B Corps top 1m employees, as report shows they outperform peers on providing good jobs

More than 1m people are employed by 10,000 B Corps around the world, B Lab announced on Monday, as a new report shows certified businesses outperform standard companies on almost all indicators for “good jobs”.

The employment milestone is the result of three recent certifications: sweet-maker Continental Candy Industries in the Netherlands, snack company Serious Pig in the UK, and Heng Hiap Industries, a plastic recycling firm in Malaysia.

Meanwhile a study, Good Jobs: Job Quality and Employer Practices in B Corps, published this week by B Lab, the nonprofit that oversees the B Corp accreditation, shows B Corps tend to offer their workers more employment benefits and flexibility, and are more likely to have the highest rates of employment satisfaction. It also shows companies that have best employment practices tend to have higherbetter revenue. 

Sarah Schwimmer, co-lead executive of B Lab, said: “As others step back, CEOs and other business leaders in our community are paving the way for good job practices that treat people fairly and respect their rights. 

“With one million employees now part of this movement, we can prove another way of doing business is possible and start to imagine the impact for societal change when workers are empowered and respected.”

• Read more: Good jobs: UK social enterprises offer better pay, opportunities and diversity than other employers

The study follows the Aspen Institute’s Good Jobs Framework, which defines a “good job” by looking at three categories: economic stability; economic mobility; and equity, respect and voice.

The researchers compared data from 6,592 certified B Corps against information provided by a sample of “ordinary businesses” – companies that have filled in B Lab’s impact assessment tool but said they do not consider social or environmental factors when making decisions (the impact assessment tool can be used by any company to measure its impact).

With one million employees now part of this movement, we can prove another way of doing business is possible

While both ordinary businesses and B Corps in the sample paid at least 75% of their employees a living wage (just over 93% in both cases), B Corps surpassed their peers on workers’ benefits, such as retirement plans where employers match their workers’ own pension contributions (provided by 56% or B Corps, compared with 12% of ordinary businesses), a high-quality health insurance plan or life insurance. 

B Corps were also more likely to offer flexible schedules or part-time hours at the request of workers, and extended parental leave. Overall, researchers found B Corps were significantly more likely to have an employee satisfaction level of 90% or above.

In April, B Lab unveiled new standards to certify B Corps, which require companies to show their performance on seven impact topics, which include “Fair Work”. The Fair Work section states that businesses should “provide good quality jobs and have positive workplace cultures, implement fair wage practices, and incorporate worker feedback in decision-making”. The new standards are being rolled out gradually.

• Read more: B Corp launches new standards as 'complete reimagining' of certification of businesses for good

Future-proofing: training

The report highlights skills development as essential to workers today: data from the World Bank – cited in the B Lab study – estimates that more than 1bn jobs are likely to be transformed around the world in the next decade due to automation, climate change, the digitalisation of products and services, and a shrinking and aging workforce. Employees will need to learn new skills to adapt as the world of work changes.

Nearly all B Corps in the sample provide some sort of training at every level: 99% offer new hire training; 97% offer skill-based training; and 87% offer external professional development.

Over two-thirds of B Corps have a policy to encourage internal promotions, and 45% have seen more than 15% of their workers receive a promotion within the company. 

A range of practices

Actions taken by B Corps to support their workers take various forms. US-based Rhino Foods, which produces cookie dough for ice cream, had noticed that its workers, despite decent pay and stable jobs, often faced financial precarity. In response, the company now allows employees to access US$1,500 in advance of their wages – which they repay through payroll deductions. This, says Rhino Foods, helped its workers to become more financially stable and even start saving for the future. This led hundreds more businesses to adopt the practice, according to B Lab.

Dutch fashion accessory brand Secrid, says “impactful employment” is part of its primary mission: it partners with employment centres for people with disabilities, offering them secure and meaningful jobs.

The researchers mapped B Corps and ordinary businesses against a “Job Quality Index” – where a point is allocated for each “positive job quality element” provided by the company. The result shows that B Corps are more likely to perform well on this index – with a median figure of 8.5 out of 15; ordinary businesses tend to be spread at the lower end of the spectrum, with a median of 6.3.

The research concludes that “a distinguishing feature of B Corps is not only outperformance on individual practices, but also implementing a greater number of practices altogether”.

The researchers also found that the higher companies perform on the Job Quality Index, the higher their returns tend to be – although it was not possible to say whether one actually caused the other.

Top image: B Corp Secrid partners with employment centres for people with disabilities, offering them secure and meaningful jobs. Credit: Secrid and BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions.