The work of a designer, developer and writer is never really done. There can always be one more tweak, one more little adjustment, one more phone call with a client, and just one more eentsy second guess. Creating a successful identity, interface, or story almost always takes more time than we anticipate. It’s part of the business of building things anew every single day.
The designers, developers and communicators at Manoverboard sweat this small stuff all of the time—during the day, over lunch and coffee, and in the middle of the night. Any given design, interface, or strategy is only done when we know it’s ready to rock and roll.
It’s why I’m so incredibly honoured to announce that we received the 2016 Best for the World award by B Lab today in the Workers category. The award means that Manoverboard scored in the top 10% of all Certified B Corporations in the world—about 1,800 of them—on the B Impact Assessment.
To be more exact, here is what B Lab, the nonprofit that certifies businesses and helps them “be the change” says:
The Workers portion of the B Impact Assessment assesses the company’s relationship with its workforce. It measures how the company treats its workers through compensation, benefits, training and ownership opportunities provided to workers. The category focuses on the overall work environment within the company through management/worker communication, job flexibility, corporate culture and worker health and safety practices. Honorees scoring in the top 10 percent set a gold standard for the high impact that business as a force for good can make on employees around the world.
We share this honour with 17 other companies throughout Canada. The criteria are tough.
For me, this particular award is not about Manoverboard or its management. It’s about the individual team members that make up the business and do the hard work of solving the communications challenges of our clients. In turn, our clients—Global Alliance for Children, HeartShare Human Services of New York, Women’s Enterprise Centre of Manitoba, International Institute of Sustainable Development and many others—can more easily do the hard work of preventing childhood poverty, helping those with disabilities, creating sustainable economies, and addressing climate change.
This award goes to the people who made up Manoverboard this past year, including Dan Lamb, Jory Kruspe, Robyn Kacperski, and Amanda Nicholls. I am very grateful to all of them for leading our clients to success, increasing their impact, and changing the way design is realized and recognized.