Empower gains B Corp status, reinforcing our commitment to running a sustainable business

When we first started Empower in 2014, our aim was to create an environment where people could thrive and create their best work. We aimed to create a business guided by deep care, and a belief that profit and a strong values system are not mutually exclusive. 

That’s why our core values are central to everything we do:

• People-centred: We are kind, generous, inclusive and human.
• Driven: We are ambitious, professional and take initiative.
• Ethical: We are trustworthy, transparent and fair.

As we’ve written about previously in our “What are B Corps?” guide, working towards becoming a B Corp would give us a validation for the type of agency we want to be – one that is socially, ethically and environmentally engaged.

Fast forward to today, we’re delighted to announce that Empower is now a certified B Corp organisation! ????

Certified B Corps are businesses that meet the highest social, environmental and transparency standards. Becoming a B Corp means we’re joining a global community of over 5,000 businesses and leaders worldwide with a shared belief that business can be a benefit for the world and for the people who live in it. 

We are happy to have scored well above the needed 80 points, and 55 points above an ‘ordinary’ business that is not investing in social impact.

You can get the details of our B Impact Assessment scores on our B Corp profile page.

For Empower, becoming a B Corp is a real marker of our mission to create a positive and meaningful impact in the world.

As a small agency, it can be difficult to implement the changes you want to see. That’s why we’re so excited to be part of the UK B Corp Community and to have the opportunity to collaborate and learn from other inspiring companies who are also B Corps.

“We are incredibly proud to have achieved B Corp certification and it is something the Empower team have been working extremely hard on behind the scenes over the last few years. At Empower, we care deeply about our people and creating positive social and environmental impact. And we’re beyond honoured to have these core values officially recognised.”

– Jaz Cummins & Ben Matthews, Empower’s Co-founders

Our B Corp journey

The B Impact Assessment is a serious undertaking, but time and resources are a challenge for any business regardless of size. One of the good things about the whole B Corp certification is that it’s not actually something that’s easy to get.

When we reviewed what it took to become B Corp certified, we loved how the assessment process closely aligned with Empower’s values and the way we already work. But it also brings in a new level of accountability and a tangible way to measure our impact.

You can say all these great things about what your company does, but to actually have that backing behind it is what’s really important. The amount of questions and the detail needed is large, but as a small agency, we were able to implement new policies in an agile way, using the assessment to help make strategic decisions and develop new policies and processes that aligned with the B Corp assessment.

Here’s the breakdown of our B Impact Assessment scores, and there’s more on our B Corp profile page:

1. Governance: What Empower can do to enhance policies and practices pertaining to our mission, ethics, accountability and transparency: 17.1 points
2. Workers: What Empower can do to contribute to our employees’ financial, physical, professional, and social well-being: 32.1 points
3. Community: What Empower can do to contribute to the economic and social well-being of the communities in which we operate: 17.7 points
4. Environment: What Empower can do to improve its overall environmental stewardship: 7.2 points
5. Customers: What Empower can do to improve the value that we create for our direct customers and the consumers of our services: 30.8 points.

It’s been a big but hugely worthwhile journey, and  we couldn’t have tackled certification all by ourselves.

It was so valuable to get the input of B Leaders, especially Kate Chapman from Midori Consulting who guided us through the process. 

We connected with other agencies in our network going through certification, to share tips and learnings. Thanks to Vineeta at Wholegrain and Narda at Gong for their wise words and advice.????

We also found it particularly helpful to look through the thoughts and impact reports of Certified B Corps for ideas and inspiration, such as Platypus Digital, Nice & Serious and Lightful.

Tips for the B Corp certification process

Thinking about becoming a B Corp yourself? Here are our top tips for making the most of the B Corp certification process:

• Get the whole team involved: It can take a lot of hours and resources to complete the B Corp assessment, so getting your whole team involved helps distribute the pressure and gives extra investment in the process for each person involved.
• Work with a B Leader: Speaking to people who have been through the process and know how to answer each question in the best way will help you reach the required score. B Leaders are coaches who have been trained to do just that.. we worked with Kate Chapman of Midori Consilting, who unlocked lots of additional value to our application that we hadn’t spotted.
• Start before you think you’re ready: Just do it – you may be more ready than you think you are!
• Record Everything: making detailed notes as you go through the assessment will help you prove that your business has appropriate policies and processes place.
• Create a dedicated folder of documents: Make sure to organise File your supporting information in an organised folder so that it’s easy to access at the later stages of the B Corp process.
• Remote working counts too: In a post-Covid world where lots of companies have moved to working remotely, you can still set up environmental trackers that took into account remote working and set goals for improvement.
• Small is beautiful: you don’t have to be a large corporate to achieve B Corp status. In fact, you should use your size to your advantage and make agile improvements.
• Use the assessment as a roadmap: The assessment is a great tool and source of information for future improvement activities within the business. Even if you don’t get the scores you need, you’ll learn so much about how you can grow. 

We’ll be continuing to update our B Corp journey to inspire others on the path, so sign up to our email newsletter if you want to keep updated.

If you’re a B Corp, why not contact us to let us know how we can collaborate or find out more about our services. We’d love to collaborate and partner with more B Corps!