2022 Best for the World Workers: B Corps Build Strong Businesses for and with Employees
6 Companies That Provide Innovative Benefits, Training, and Workplace Opportunities
The Certified B Corporations on the 2022 Best for the World for workers list are crafting business environments where employees have opportunities to build skills, help shape company decisions, and access supports that benefit their well-being. By building strong connections with and among workers that also build bottom-line success, B Corps reinforce the value of workers as stakeholders.
A stakeholder economy is a new economic system where business decisions benefit all people and the planet. A stakeholder economy empowers business leaders to make decisions that consider the impact they have on stakeholders equally with the financial value they create. To earn Best for the World recognition , B Corps must score in the top 5% in their corresponding size group in one of the five impact areas evaluated on the B Impact Assessment : community, customers, environment, governance, and workers. Best for the World companies are exemplifying ways to bring a stakeholder economy to life.
The Best for the World B Corps for workers are raising the bar with traditional and innovative approaches for compensation, benefits, and training and ownership opportunities. By offering interactive communications tools, flexible work options, well-being programs, and more, the six B Corps in the U.S. and Canada highlighted here are shaping sustainable, successful work environments.
Avenue
Oregon
People of Color-Owned, Women-Owned, Impact Business Model
Avenue is a marketing agency that models its practices around the philosophy that happy employees lead to quality work and happy clients. Avenue’s founders wanted to make this B Corp a place where they would like to work, so they provide benefits such as unlimited PTO and parental leave, professional development assistance, and stipends to help cover monthly expenses for mobile phone and wifi.
Avenue believes that putting employees first is essential to a successful workplace, and the B Corp Certification process helps identify where companies can enhance their impact on workers and other stakeholders. With a core value to “leave it better than you found it,” Avenue looks to build on its successes and to continue improving practices for the future.
Bluedog Design LLC
Illinois
Women-Owned
As a marketing and growth agency, Bluedog Design offers its team of “Bluedoggers” options designed to empower flexibility and career growth. As part of valuing people over profit, the B Corp offers two zero-cost health care options, gender-neutral parental leave, and an annual 3% retirement contribution regardless of employee contribution. Its retirement program includes five ESG-focused mutual funds so employees can invest in publicly held businesses with similar mindsets.
Through a biannual engagement survey built with the self-determination framework of autonomy, relatedness, and competence, Bluedog Design aligns company goals and strategy with workers’ desires during the survey analyses. Holistic life-skill training supports Bluedoggers’ growth. In the last year, Bluedog Design teams invested more than 10,000 hours supporting and growing individuals from onboarding through career development.
EnGen
Maryland
With a mission to increase work opportunities for individuals who do not speak English or have limited English skills, EnGen shares — and incorporates — best practices for including people who are immigrants, refugees, and speakers of other languages in career development and workplace-based learning programs. The B Corp practices the type of hiring and upskilling it promotes by hiring people with varying levels of work experience and English proficiency and giving them the opportunity to improve their language and career skills.
By recognizing that non-English speakers are an often-overlooked source of talent and are often ignored in diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, EnGen helps to create more inclusive and supportive workplaces.
Manoverboard
Manitoba
Building on twin pillars of collaboration and consultation, Manoverboard nurtures worker creativity and empowerment for its web development and content strategy work with change-seeking businesses, nonprofits, and educational institutions. By acknowledging that creative services firms are often fast-paced, bottom-line driven environments that foster burnout, Manoverboard consciously prioritizes worker well-being for the health of its business, as well as its local community and economy.
At Manoverboard, employees receive supplementary health and wellness benefits (over and above Canada’s universal health care), have at least 27 days off per year, can work flexible hours, receive paid or subsidized association memberships, and can easily access professional training and other learning opportunities. As a fully distributed workforce, the B Corp uses online collaboration and communications tools that help clients create positive social and environmental impact and give workers flexibility.
NewAge Industries
Pennsylvania
Worker-Owned
As a 100% employee-owned manufacturing company, NewAge Industries believes that workers deserve long-time rewards for their commitment. Following a recent transition to become an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 2019, NewAge serves as an advocate and resource for other companies considering a shift to employee ownership.
The ESOP helps NewAge create a workplace that recognizes employee successes, motivates and retains team members, and incorporates individual needs and goals for long-term business growth. Along with the ownership opportunity, workers have access to a discretionary bonus plan, paid volunteer time, and tuition reimbursement.
Preciate
Texas
Through its core interactive platform products, Preciate helps organizations improve relationships to build better business. It practices that internally by building a foundation of gratitude. The company’s weekly all-hands meeting includes a five-minute recognition party when all employees are encouraged to use the platform and share notes of appreciation for colleagues.
By enabling and encouraging all employees — from top to bottom — to participate in the recognition program, Preciate acts on its values and builds strong, authentic relationships. While company leaders help set the tone, they also realize that each team member plays a vital role in shaping workplace culture.
This article was originally published at https://usca.bcorporation.net. B The Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
