Dovetail is now a Certified B Corporation
By Georgia Parslow and Adrian Field
Joining an international group of fellow travellers
We are thrilled to share a pivotal moment for Dovetail: we’re now a Certified B Corporation. As a B Corp, we’re part of a global community of businesses that meet high standards of social and environmental impact. This is a key step for us along our path toward contributing to a more sustainable and equitable future.
This milestone has been almost three years in the making and is a tangible demonstration of our commitment to our social and environmental goals. In an industry where business often hinges on a profit margin to the detriment of all else, we wanted to become a B Corp as evidence of our pledge to value purpose alongside profit and sustainability as part of our success. We are pleased to join a global movement of organisations - including neighbouring businesses who have inspired us – Crank and Brightly – who are dedicated to using their business as a force for good.
Time well spent developing and improving our policies to prepare for verification.
Engaging in the process to become a B Corp has been intensive yet valuable, allowing us to understand the policies, processes and systems we needed in place (and well documented) to determine what makes an ethical and sustainable business.
To receive B Corp accreditation, businesses must undergo a rigorous assessment of their social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Dovetail met the stringent criteria set by the non-profit B Lab by providing evidence of how we operate and how we consider our impact on our employees, communities, and environment in everything we do.
Assessment – we underwent a B impact assessment to evaluate and measure our environmental impact across a wide range of areas including employee benefits, sustainable environmental practices, our investment in our communities and more.
Scoring – we were given a performance score of 111.9 out of a possible 200 for our last fiscal year, well above the 80-point certification requirement.
Verification – We provided documentation and company data to support the claims we made in our assessment to prove we weren’t just talking the talk.
Certification – we are one of New Zealand's first research and evaluation consultancies to receive B Corp certification and will undergo an assessment every three years to maintain this privilege.
How did we do?
This process has made it clear to us how much we have to be proud of already.
Across each of the five B impact areas, our greatest impact is with our customers. This fully aligns with why Dovetail was established – to help purpose-driven organisations understand, improve and grow their impact in communities.
81% of our revenue last year was generated from organisations with a social purpose.
65% of our revenue last year was generated through work that had a direct impact on populations that are traditionally marginalised or under-served. Remaining work sought to benefit the general population across all demographic groups.
We also possess strong governance structures and ethical employment practices, including the following:
Dovetail is 100% locally owned and operated by our core team in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), Aotearoa New Zealand
We are a living wage employer with a range of employee benefits
More than half of our contractor network are independent female or female-led consulting companies, or Māori/Pasifika-owned.
Our community is important to us, and although we commit at least 1% of revenue each year to various organisations, this rose to well over 2% of total revenue last year which was dedicated to community investments, mainly in the form of pro bono work with some direct financial support as well.
Like most businesses, particularly in the consulting services industry, there is always room for improvement. Our environmental footprint remains somewhat unknown, and we are exploring environmental assessment tools and reduction targets to monitor and reduce our energy usage and emissions.
We look forward to reporting our progress on our social and environmental goals on our B Corp journey.
With thanks to our team members who led this work. Our journey to becoming a B Corp has been a success, totalling many hours of developing, documenting, and justifying our social and environmental practices – we have spreadsheets upon spreadsheets to prove it!
If you would like to find out more about becoming a B Corporation, reach out to us for a chat.
