What to do after B Corp Certification
You did it! The day you never thought would come, has arrived. You’re B Corp certified. Here’s what to do next.
There are several external and internal steps you can take to set yourself up for post-certification success. From telling stakeholders to tracking data to set aside time to continuously update your goals and KPIs.
First, you’ll want to do some external sharing, announcements and updates. Next, it’s time to focus internally to make sure you’re keeping track of certification requirements and focus areas.
Tell the World
Set up a list of everyone you’d like to share certification updates with and start spreading the news! When you started the certification process, you probably had a key stakeholder group in mind for who would get the most benefit from your certification. Be it suppliers or employees. Pay special attention to the selected group and strategize how best to tell them.
Here are some suggestions for important groups:
Clients
How do you normally share important news with clients? Do the same with B Corp news.
Stakeholders
Send out a press release or other news blast to hit all relevant stakeholders along with a broader audience.
Vendors
Vendors and suppliers are probably curious about your status too! Especially since you had to gather information from them. They’ll be proud to call you a customer when you’re a B Corp so don’t neglect to tell them.
Other B Corps
Many local communities and states have “B Local” groups and meetings for B Corps. Sync up with them to find new B Corp allies and see if you could be of service to other B Corps in your area.
Don’t neglect industry partners too. Find other B Corps serving your niche client or who are in your industry and say hello!
Potential employees
People want to work at B Corps and purpose-driven brands, full stop. Make sure your recruiting practices, pages and events include your B Corp status. Also check out job boards focused on B Corps to see if your company should be visible there.
Update Assets
Make sure your visual identity includes B Corp information. Part of your communication strategy should be updating your website with B Corp logos and details. Include a link to your impact report and put the B Corp logo in the footer of your website and on any applicable product items.
Set up Before/After Metrics
Make sure the certification isn’t the end of tracking specific data. The biggest B Corp question is “why should I do this?” Setting up a KPI tracker for important company metrics before and after B Corp will help tell your story (and make you feel better about all the work!) I recommend companies set up and follow the B Corp metrics they reported on, including:
- Employee demographic information
- Supplier statistics
- Energy, Waste, water, etc
Additionally, it can be extra powerful to track the metrics you wanted to improve by getting certified:
- Hiring & Attrition related statistics
- Inbound leads
- Web traffic
- Revenue
- Employee engagement
A newly-certified design studio colleague has seen her inbound leads increase fourfold since certification. Track those metrics so you can share them internally, with investors and with your executive team. The biggest B Corp question is “why should I do this?” Tracking metrics make sure you have an answer and can adjust B Corp storytelling as necessary.
Continue Tracking B Corp Data
Download the excel version of your assessment and use it to continue tracking relevant metrics, described above. Don’t get behind on keeping up to date and reporting on those employee, supplier and environmental data pieces you worked so hard to gather.
You’ll have to recertify every three years so put an hour on your calendar each month to review relevant B Corp areas and track progress. I recommend an hour a month just to get the data gathering and reporting constantly moving forward.
Set Goals
There’s a part of the assessment that you avoided or said “we’ll look at this part later.” It could be supplier engagement or carbon footprint. Put the area on a list to work on. In three years, you’ll be able to get more points or tackle a new area if you start working on it now.
Getting B Corp certified is just the beginning of the journey. Make sure you’re set up for success with these main focus areas handled as you continue your path to sustainability.
