‘Bolder, more grown-up and fit for the challenges our world faces’ – reflections on the new B Corp standards

It’s now over a year since the new and improved B Corp standards were unveiled. This significant shift for the B Corp movement promised to raise the bar for what good business looks like. Since last summer we’ve been working closely with our B Corp clients, helping them to prepare for recertification with confidence and clarity. Fully understanding the new, more robust framework has taken time and energy; we’ve digested more than 1,000 pages of requirements and invested in hours of training from B Lab. 

Now that the new standards are live, our verdict is in. A huge amount of expert input shaped this framework, and it shows. The new B Corp standards are undoubtedly bolder. They are more grown-up and clearly designed to fit the social, economic and environmental challenges our world faces. The B Corps we’re supporting agree that the new standards will help them to do business in a way that is even better for people and the planet. 

What has changed?

No more scores, instead there are minimum standards across seven impact areas. This represents a healthy move away from the B Corp league table mindset, which pushes for collective impact. We’re very aware that having to meet minimum standards in each impact area might sound unachievable, especially compared to the previous framework which allowed businesses to pick and choose. But, while working through them with clients, we’ve found the new standards to be far better tailored to a company’s size and sector. This means they are accessible for businesses of all sizes and allow businesses to really consider their context and to take action where it matters.    

The 7 New Impact Areas:

🎯 Purpose and Stakeholder Governance

💼 Fair Work

⚖️ Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI for short)

🤝 Human Rights

🌎 Climate Action

🌿 Environmental Stewardship and Circularity

🤲 Government Affairs and Collective Action

At the heart of B Corp certification is continuous improvement and a mindset of striving for progress over perfection. Under the new standards, businesses are required to meet new additional requirements in years 3 and 5 following certification. We love this focus. Working this through with clients clearly shows how this helps B Corps to plan and commit to longer-term impact actions.    

Recertifying Under The New Standards

In order to recertify, B Corps will need to assess their performance, using the B Impact Platform, against a tailored set of year 0 requirements.

The verification process now looks very different too. There is a completely new process in place, involving independent, third-party auditors. We know this may feel daunting but to manage this we are working alongside our clients to make sure they keep focused on the detail required and have all of their evidence documents audit ready. The first of our B Corp clients will be going through the audit process this summer. We’ll be taking what we learn and sharing with others going forwards, so watch this space.