As B Corp month comes to an end, Gillian Pearl, CEO of Pearl Consulting, shares the importance of B Corp certification and the steps the company is prioritising to ensure that it remains certified.

Q: Why is it important for Pearl Consulting to be certified B Corp? 

Becoming a certified B Corp is more than a verification that we meet specific social and environmental standards. B Corp certification provides us with a framework and a high standard against which to measure our business performance, pushing us to enhance our business and the impact that we make through continuous improvements to how we operate the business.

Q: Can you tell us more about the B Corp certification process? 

B Corp companies require recertification every three years, and the basic certification standard increases with each cycle. This approach ensures continuous improvement, challenging B Corp community members to constantly improve, leading to more resilient and sustainable companies.

The structural framework used by B Lab to assess a company helps us to prioritise our strengths and the policies and processes we need to put in place to support continued growth. It provides us with a methodical way of holding our company accountable. We work closely with our strategic partner Seismic, a sustainability consultancy that has a specialisation in B Corp consulting, to ensure that we are focused on the right B Corp indicators, that align most closely to our core competencies and where we can have the most impact. We are thrilled to have achieved an additional 8.1 points in the B Impact Assessment in 2021, reaching a score of 94.2.

Q: What’s in the pipeline for Pearl Consulting to achieve continuous improvements in the next B Corp certification cycle?  

Assisted by Seismic, we have put together a comprehensive plan to improve Pearl Consulting’s governance and operations. The team at Seismic helped us identify our immediate and longer-term opportunities for continuous improvements over the next three years.  .

On the governance side of the business, we have recently formalised an extensive data usage and privacy policy. Our team and clients are in many different parts of the world, so having a comprehensive privacy policy that meets the multinational requirements is a huge leap to protecting our data and resources.

We also have planned additional procedures to ensure team satisfaction and benefits by developing a consultant satisfaction survey and tracking and reviewing team usage of the wellness fund so the management can evaluate and continually improve benefits for workers.

Our client satisfaction is imperative. In addition to tracking and monitoring the impact of our work, we have also initiated a client feedback/satisfaction survey to establish a benchmark and look for ways to continuously improve our services.

Another highlight of the plan is a formalised policy to set targets and increase purchasing from diversely owned businesses. Our procurement policies have always emphasised women-led, local or independent businesses. When we can, we partner with other B Corp certified companies.

These are just a few of the many areas of improvements we plan to implement in the short term.

Q: What would you say to other companies who are thinking of becoming a B Corp and to the big corporations looking to enhance their social impact? 

The B Corp certification is a validation of a company’s commitment to do good for the community, the people and the planet. We challenge multinationals that are committed to making social impact to implement a B Corp certified companies-first procurement policy, prioritising the purchasing of goods and services from B Corp certified companies.

Visit the B Corp website to see whether B Corp certification is right for your business and learn what it means to partner with a B Corp company.