Impact Collective is the umbrella company that owns betternotstop and The Better Business Network.
Betternotstop is a sustainable impact and behaviour change agency which aims to help impact-driven businesses to implement strategies, policies and frameworks to increase their revenue, customer base and employee retention. It also works in the live events industry, helping to create sustainability policy and enact audience behaviour change.
The Better Business Network is a collective of purpose driven organisations. It has three pillars, Learning and Training, Connections and Networking, and Collective Action. We aim to instil these pillars on our members and help them to upskill, engage and make a positive impact through their businesses.
Impact Collective has been on a journey since May 2021 to improve the operations across both companies through Carbon Literacy Training and extend this value to all of our stakeholders. This has happened in three ways:
1. BEFORE
Prior to Carbon Literacy Training, social and environmental action was still important to us, however in many cases we were struggling to tangibly implement actions. Additionally, whilst important, there was a limited understanding across the team of some of the key climate jargon, what this meant for the business and how to integrate into daily operations. Carbon Literacy offered us an opportunity to provide all employees with a base level of understanding which we could then use to influence and positively impact our customers and clients.
2. DURING
Our director led the way, becoming Carbon Literate in May 2021. Following her training, she got everyone involved with trying to be more sustainable. This was followed by actively getting the whole company Carbon Literate. Over the course of the year, all employees took part in either virtual or in person training sessions. Following certification, we worked to implement the group actions within the company. One example of this has been the tracking of all travel emissions as a company. Some actions were easier to enact than others and many are still in process. We overcame these challenges by discussing during our strategy days and individually in our weekly meetings. As the last few employees complete their training we will integrate these actions into our operations.
3. AFTER
Since engaging with Carbon Literacy, there has been a wider understanding and greater push to take action on climate change from within the organisation. We even legally prioritised the environment in our operations becoming the fourth company in the world to add nature to our Board of Directors. Our staff have become more engaged with sustainability, each team member even has their Carbon Literacy Action reviewed quarterly during performance reviews.
We have a tracker for our actions on climate change, allowing us to tangibly see the difference we have made. This has included directly reducing our carbon footprint from travel as well as establishing the financial implications that remaining emissions have.
Across both businesses, our aim is to help other businesses to be in a better position to take action on climate. Through influence, communication and training, we have been able to stick to our core values and have the widest possible impact.
4.THE FUTURE
We have set up our own Carbon Literacy training as well as directly partnering with other organisations to upskill their staff and provide company wide training. We run bi-monthly carbon literacy courses to help train other businesses as well as our other stakeholders. We hope to continue this and get to the point where we have trained all members of our network.
