The Road Less Travelled: Navigating our Way to B Corp™
By Kristin Stroebel, Managing Director, Human Resources
When I was first pitched the idea of this “new project” in October of 2021, I really had never heard of B Corp. I immediately started to Google and look up what other companies were B Corp, beginning to understand what it meant for Trampoline to go for this. We knew we needed more structure to our work process, from determining industries to serve to how to fully embody inclusivity and be a force for good—I knew the process would be intense, as there was no way you could achieve something as impactful as this if it were not.
So what is a B Corp™?
B Corps are for profit companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. —B Lab*
Over the next 6 months, we worked on the assessment of over 200 questions. The partners and I would meet weekly to tackle a new section and leave others that needed more time and thought to answer. This was the first look we had into the Certification process, and we pushed forward until we answered each question the best that we could. We were uncertain we would achieve Certification, but we knew the process would challenge us to improve.
After passing the initial assessment, we entered the verification phase and were assigned an analyst; we did a lot of back and forth to answer questions, supporting what we had provided. This included written explanations, data provided on Excel sheets, and formal documentation as backup for each of our answers.
This part of the process, which took just under a year to complete, often felt overwhelming, but it also gave me the biggest rush of motivation to keep checking items off our list and keep moving on to the next task.
More than anything, it provided a sense of pride, finding how much we really do for our staff, our community, our environment, and our clients.
Along with this sense of pride, I became even more determined to find different ways to improve, thinking outside the box to make Trampoline have a bigger impact.
Finally, in late May 2023, we received word that we had successfully completed the verification process. After 18 months of work, I breathed a deep sigh of relief as I waited with excitement to receive final word that we did it. I pictured how it would feel to get that official notification and when it arrived, I reveled in a calm celebration of relief and pride... not quite the screaming and jumping up and down as I had imagined.
This entire effort has been nothing short of amazing— the Certification process challenged us to improve. A focus on our people is a constant motivator for creating a safe, inclusive, and engaging environment.
We are always working to improve our staff’s experience and we find inspiration in being family-first and community-minded. It is our goal to offer company benefits that nurture our people and our energy, both individually and as a team.
I am so proud to have been able to take the process over the finish line and be a part of growing the future of Trampoline as a Certified B Corp, striving to do better, be better, and be a force for good for our community, our team, and our clients.
Trampoline achieved B Corp™ Certification in June of 2023 after almost two years of a thorough evaluation process, joining over 6,900 companies throughout 90+ countries in a commitment to become better kinds of businesses. To learn more about what it means to be B Corp Certified, click on the button below 👇 .
*content from bcorporation.net
