Business For Good: We're a B Corp!
Tuesday 17th May 2022 marks another milestone date in the CreateFuture timeline. Following a year of assessment and review, the business achieved B Corp certification. This was a proud moment for the entire team, as being a business for good has been a central tenet since opening our doors six years ago.
This major achievement has also given us an opportunity to reflect on the experience of getting to this stage, and look forward regarding what comes next. It allows us to continuously review our plans for our ongoing commitment to high social and environmental performance, transparency, and the associated responsibilities of being a B Corp member.
Foundations
B Corp certification didn’t start on the day we began our application process back in September 2020. It began on CreateFuture’s first day of trading, with the founders building a business for good from the ground up. Without having the intent of achieving B Corp certification sewn into the fabric of the business from the beginning, it would have been a time consuming and stressful retro-fit exercise. No less meaningful, but an additional challenge for a business busy delivering strong work for its clients. We were fortunate to have actions and plans in place that would smooth our B Corp journey.
Proving It
During the application process, it was very reassuring for the team that we were able to;
Respond confidently and honestly to the many questions asked,
Prove that we take our responsibilities seriously,
Exhibit how the business had many policies, initiatives and positive activities already in place, whilst building a very respectable initial B Corp score.
The first stage of the B Corp application can be likened to marking your own homework and live testing the promises made. It was great to be challenged as to whether we were doing enough, when we knew we could certainly do even more.
Continuous Improvement
A real strength to the B Corp certification process is the assessment’s ability to challenge thinking in every area of activity. This included scrutinising each building block of the business – from the way clients and suppliers are engaged, to how employees benefits are designed and delivered, to office operations and business travel. It also raised more questions and significantly increased our goals regarding what we could achieve to increase CreateFuture’s positive impact.
Achieving Certification
The final phase of the process was to provide evidence and documentation in every area. This was perhaps the greatest challenge. It informed us as to how we should think about and record our activities in future, set out new disciplines in considering our impact, and follow up with providers for evidence.
It has been a long and challenging process to achieve B Corp certification. As a team, we have been able to qualify our ability to be a business with a positive impact. We have learned much more about ourselves in the process, including how we cannot rest on our laurels. CreateFuture is proud to be on the journey as a business for good, and we’re only just getting started…
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