Certified B Corporations are for-profit companies that have been verified by B Lab after undergoing rigorous testing to ensure they meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Every year in March, B Lab and the global B Corp community join to celebrate what it means to be a B Corp and build awareness on the importance of creating a more sustainable and inclusive economy.
We proudly became a certified B Corporation in December 2020, joining over 3,500 companies using business as a force for good. This accreditation enables us to be more transparent with our stakeholders with the way we work, how the business is run and the ethics that support it, which is particularly important within the pharmaceutical industry.
Why is B Corp month important to us?
B Corp Month is a celebration of what it means to be B Corp and to help raise awareness to varying audiences on the importance of contributing towards changing the economic system for the better. This year’s theme, “We Go Beyond”, presents the global community of B Corps who “Go Beyond” business as usual. This was particularly important to us as we are passionate about inspiring the pharmaceutical and biotech industry to be more transparent and joining us in our journey towards initiating a better collaboration with our clients by ‘Going Beyond’ the status quo.
Arguably, there is a negative perception of CROs in the industry, which has been formed over decades of businesses operating on overworked, inexperienced employees with poor work-life balance who deliver subpar services. We’re committed to changing this view by redefining the modern CRO and the standards it meets. As of May 2022, only 87 companies in the health industry are B Corp certified (1.7% of B Corps) therefore, we are determined to inspire others in the industry to join us. B Corp further enhances our people-focused approach, which has subsequently helped us maintain our high retention rate (95%+) and a high standard of work.
What we’ve been up to
In 2020, we were certified with 92 points, having surpassed the 80 point threshold, and excelled in our work with our customers and workers. Whilst we were extremely pleased with the results, it also highlighted areas of improvement, which we strive to improve every day in our work. We have 5 pillars (“Hives”) that bring all corners of the business together to ensure we maintain continuous development. These pillars are broken down into: Governance, Environment, Customers, Workers and Community.
Download the report below to learn more about our impact so far.
The road ahead…
As a global, people focused CRO, our B Corp accreditation is not only a strategy, but rather a mindset we’ve adopted to strive for continuous improvement across all areas of our business. Our goal for 2023 is to score over 100 points and here are some of the initiatives we have already put in place to helps us achieve this:
Environment
- We have partnered with Earthly to become a Climate Positive business, offsetting 10% more carbon than we produce each year. As part of our global strategy, we’re currently in the process of offsetting our 2022 carbon footprint. Each year, our work with Earthly has made a tangible difference in projects around the globe, with our most recent projects in: Kenya, Madagascar, and the Amazon.
- For environment week this year, we’ll be hosting a competition to encourage our employees to make more environmentally friendly choices at home and work. This will also include a plant-based bake-off challenge!
Customers
- The Customers’ B Hive have created a new mandatory training session on Customer Service Fundamentals to ensure that the appropriate training is provided to all staff to understand the key fundamentals of excellent customer service and the importance of it. The B Hive have already delivered 2 out of 3 of the sessions and the customer survey is about to go out for the 3rd year.
Governance
- As we enter new markets, we are expanding globally with a B Corp mentality at board level, promoting greater transparency throughout the business.
Workers
- The workers’ B Hive evolved into the Culture Club, established in 2022, and has a number of employees focusing on different topics to raise awareness and provide training in areas that are key to maintaining our inclusive and welcoming culture, and celebrating our diversity and individuality.
- Neurodiversity: In the process of creating some educational and awareness training that will be rolled out to all employees.
- Diversity & Inclusion: Creating a DE&I training video that will become mandatory training to reinforce our commitment to celebrating diversity.
- ELT Q&A sessions: Quarterly meetings with representatives of the Executive Leadership Team which give employees the opportunity to ask questions in relation to Veramed to maintain our flat structure.
- Mental Health First Aiders: We now have 10 Mental Health First Aid Champions who are fully trained to provide immediate pastoral care and mental health support to employees in need of assistance.
- New Well-being focus group: Providing training, arranging activities and providing regular communications in a wide range of areas relating to both physical and mental well-being.
Community
- The Community Hive has started a volunteering initiative to help support local charities, with the aim to provide volunteering opportunities across all of our offices.
- The Schools Inspiration Programme provides employees with the opportunity to talk at local schools to encourage GCSE students to study Maths and STEM-based subjects in further education to show their current students how many STEM career opportunities are available to them.
Get in touch with Veramed today to discover how we are driving the change within the pharmaceutical industry here. For more details on our B Corp certification, click below:
