The pace of business can be unrelenting, can’t it? We’re all so busy dashing from one meeting to the next, worrying about the bank reconciliation to the next VAT payment, bending over backwards to do a great job on time and within budget for those all-important-customers, whilst balancing the need for sustainability of the business too. So, there’s often very little time to celebrate one’s achievements when they happen. All too soon they are past and we’re onto the next most demanding thing to-do. Well not this month! We’re taking the time to celebrate what the summer months have seen us and our members achieve. Firstly, from the ORB management team: ORB Chairman Jill Poet has been shortlisted for We are delighted to announce that our Chairman, Jill Poet, has been chosen as a finalist in the Business Woman of the Year Award. This ...

We're always really keen to feature any success that our ORB Members have in their business endeavours. So we were thrilled to hear that Jacqui Burke from Flourishing People, a business specialising in management, leadership and governance training, had been approached to write a book about her experiences in Early Years education business. Here she gives some tips on how you might approach writing a business-book to promote your business and/or your business approach: Responsible Reputation leads to business book publication: "In February of this year my book Building Your Early Years Business was published. Although the content of the book, which is quite sector specific, may not be of interest to most ORB members, I thought I would share with you some of my experience of writing it. First of all a word about how it came about. Many people I talk ...

It is so easy to be Responsible ORB believes that the best way to change the world is to look at the small-stuff. You know, the ‘toothpick’ sized changes that each and every business could make that would not only improve the business but also help the communities, the employees and the customers and the planet. Forget the large, grand gestures (well, okay, maybe don’t forget these entirely if you’re really up for doing something big!) and look to the minutiae, the quick wins and the simple improvements that don’t cost your business much to do, help you feel like you’re making good progress and which over time will add up to a big, big difference. Because if every business was mindful like this, then we’d all be making a big, big difference to our world. Here are just a few examples from the ORB ...

We’ve all been on the end of that phrase at some point or other in our lives, haven’t we? It’s usually delivered with an indifferent shrug of a rather cold-shoulder. I know that when I’ve had that said to me, or felt able to say it to somebody else, it has never felt great. I’m not being a ‘snowflake’ here though. I do get that the mechanism of business behaviour won’t have the same feeling of connection and personal impact as behaviours experienced in my friendships and family life. But I still don’t ‘get’ why, when business is conducted by people how it can be anything other than personal. Don’t we all bring ourselves, our personalities, our values into our work and business? But it is not as simple as that. It seems that there is a disconnect in our minds – that ...

Why the Responsible Business Workbook can really help your business The following article has been provided by Jo Shaer, Managing Director of Lollipop Local, a digital agency based in Southend-on-Sea. Jo was eager to share how the Responsible Business Workbook had benefited her company. Lollipop Local is a member of ORB (Organisation for Responsible Businesses) and Jo was also interested in applying for a Southend Business and Community Charter Award a robust award for businesses that support the local community. As part of the application process for this award, businesses are required to purchase the Responsible Business Workbook and go through a self-assessment process to ensure they are operating ethically, efficiently, and responsibly – which also means meeting legal requirements. The workbook is also the basis for the Responsible Business Standard, an auditable certification designed specifically for small businesses, but it can be ...