The B Impact Assessment is an online assessment that allows your business to receive a B Corporation Certification, but can also be used as a tool to help your business measure, manage, and make a positive impact on the way your business affects the environment, communities around you, and your customers and employees.
You will need a minimum score of 80 on the assessment to become B Corp certified, the test consists of five sections: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. In each section you will be asked a series of questions about your company’s processes regarding that specific section. Once you finish the assessment you can compare your score to thousands of other businesses and find where you might have room to improve. Lets dive into what each of these sections mean.
This section of the B Impact Assessment (BIA) evaluates your business’ mission, ethics, and transparency. It rewards companies who regularly and formally consider, include, and legally protect their stakeholders when making company decisions.
Not only will improving your governance structure get you started on your path to becoming B Corp Certified, but it will also help lay down a solid foundation for your business, give you guardrails as you grow, and provide legal protection that ensures you can always do right by your stakeholders.
This section of the B Impact Assessment (BIA) evaluates what kind of workplace you’ve created for your employees, looking at pay, benefits, career development opportunities, engagement, and satisfaction.
Not only will improving your worker structure put you on the right track to becoming B Corp Certified, but it will also help increase productivity in the workplace, improve client health, and allow for better business outcomes
This section of the B Impact assessment evaluates your company’s impact on the community around you. This section will focus on your supply chain management, the level of diversity in your team, your impact on the economy, the inclusion and equity within your organization, civic engagement, and charitable actions/donations. This section will recognize companies with models designed to address specific problems in their communities such as working to alleviate poverty by trade sourcing, charitable actions/donations, and focused economic development.
Not only will improving your community structure put you on the right track to becoming B Corp Certified, but it will also help increase your brand awareness, improve your community structure, and create a work culture of positivity and helpfulness.
This section of the B Impact Assessment (BIA) measures and evaluates your company’s environmental footprint and the steps you’re taking to reduce it. It looks at the direct impact your company’s operations make on the climate, air, water, and biodiversity in the world around you and, if applicable, your downstream supply chain and distribution channels. This section rewards companies who are actively working to reduce their footprint through initiatives like the use of renewable energy, innovative production processes, and the local sourcing of supplies.
Not only will improving your environment structure put you on the right track to becoming B Corp Certified, but it will also help reduce your costs, increase the retention of employees while attracting new ones, and improve the reputation of your business.
This section of the B Impact Assessment (BIA) evaluates the way you treat your customers through your products and services, marketing, and the privacy of data and security. The customer section also rewards companies whose products and services address social problems for or through its customers.
Not only will improving your customer stewardship put you on the right track to becoming B Corp Certified, but it will also help with customer acquisition and build customer loyalty, leading to greater customer lifetime value (CLV).
Now that you have familiarized yourself with each of the sections of the B Impact Assessment, you’re on the right path to becoming a B corporation certified business. If you’re still struggling to find a place to start, let us help.