Furthering our mission through B Corporation Certification
The certification is a big deal for us. It took a lot of time and effort from many colleagues to go through the assessment. But at the same time, it was the perfect grid to change our business to become a force for good.
As a B Corp in the innovation industry, we’re counted among businesses leading a global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. That’s what we wanted to achieve when we started our journey in 2020.
It takes a while to go through the assessment and certification process. Four lovely, healthy kids from our colleagues were born during that time. With the pandemic, launching our new vision, rebuilding our organization, and relaunching our website—in retrospect—it has been two busy years.
But here we are:
INDEED Innovation is now a Certified B Corporation.
And we couldn’t be happier.
If you want to know more about the movement, what the B stands for, and what we are cheering about, continue reading. Or jump behind the curtain: In a former post, we explain how we changed while striving for this ambitious certification.
What is a B Corp?
B stands for Benefit for all.
The B Global Network mobilizes the B Corp movement to change our economic system to positively impact all stakeholders—workers, communities, customers, and our planet.
B Lab™ is the nonprofit network behind the certification process and movement. Their goal is to transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. Their international network of organizations leads economic systems change to support the collective vision of an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.
Everything started in 2006 with the idea that a different kind of economy was not only possible but also necessary –and that business could lead the way toward a new, stakeholder-driven model. Certifying B Corporations™ was the first step. Certified B Corps (short form) are companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
Within the B Corp movement, B Lab creates standards, policies, tools, and programs that shift capitalism’s behavior, culture, and structure. They mobilize the B Corp community towards collective action to address society’s most critical challenges. B Lab’s positive impact spans over 150 industries in more than 80 countries, helping them balance profit with purpose.
We won’t stop until all business is a force for good.
In a nutshell, the movement aims to shift our economic system from profiting only a few to benefiting all, from concentrating wealth and power to ensuring equity, from extraction to regeneration, and from prioritizing individualism to embracing interdependence.
About the Certification
B Corp Certification does not mean that a company is perfect or has achieved its highest impact. But it shows that the certified companies are part of a global community of businesses working collectively for economic systems change and stay committed to rising social and environmental performance standards.
It’s a step towards continuous improvement as companies must undertake the assessment and verification process every three years. Our new vision was and is a commitment to consider the interests of all stakeholders in their business operations: workers, customers, communities, and the environment. And by meeting B Lab’s high standards, we are demonstrating accountability and transparency by disclosing this performance record in a public B Corp profile.
Who else is a B Corp?
Certified B Corporations make a difference every day. Distributed equally or selectively on five impact area pillars:
One of our favorites in the B movement is, of course, WHOLEGRAINdigital, with whom together we relaunched our website. But there are so many other notable companies using their business as a force for good: Allbirds, The Bodyshop, Athleta, Coursera, Ocean Bottle, Seventh Generation, and so many more.
Some achievements:
- In 2020, B Corps: Protected 200,000 hectares of land, Offset 16 million tons of carbon, saved 225 million liters of water, and Divertered 207 thousand metric tons of waste.
- B Corps outperform ordinary businesses by 15% on natural-resources conservation.
- B Corps are 9% more diverse than ordinary businesses.
- 49% of B Corps have supplier policies that encourage purchasing from local suppliers.
- 67% of B Corps screen suppliers based on the use of positive social and environmental practices. (210% more likely than an ordinary business).
- B Corps are 40% more likely to have their CEO and 26% more likely to have their Senior Manager’s compensation tied to specific social and environmental metrics or objectives.
- B Corp employees have, on average, 28 days of paid vacation.
- B Corps are 94% more likely to offer healthcare to their part-time employees in comparison to ordinary businesses.
- B Corps are 13% more likely to provide their employees supplementary benefits like policies to support breastfeeding, health and wellness programs, and free or subsidized meals in comparison to ordinary businesses.
- B Corps outperform ordinary businesses by 8% based on metrics in the BIA surrounding paying workers a living wage, providing workers with health insurance, job/scheduling flexibility, job satisfaction, and professional development.
Find all B Corps here: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp.
What’s next?
We take the certificate as an incentive to strive for more impact with our work and for archiving our vision: A prospering planet enabled by all innovations serving a circular economy.
Stay tuned, and please find more information about B Lab in German, English, or many more languages.
Karel J. Golta
Innovation Strategy & Management
Organizational Transformation
Thought Leadership
