Nicholson Consulting is now a B Corporation™!
Having gone through the process of answering over 200 questions, then waiting as patiently as we could for ‘that email’, in December 2022 Nicholson Consulting officially became a certified B Corporation™!
This is a huge milestone as it gives weight to the fact that our business is driven by impact. Keep reading to learn more about B-Corp and what it means for Nicholson Consulting moving forwards.
“The B stands for Benefit for all”
What is a B-Corporation?
B Corporations, or B Corps, are organisations that have been certified by B Lab™ to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. By becoming a B Corp, we join a global network of businesses who are operating as a force good. These organisations are committed to building an economy that positively impacts all stakeholders — workers, communities, customers, and our planet.
B Corp promotes equity through a holistic lens, which really resonates with Nicholson Consulting. From the projects we take on, the way our business operates, and the way we think about and work with data, we’re always striving to consider things through an equitable lens. There are over 6000 B Corps across the world, including over 200 in Aotearoa, and we’re proud to call ourselves one.
How does a business become certified?
A B Impact score is used to assess whether a business meets the high standards of social, ethical, and environmental responsibility. To gain B Corp certification, an organisation requires a B Impact score of 80 or more. To calculate this score, as mentioned above, we answered over 200 questions designed to assess performance across five practice and output domains: governance, workers, environment, community and customers. While we were proud to receive high scores across all domains, we particularly excelled in two areas: “Customers” and “Workers”.
Customers
This section evaluates the way a company works with customers in relation to developing products or delivering services. It recognises products or services that are designed to have a positive social impact. As a service-based company, we were judged on things such as the way we approach projects, the kind of clients we work with, and whether our mahi is in service of populations who are traditionally underserved.
Workers
This section evaluates the way a company treats staff (including contractors) and looks at things such as workplace flexibility, payment above living wage, and career development.
Whilst we’re chuffed with our results there’s always room for improvement, which leads us to…
What does this mean for Nicholson Consulting and our mahi moving forwards?
Becoming a B Corp is awesome. It recognises that we are living our vision and gives us a way to confirm that our business is contributing to a more inclusive and equitable economy; but the mahi doesn’t stop here because certification is not a one-off process. To become a B Corp is to step into this framework of continuous improvement and commit to meeting these standards both now and into the future.
Like all B Corps, we’ll be reassessed by B Lab every three years to ensure we still meet high social, ethical, and environmental standards. Between now and reassessment time, we hope to stay accountable, maintain what we already do well, and make more improvements along the way. Although we’ve always oriented our mahi towards driving equitable outcomes, we’re excited that B Corp status may provide us with more opportunities to partner with aligned organisations and deliver projects that benefit people and planet.
Ultimately, we’re proud to be part of a movement that is working to re-orient our economic system around things other than profit. It’s our hope for the future that “doing business for good” will be the same as “doing business” and that all organisations will view success through an equitable lens. If you’d like to chat about the B Corp process, or what certification means, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Email us at hello@nicholsonconsulting.co.nz to kōrero!
If you would like to learn more about B Corp check out the resources here:
B Corp website: www.bcorporation.net
B Corp Australia & NZ site: bcorporation.com.au
Resources: www.bcorporation.net/en-us/resources
If you’re considering starting the journey towards B Corp certification, check out this link:
Becoming a B Corp: bcorporation.com.au/become-bcorp