B Corp Certification and the importance of Governance

When we work with companies on their B Corp Certification the first section we cover is Governance.

And for most companies that normally means do you have a board or not and who gets to see your financial reports.

But for B Corps, Governance can and must mean more than that and that’s one of the things that really sets the B’s apart from the WannaB’s.

To Certify as a B Corp there is now a requirement for your organisation to update its corporate governing documents to include a purpose clause and a stakeholder clause.

This has always been one of the aims of the movement – the transition to “Stakeholder Capitalism”.

As we go through the B Corp Impact Assessment our clients will often ask “but who are our stakeholders?”.

Fundamentally it’s anyone or anything that your organisation has an impact on. At the highest level as a B Corp, you will be asked to consider the impact of your operations on employees, customers, community, suppliers and the environment.

And that’s why B Corp is better business.

Chapeau to Patagonia for once again leading the way as they give 100% ownership of their company to the one stakeholder we all need – the planet.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90789599/patagonia-reinvents-itself-again-were-making-earth-our-only-shareholder

How do you know this isn’t greenwashing? Just look at their commitment over time — a 4x Certified B Corp since 2011 and one of the highest scoring B’s in the world…

If you want to start the journey to B Better so that you can make the impact that the world needs you to make right now, then maybe we can help. Check out:

➡️  Our free e-book “To B Or Not To B; The What, Why & How of B Corp” is the DEFINITIVE guide to B Corp – https://bit.ly/BCorpEBook

➡️  This story about how we helped the amazing humans at Jeuneora get B Corp and get purpose at work – https://bit.ly/casestudyj

➡️  “The B Better Podcast” https://bit.ly/BeBPod where we talk to B Corps about their journey to B Corp & Beyond and our YouTube channel https://bit.ly/GGCoYoTu for more B Corp-related content

➡️  Feeling like you’re ready to B Better and want to see if we can help? Well then let’s have a chat! Book a call here –  https://bit.ly/BookGGCall