Leading the B Corp Movement

As a LinkedIn Editorial Top Voice, thought leader, author, educator, and change leadership practitioner, I author a weekly article that benefits existing or emerging leaders who want to improve their organizations significantly.

A Surprising Result

B Lab, the nonprofit organization that certifies B Corporations, released its 2023 global Annual Report today. Reviewing the content, I was pleasantly surprised that manufacturing employed the most employees, at 251,522. This number might be considered minuscule compared to an estimated 470 million jobs in the sector. I found 1,289 Certified B Corps listed on the B Corporation website, 16% of the 8,051 B Corps in the annual report. This is in line with the approximately 14% of manufacturing jobs from the total global employment.

“The young generation can influence their elders and make them understand the environmental problems we face today. The youth can make them see that our environment is deteriorating day by day.” - Oren Lyons

Giving Them What They Want

The B Corp movement is relatively new and aligns well with what our younger generations seek in an employer. Lyons, a Native American Faithkeeper of the Wolf Clan of the Seneca Nation and an advocate for the rights of Indigenous peoples, expresses that many of them understand that their elder's past business practices do not align with what the world needs from an environmental perspective. For example, the industry's ecological harm is the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland, Ohio, which has caught on fire at least a dozen times. Those newly or recently entering the workforce care about the environment. They are attracted to organizations that understand their concerns and actively embrace the values that drove the development of the B Impact Assessment.

Certified B Corp Benefits

In The B Corp Handbook: How You Can Use Business as a Force for Good , the authors provide a list of benefits of becoming a Certified B Corporation, including:

• Being part of a global community of leaders—B Corps leaders have collectively addressed issues like climate change, creating sustainable and equitable industry standards, dismantling white supremacy, and gender inequality. They attack these issues collaboratively while embracing diversity of thought, innovation, and positivity with a clear purpose to make the world a better place for all citizens.
• Attracting talent and engaging employees—The opportunity to work for an organization with a more profound meaning unleashes imagination, initiative, and passion. Moreover, the younger generations are expected to comprise a more significant percentage of the workforce. I have seen this in personal interactions at the Certified B Corp companies I have visited.
• Increasing credibility and building trust – The B Impact Assessment is a rigorous third-party assessment that gives consumers confidence that they purchase products and services from a trusted brand with environmental, financial, and social credibility.
• Benchmarking and improving performance—The B Impact Assessment is an evolving standard for measuring overall organizational environmental, financial, and social performance. It is used to benchmark against other Certified B Corps. Additionally, companies gain valuable insight into opportunities to increase their overall positive impact.
• Protecting a company's mission for the long term – The Certified B Corp designation provides companies with legal protection to ensure that the environmental or social purpose continues beyond current ownership or protection against activist shareholders willing to place profit above the mission.
• Generating press and awareness—The B Corp movement has received significant attention across various media platforms. Many prestigious media outlets have proclaimed its work one of the twenty moments in the last twenty years that have moved the world forward.

These and other benefits of becoming a Certified B Corporation create a compelling business case for adopting the model. Each year, it escalates from being a good idea to becoming a business imperative.

Examples of Manufacturing B Corps

The B Corporation mantra of 'Doing Well While Doing Good' is not just a slogan but a proven approach that continues to focus on generating profit while integrating an environmental or social purpose. This approach captivated me and will inspire you if it aligns with your beliefs. The B Impact Assessment, a highly organized and expansive approach, is a testament to the success of this movement in guiding organizations toward responsible business operations. Manufacturing companies leading the way are Cascade Engineering , which I have profiled in articles and my Humanist Manufacturing book. Companies with greater name recognition include Ben & Jerry’s , Patagonia , and Warby Parker .

Key Takeaway

When reviewing the B Lab 2023 Annual Report, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that manufacturing employed the most workers, at 251,522. The B Corp movement is relatively new and aligns well with what our younger generations seek in an employer. Plant operations looking to close their employment gap should investigate becoming a Certified B Corp.

First Step

Leaders interested in how their companies stack up against the B Impact Assessment can learn more at the Guide to B Corp Certification . The site provides an overview of the assessment and how to begin assessing your organization.

My Gratitude

I am grateful that the B Corp movement focuses on using the power of business to improve the world. Conscious Capitalism is another group with a similar mindset. Other organizations include Small Giants , The B Team , and the Tugboat Institute. They are all doing the work the world needs to see from the business sector.

Invite Others

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Additional Information

To learn more about our work or read more blog posts, visit emmanuelstratgicsustainability.com .

I encourage you to read my book Humanist Manufacturing: A Humanitarian Approach to Excellence in High-Impact Plant Operations . The paperback and eBook versions are now available at Amazon and many other booksellers. You can also look at the Humanist Manufacturing Book Launch to gain additional insight into the humanist manufacturing framework.

If you like what you have read, I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn . I am honored and humbled to be recognized as a LinkedIn Editorial Top Voice, an invitation-only group featuring senior-level experts and leaders. Less than 0.5% of LinkedIn members receive this invitation, which is 1 billion LinkedIn members.

Feel free to call me at 734-664-9076 if you need help with the manufacturing support services of consulting, coaching, or training/reskilling in change leadership, strategy, tactical planning, and change management.

See my virtual TEDx videos at Reinventing the Prison Industrial Complex and Humanist Manufacturing .

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