Our year in a nutshell
Welcome to our annual impact report! As the year ended we have finally decided to take an opportunity to look back at 2021 and share what happened. Despite the continued corona measures, we managed to have a great year, so read all about our highlights, our achievements, what we are proud to be a part of, our B Corp scores, subjects that stood out and ways we share our knowledge. We will also dive into our future goals and what we can still do to improve.
2021 highlights
Moving to Edge Olympic
5 new trainees on board
B Corp Coalition Amsterdam
Recertification
BR-ND Post
Physical sessions with clients again
Becoming a part of B Corp Way
B corp scores
We definitely need to start by mentioning that we did our recertification as a B Corp (yeeeey), and could not be more excited. As this part can become a bit tedious, we will make it as short as possible. Promise! So, the BIA assessment includes 5 points: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers.
We will start with governance (score: 19.5). This is about our company's mission, engagement around our social/environmental impact, ethics, and transparency. It also includes our ability to protect our mission and consider external partners in decision making.
Our mission is the most important thing about governance and we live by it every day. Our mission is to create brands that contribute to the well-being of people. Happy, engaged people make positive cultures and attractive brands. We believe purposeful organisations can solve the challenges of the 21st century.
The second and a very important point is workers (16.2). This refers to a company's contributions to its employees' financial security, health and safety, wellness, career development, and engagement and satisfaction.
At BR-ND People everyone is treated as equal and everyone matters. We love our employees and want to make their lives and work as enjoyable as possible. So they receive many different benefits, e.g., travel compensation, paid lunch etc. And since we also care for education and widening knowledge, there is a budget allocated for external professional development opportunities. As part of workers' well-being we also make sure that everyone has an opportunity to exercise and use the office's sports facility. Even during office hours!!! We also want to share our knowledge, so years ago we decided to take a minimum of 2 trainees per year. Recently this number has increased to 4!
As we always want to make our employees feel comfortable and accepted, we also decided to create an employee handbook. This is one of our goals for next year.
And what is a company without its community (27.8). This brings us to our third point which evaluates a company’s engagement with and impact on the communities in which it operates, hires from, and sources from.
We have diverse leadership, as the ownership of BR-ND People is owned by a man and a woman. We also have diversity in terms of nationality and are inclusive to work with everyone. Last year, one of the owners Kim Cramer also became a member of the Board of Supervisors: Natuur en Milieu. We said it many times, but we couldn’t be prouder!
Moreover, we try to give back to the community. For example, we have a formal statement on the intended social or environmental impact of our company's philanthropy, as well as a formal donations commitment.
Covid times also brought some challenges, however, we saw that as an opportunity to create a game focused on diversity, inclusion, and equality. Together with some other B Corps and Challenge Day Nederlands we created an Amsterdam Coalition, and started creating a Reality Crash game. The game development is in its final stages, so we are setting ourselves a marketing goal for the upcoming year, that is to market the Reality Crash game.
The fourth point includes the environment (9.2). This evaluates a company’s overall environmental management practices as well as its impact on the air, climate, water, land, and biodiversity.
In 2021, we moved to Edge Workspaces in Amsterdam, which is considered one of the most sustainable buildings in Europe.
Additionally, we try to be conscious about our waste, water and energy production, but, we still did not come around to track this. We also use sustainable products and materials when selecting gifts. Moreover, 90% of our suppliers are local. And as a goal we would also like to start producing 23plusone boxes locally.
Our last BIA assessment point is customers (13.3). This section recognises products or services designed to address a particular social problem that improves the social impact of other businesses or organisations.
We have 23plusone method and cards as a product that addresses a social problem for our customers. We use emotive drives to help organisations maximise their impact by involving and engaging co-workers in branding and culture development. This results in happy and positive workers as well as happy customers of our customers.
As a goal we would like to improve impact evaluation for clients.
Subjects that stood out last year
There are some topics that really stood out last year and became a lot more present in our lives. These are:
Diversity and inclusion → We are closely included in creating a diversity and inclusion game with some other B Corp organisations and Challenge Day. We have been a part of the game team and coalition for 2 years now and are in the final stages of the game development. With the game we hope to raise awareness about diversity and inclusion starting in workplaces.
Research/education → We started checking our 23plusone cards. More specifically, what the pictures on the cards represent and if they are diverse enough. We are checking this through research which is in its final stages. Moreover, we are closely connected to some higher education institutions where we give training about the 23plusone method and share our knowledge. We are working with our knowledge partner of HU on how to accelerate the energy transition adoption in the Netherlands, what are the hot buttons to press for people to adopt the new energy systems, where’s the resistance based on and what to do about it.
Commitment to be Net Zero by 2030 → we are making steps, such as moving to Edge Workspaces, getting rid of a company car, and one of the founders moved to carbine neutral house.
Of course, we have some platforms where we can share these topics important to us. These are:
Seasonal schools → In 2021 we organised 4 seasonal schools and 1 advanced class where we shared our 23plusone method. Despite covid-19 we managed to organise them physically.
White papers → So far we have published 5 white papers. With them, we try to sharpen people's brains and widen their knowledge. The topics of the white papers vary, however, they always include things that are important to us. So far we have published: Inclusive, Brand Portfolio, Building next better, Positive Culture, and Beyond purpose.
BR-ND Post → In the last year we published 2 BR-ND Posts.
Guest blog publication → In the spirit of sharing = caring we wrote articles for blogs and magazines.
Clients
In 2021, we worked with some positive impact and purpose clients. Without their collaboration we couldn’t have made the impact that we did made, so here is a little about our friends!
TNO is a research organisation working on creating a safe, healthy, sustainable, and digitally connected society. Together we created a new brand book with a new strategic plan for 2022-2025, where TNO took up a pro-active position as an orchestrator of change.
Circle Economy is an impact organisation that accelerates circularity. We created a new brand book capturing the spirit and strategy of the organisation.
Kinderpostzegels is a foundation that is giving children opportunities for a better future. We have been supporting them since mid 2021 with aligning its purpose, theory of change and operational strategies with branding strategy.
The Dierenbescherming wants to create a world where the interests of animals are taken into account in the thinking and actions of humans. We helped them to create an attractive brand story that differentiates Dierenbescherming from other players in the field.
Quinso is a boutique consultancy which specialises in sustainable supply chain solutions. BR-ND People is supporting Quinso with the alignment of its growth strategy, creation of an appealing brand, and evolution of a positive culture.