Jack Stevens, Co-founder and COO explains the reasoning behind Technical Hires pending B Corporation status and what it means for the business going forward.
What is B Corporation status?
B Corporation, or B Corp, is a certification given to for-profit companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. B Corps operate for the benefit of stakeholders such as employees and the larger community, not just shareholders. They aspire to use the power of business to do good and positively impact the planet. This certification is conferred by B Lab, a global nonprofit organization.
Why is Technical Hires applying for it?
Our belief when founding Technical Hires, was the need to address a gap in the market for a sustainable and ethical talent supplier for the civil engineering sector. We feel that as a business we should ‘balance purpose with profit’. We’ve even enshrined this it as one of our core values, which you can read more about on our career page.
What does it mean for us?
Actions speak louder than words! Anyone can talk about being sustainable and ethical – accountability is crucial. One of the first steps is including legal commitments in our articles of association to consider the impact of our decisions on our stakeholders. This means our workers, customers, suppliers, community and the environment. Going forwards we will need to submit impact assessments to ensure we are living up to those commitments measuring our performance across five areas. These include: governance, workers, community, environment and customers.
What have we committed to already?
We are already a sustainable business according to our scope 1 & scope 2 emissions. A strategy is also in place to achieve net zero by 2030. We donate 2% of our net profit to charitable endeavours each year. Embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of our talent recruitment practices.
What’s next?
Upon review and approval of our application, we will enter ‘pending B corporation status’. At the end of the year, we will submit an impact assessment with a pass or fail grade for certification.
This is an exciting journey for our team. Joining forward-thinking organizations like The Guardian in redefining success in business. We invite you to follow our journey and join us in creating a more accountable, sustainable, and brighter future.