31 July 2023
Head of CSR
We’re incredibly proud to be joining the B Corp community, the culmination of a long-held ambition - and a significant project - for Hymans Robertson.
The origins of our certification journey began a few years ago when we first became aware of the B Corp movement. We could immediately see its alignment with our firm’s Purpose – Together, building better futures, with our CSR and ESG objectives and the wider philosophy of our partnership. Over time we learned more, spoke to several B Corps and saw the movement’s profile increase. Our initial interest crystallised into something stronger - we wanted to be a part of this community!
B Corp certification is not to be under-estimated - it’s a thorough and demanding journey, although that was a big part of its attraction for us, particularly the rigorous verification process that underpins everything and gives certification real credibility. It’s also a huge learning opportunity. B Lab’s online impact assessment tool is open to everyone and as well as helping prospective B Corp’s benchmark their performance across the 5 key assessment areas, it provides a fantastic roadmap of social and environmental best-practice.
We’re delighted to celebrate our B Corp certification, but it’s also the start of an exciting new chapter for the firm. We can't wait to learn from and contribute to the B Corp community.
Our certification project ran for around 18 months in total – starting with a business case and securing the approval and advocacy of our management board. We enlisted our Change Team to help project manage the process, and the support of business unit leaders and teams from across the firm to compile and evidence our impact assessment responses. We’ve been fortunate that our people policies, CSR, DEI and governance approach aligned closely with B Corp’s requirements and took us above the 80- point impact assessment ‘minimum requirement’ score.
We submitted our application last July and then waited several months to reach the evaluation and verification stage. That gave us time to work on the required amendments to the firm’s Membership deed (our primary governance document). This legal change is a key certification requirement and commits the firm to considering the interests of all our stakeholders, not just the owning members. Our changes were incorporated as part of a planned wider review, although the structure of our business (which includes several separate entities) meant this was one area where I definitely underestimated quite how much work and time would be getting everything approved and completed.
The evaluation and verification process involved a lot of engagement with B Corp, with a dedicated analyst working with us on each stage. It was a rigorous, but enjoyable experience – we were supported and encouraged, but at the same time there was a consistent requirement to evidence that the approach and policies that we had described were genuine and were actually being applied.
We’re delighted to celebrate our B Corp certification, but it’s also the start of an exciting new chapter for the firm. We’re already using our impact assessment to support the development of our environmental, social and governance strategies and we can’t wait to learn from and contribute to the B Corp community as it inspires and enables people to use business as a force for good.
We’d also love to inspire and support other businesses on their B Corp journey. Certification is not something to be under-estimated, but it’s a fantastic opportunity for purpose led companies to develop further and contribute to a rapidly growing global movement. Find out more at B Corp’s website and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like to learn more about our approach and experiences.
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