This post was originally featured on Melissa Schweyer’s blog.
As of this writing, there are exactly 1,836 certified B Corporations in the world today—stretching across 50 countries and 130 industries.
While the B Corp movement scales towards a tipping point of popularity and growth—its wide reach across industry is quite impressive. With that being said, it’s arguable that sectors such as Marketing & Communications, Education & Training Services as well as Food & Beverage (to name a few) heavily outweigh its counterpart industries in B Corporation certification.
I had the opportunity to catch up with a company that falls within the unique minority of underrepresented industry within the B Corp community. Simon Kent, lawyer and founder of Kent Employment Law and I had the chance to chat about his B Corp and what makes it different from most.
With about only 35 certified B Corporations in the legal industry, Kent Employment Law stands as the solo legal sector B Corp company in Canada. But they’re not happy about this: Kent Employment Law hopes their move on the B Corporation certification path will help turn heads in the sector, influencing others to follow in their footsteps.
Simon Kent: “One of the best things about being a B Corporation is the fact that we’re all doing more than just making money. We’re building a sense of community.”
Before becoming B Corp certified, Kent Employment Law knew they wanted to better align their strong feelings towards the importance of sustainability with their law firm. And after working with a business coach, they soon realized that B Corp certification was the route for them.
Simon Kent: “The assessment process is extremely valuable.”
Kent Employment Law began aligning B Corporation values into each and every single aspect of their company. This lead to further innovations and improvements for their clients, such as calmer and more inviting atmospheres, increased access to shareable content and information, new opportunities for cost-effective solutions as well as a strengthened element of “human”—advances desperately needed within the legal sector.
Beyond this, the law firm takes a unique and holistic approach to employment law, providing expertise to both employee stakeholders as well as companies. Expertise and legal advice range from issues relating to workplace dismissal to corporate culture.
Their B Corp status isn’t just helping their community and clients, but it’s also had a positive impact on staff at the law firm. Not only are social functions and employee giving opportunities increasing morale—but senior staff are also finding it much easier to recruit like-minded employees.
Simon Kent: “Our B Corporation certification speaks to the personality of our firm. It’s a great recruitment tool.”
They’re hoping the steps they’ve made as trailblazers in Canada will set the ball in motion for other law firms in the country. It’s not always easy being the first to make a major leap towards a certification that no one else has.
Time will tell if this trailblazer’s initiatives will help spark a movement within the Canadian law sector. With a demand to lessen the blow of all of the social and environmental issues we face today, more companies—from various industries—will need to step-up as purpose-driven companies if we hope to make a lasting impact.
We would like to thank Melissa for featuring our journey to becoming a Certified BCorp on her blog! View the original post here.
