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6. Value for society
6. Va ue for society
The third building block of the B Corp standard asks you the following questions: • How does the organisation contribute to society? For example, does the organisation encourage people to volunteer or donate to social causes? • In what way is the organisation active in offering opportunities to employees with a disadvantage on the labour market?
Let’s start with a number of theoretical perspectives. Once again, we challenge you to start in a slightly more abstract way and then dive into your own practice with the help of B Corp and look deeper. Not for nothing did Einstein say:
Theoretical perspectives
In order to place the “value for society” building block in a theoretical perspective, we will first look at the impact pyramid and the pyramid of organisational awareness. These tools will help you define the value for society you want your business to create.
What do you mean, making an impact?
Some companies claim to make an impact by adhering to the principles of corporate social responsibility. Others claim that their company works fine because it complies with laws and regulations. Before we know it, we are faced with a language confusion of Babylonian proportions. What do we actually mean by making social impact? The “impact pyramid”, an adaptation of the pyramid as included in the speech of Professor aren Maas (Maas, 2019) is an excellent line of thought and action for this.
Impact
Good for the organisa on, good for society
Corporate Social esponsibility
Compliance with laws and regula ons
The foundation of the pyramid is formed by “compliance with legislation and regulations”, or the minimum variant. However, you can properly comply with the laws and regulations, but still act in a socially harmful way by emitting CO2, for example, and meeting the legal norm with the narrowest of margins.
With corporate social responsibility, as Karen Maas puts it in her speech, you ensure that your organisation performs less badly. You do this, for example, by taking specific actions to reduce your CO2 emission.
In the next phase, the organisation considers both society and itself. For example, using electric vehicles, thereby saving fuel costs at the same time.
“During the “impact” phase”, Maas says, people no longer think in terms of financial context: "... but rather in terms of delivering an explicit positive contribution to society from the unique position and strength of the company itself".
By focusing on the identity of the company, you create an impact on society
As Maas points out, it is about the unique position and strength of the company itself. This is where the field of identity marketing provides good starting points, defined in the so-called pyramid of organisational awareness developed by Kaj Morel.
Consciousness
Transforma on threshold
Perfor ance
e a onship
Sur i a
W
I
Just as Maslow's pyramid of needs is for people, the pyramid of organisational awareness takes the organisation as its starting point for developing a conscious organisation. The position in the pyramid of organisational awareness is not right or wrong, but a factual observation that: • It is literally unhealthy for an organisation and its employees to remain stuck in the lower stages of awareness for any length of time; • A clearly defined identity starts from the observation that it is not your organisation that is the focus, but rather the impact that you and your organisation have on the environment.
Take a look at the various stages and determine which stage your organisation is in.
Stage 1: Survival awareness This stage is about the survival of the organisation, with financial health as the starting point. The risk in this stage is that people will literally and figuratively fight for survival. This results in feelings of fear and distrust between employees, with all the associated consequences. Instead of investing energy in the future, the energy leaks away into fear and distrust.
Stage 2: Relationship awareness When you no longer need to worry about survival, stage two comes into play. The focus is on constructive cooperation with colleagues, customers and partners. If you go overboard during this phase, relationships become the focus and being nice to each other becomes the norm, while challenging goals put pressure on relationships. Then you run the risk of confusing “being nice” with acting professionally.
Stage 3: Performance awareness Naturally, you want your organisation to be successful, because who doesn't enjoy being part of a successful team? However, even at this stage, the risk of “going overboard” is present, especially if the goal of being the best becomes an end in itself. Before you know it, you look only at the figures and lose sight of issues of innovation, employee and customer needs because status and financial gain have become the dominant influence.
Transformation Once you start to perceive your organisation as a means to add value to society, you have reached the point of transformation. This usually leads to an elevated commitment of employees and customers within organisations and a high degree of renewal. Innovation that is aimed at finding the so-called “niche” in society instead of the “niche” in the market.
Stage 4: Conscious awareness At this stage, everyone in the organisation is fully aware that conscious work is important for the employee and thus for the organisation. At this stage, employees feel responsible, give open and honest feedback without fear of possible consequences, and there is an atmosphere of professionalism and equality. The mission of the organisation and the employees are aligned, resulting in a robust organisation that stands for its (societal) values.
Increasing your social impact?
The following questions are helpful in obtaining a clear view on how you want your organisation to make an impact:
• What do I believe in? (Ideology)
Please state your ideology. What do you fundamentally believe in? What are your views? What is nonnegotiable for you? The list is not exhaustive but must be tailored to your situation. How aware of your surroundings are you?
• How do you view the world and what do you aspire to? (Vision)
Please describe your view of the world around you. Obviously, this view is influenced by your ideological beliefs. A view relates to both the now (what do I see around me?) and the future (what would I like to see?). Your view of the present shows what moves you to take action, what you think could be improved
or what you cannot tolerate. Your view of the future reflects what you see as the desired end result, what you dream of. A vision that covers both the now and the future provides maximum direction.
• What is your meaning? (Mission & promise)
Please state your meaning here. The mission is literally the task/calling based on the vision. You also need a promise to clarify your meaning to others, the world and yourself.
• Heritage and history
Every human being has been shaped through a unique process. Consider the location of the cot you slept in, the family you were raised in, the school you went to and your working life. Look for major highlights and the various crucial moments that have shaped your life and views.
• How do people perceive you? (Core values and value orientation)
Your core values (the how) show how you are identified by others. Is it fast, deep or joyful? These are 3-5 values that best characterise you. They are the most typical character traits that largely determine how you are.
• What are your desires and ambitions (how do you see your future?)
Base your thoughts on desirability, not feasibility. What do you focus on? What does the world notice about you? What do you want to achieve? Distinguish between short and long term. Through these questions, we also want to encourage you to determine honestly whether you are true to yourself and whether your current identity reflects who you are.
• How do you keep it vibrant?
This last section focuses on keeping your identity vibrant. How do you nurture it? How do you involve your surroundings? It is helpful to establish a daily routine to keep your identity fresh and to develop it further.
With these theoretical perspectives in mind, we will look at the key points of the B Corp standard.
B Corp: what does the standard require?
Looking at the standard from the perspective of “value for society”, relevant issues include creating a sense of community, diversity, equality, inclusiveness and social engagement. Below is an explanation of the different topics.
Create a sense of community with your business model
If you succeed in creating a sense of community through your business model, you will have taken a major step forward in creating conscious business. Whether it relates to supporting the local football club or ensuring that your company employs as many disadvantaged people as possible, in both cases, you contribute to a sense of community. To further clarify the difference between the types of business models B Corp distinguishes, the first example relates to working on an operational business model and the second example to working on an impact business model.
Ensure diversity, equality and inclusiveness internally...
The B Corp standard addresses the themes of diversity, equality and inclusiveness in several ways. For example, it considers:
• Diversity in share ownership, or in other words, are different groups involved in the company, for example through shareholdership? Moreover, from this perspective, “employee ownership” is also a relevant theme; • Does the organisation take these themes into account in its HR policy? Where is this reflected, for example, in the recruitment of new employees, gender equality with respect to remuneration, career development opportunities, and the extent to which the policy is age aware.
Another relevant topic is employee remuneration. Explicit consideration is given to the relationship between the highest and lowest paid employees. What does this ratio say about the position and responsibility the entrepreneur assumes within society? What does it say about inclusiveness and equal opportunities?
…and e terna y
B Corp also pushes you to challenge the organisations you work with or have a procurement relationship with to be more diverse, exclusive and equal. Literally by asking what percentage of purchases are made from companies that explicitly address these themes. And what is your goal in terms of developing that percentage?
Contribute to socio-economic development
As an entrepreneur, it is about contributing to the socio-economic development of the region where you are established. You feel a shared responsibility for creating new jobs, you choose partners from the region, you choose suppliers from the region, and you work with a principal banker that has a positive impact on society. Here too, you see that you are in fact using your business (model) to challenge your environment to do good. And yes, conscious entrepreneurship does go hand in hand with earning a good living, according to research described in the book “Conscious Capitalism” (Mackey & Sisodia, 2014).
Promote social engagement
A company's social engagement is reflected in the extent to which employees volunteer and are encouraged and facilitated by the employer in terms of time and/or money. Another angle is the extent to which the organisation donates to charity or invests in the (local) community in other ways. In addition to this practical perspective, B Corp also looks at the way in which the organisation gives meaning to its social engagement in terms of policy. For example, the policy under the heading of corporate social responsibility or the way in which you as an organisation - jointly with industry partners - develop initiatives to improve the social, ecological and societal performance of your sector.
Motivate the chain by closely examining your suppliers!
Motivating the supply chain is about how your organisation's suppliers are making an impact. Investigate whether the parties you purchase from take the environment into account and ensure they use no child labour or have any other negative impact. You can even go a step further by actively supporting your suppliers in increasing their positive impact. This could include screening and/or agreeing a code of conduct with your suppliers.
