration required to manage the decisions and tasks that arise from the B Impact Assessment. We can bring the people, tools, and skills to streamline the process, bringing ease and speed to your certification goals.
Furthermore, we have hands-on experience of working through the B Impact Assessment and verification process with B Lab, and can provide advice about the best route forward for your company.