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Over 100 team members from Otonomee joined Hilary O’Shea, Co-Founder and Chief Corporate Officer, of Otomomee and James McManus, Founder of Earth's Edge and the Director at B Lab Ireland for a working session on Wednesday March 26th last.
McManus is the founder of Earth’s Edge, an adventure travel company. They run high altitude tracks and mountaineering expeditions in South America, East Africa and Asia, and have always had a strong sustainability focus.
When he started the company back in 2007, he wrote their own responsible travel policy. Since then they’ve been constantly trying to improve and benchmark themselves in terms of sustainability.
“I learned about the ethos of the B Corp movement and what it is all about and just immediately I fell in love with it because, as an entrepreneur, I believe that business has such a huge role to play in addressing major climate and social issues that we have in the world. So I thought that using that energy, married to the innovation and entrepreneurial nature of business leaders working together as a collective to address major issues was so exciting.”
McManus is also the Director at B Lab Ireland. B Lab Ireland was founded in 2023 to oversee the growth of the B Corp movement in Ireland. They are part of an international nonprofit network that creates economic systems change through standards, policies, tools, and programs, and certifies companies—known as B Corps—who are leading the way.
Globally, there are now over 9,000 B Corps employing almost 1 million people in 100+ countries. Ireland has over 50 B Corps (including Otonomee), with many more in the certification process and 500+ businesses actively utilizing B Lab’s impact measurement tools in the past 12 months.
McManus went on to describe the shifting business models for B Corp accredited companies like Otonomee, where the focus shifts from Shareholder value (Exclusive, Short-Term, Extractive) to Stakeholder Value (Inclusive, Long-Term and Regenerative).
He concluded the session with a Q&A - with the following representing a flavour of some of the questions from the wider Otonomee team:
1. How does the remote first company differ from traditional companies in terms of B Corps?
“We're changing to the new standards very soon, which will account for remote working teams and different company structures in a much easier way. The values of the B Corp movement to be impact assessment are the same.” James McManus
2. What do you think are the main difficulties companies have in achieving B Corp certification?
“The first thing is you need very strong leadership in a company. You need the leaders of the business to have the vision that this is the right thing to do and it makes sense for their business.” James McManus
3. What value does B Corp bring to a business?
“We run Otonomee to the highest standards of social, environmental, governance, and transparency that we can. So it holds us as leaders to a standard. I think it also holds all of us as employees.” Hilary O’Shea
“We did a study in the UK recently that found that the B Corp community there had an average staff attrition rate of 8%. So say 8% of their workforce were leaving every year, and that compares to the wider UK business community of 16%. So they're keeping employees at double the rate.” James McManus
Summary
Judging by the interest from the wider Otonomee team, it is clear that the culture and values are very much aligned with the wider B Corp movement.
It was also very evident that the benefits of B Corp are wide ranging, not least in terms of trust (be that with suppliers or working with clients) but also in attracting and retaining top talent.
About B Corp
Certified B Corporations are leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. A B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.
About Earth’s Edge
Earth’s Edge offers high altitude trekking, mountaineering, and tri-adventure expeditions in some of the most stunning locations in the world. They are the only company in the world who have an expedition leader and doctor on all expeditions while keeping group sizes sustainably small. As a travel company they’ve always held their responsibility to the planet and their communities to such a high regard, and solidified their commitment as a business to being a force for good in January 2021 when we became a certified B Corporation.
About Otonomee
Otonomee is a Customer Management Outsourcing business that delivers scalable, tech-driven, people-focused solutions.
Leveraging a remote-first operating model, Otonomee optimizes customer interactions, reduces costs, and increases efficiency. The focus on remote work, automation, and data-driven insights positions Otonomee as a next-generation partner for leading brands and scaling companies.
Founded in 2020 by Aidan and Hilary O’Shea, to disrupt the traditional “big city, big building” BPO model - Otonomee offers a nimble, bespoke service that is not constrained by contact center capacity. The fast, flexible service can ramp up anywhere, in response to market needs and can rapidly respond to seasonal or product-driven demands.
In 4 years, Otonomee has grown to over 350 employees (23 nationalities) in Europe, USA & Asia. Clients include leading Irish and major US Tech & E-Commerce Customers, with complex global market needs, who value premium support for customers and clients. Otonomee has been a B Corp since Sept 2023.
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