BEST FOR NYC |
PATHWAY TO
CHANGEMAKER
HOW IS BEING A BEST FOR NYC CHANGEMAKER DIFFERENT
FROM BEING A BEST FOR NYC PARTICIPATING COMPANY?
A Changemaker is a business who has taken action to improve job quality for New Yorkers
through their own business. A Changemaker has taken the Best for NYC Challenge, taken a
pledge to improve one business practice at their company, and fulfilled their pledge by making
a change to their business practices that positively impacts employees at the company.
A Best for NYC Participant has completed the Challenge and taken a pledge, but has not yet
fulfilled that pledge by making a change to the company's practices.
BECOMING A BEST FOR NYC CHANGEMAKER
TAKING A BEST FOR NYC PLEDGE
After you complete the Best for NYC Challenge, you will see a list of pledges. These pledges are
opportunities for you and your company to commit to improving upon one of your business practices.
By taking a pledge, you are narrowing in on one area of improvement you can focus on for the next
few months, and once you fulfill your pledge you'll have taken an action to improve the job quality
available for New Yorkers through your business.
FULFILLING YOUR BEST FOR NYC PLEDGE
Your pledge is fulfilled by:
1 Creating a new policy, or increasing the benefits or training opportunities for employees (make sure
the relevant people approve this!).
2 Implementing the new policy and/or increase in benefits or training provided to employees.
3 Tracking the change through your answer(s) to the corresponding question(s) in the Challenge.
4 Making sure the change(s) you've made to your answers in the Challenge allows you to progress to
at least the next highest answer option to the question(s) that corresponds to your pledge.
More details about this process are on the following page... 1
HOW TO BECOME A BEST FOR NYC
CHANGEMAKER
STEP 1 | TAKE A BEST FOR NYC PLEDGE
Complete the Best for NYC Challenge, and select one business practice you will commit to improving
upon from the list of Best for NYC pledges found at the end of the assessment. If no pledges are
applicable to your company, choose one that will be relevant to you at some point in the future.
STEP 2 | IMPROVE ONE BUSINESS PRACTICE
Fulfilling your pledge may look like creating a new official policy, or just expanding a current policy at
your company. You may need to create an improvement plan, schedule meetings with the appropriate
decision-makers at your company, or calculate the up-front costs versus long-term savings for
the pledge you have selected.
There are resources offered at bestfor.nyc/resouces, as well as implementation tools and examples
listed at the top of each question in the Challenge to help you make your desired change. See page 7 of
this guide for more details about some resources offered to support you in making a positive change.
STEP 3 | TRACK YOUR PROGRESS
After you've added or expanded a policy or business practice at your company, go back to the question
in your assessment that matches the pledge you've taken. There is a guide showing which questions
match up with each pledge on the following page. Once you have found the right question, update your
answer to that question to reflect the new change that you've made at your company.
STEP 4 | DOCUMENT YOUR CHANGE
Document the change(s) you have made by downloading and filling in a documentation template from
the list on pages 5 and 6 of this guide. Select the template that matches the change you've made!
STEP 5 | MAKE IT OFFICIAL
HERE'S HOW:
The last step is to get your progress verified. Here's how:
Click THIS LINK to generate an email that will be sent to the Best for NYC review team at B Lab.
Complete the email template, attach your filled-in documentation template(s) to the email, and send.
B Lab will review your change, confirm your submission, and notify you if a call will be needed.
Once your progress has been verified by B Lab, you have reached Changemaker status!
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RESOURCES
PLEDGE QUESTIONS
Use this section to find the questions in the Best for NYC Challenge that correspond to the pledge your
company took.
Your company completes its pledge when your answer to the question that corresponds to your pledge
has moved to the next highest answer bucket. The questions that relate to each pledge are below:
PLEDGE CORRESPONDING QUESTIONS
Section of the Challenge: Benefits
I pledge to offer my
employees financial 1. Does the company provide any of the following financial
products or services that help to meet urgent needs of
empowerment employees, discourage predatory lending and/or facilitate
services. savings?
Section of the Challenge: Training
1. What % of full-time workers have participated in external
professional development opportunities or lifelong learning
opportunities (paid for in advance, reimbursed or subsidized by
I pledge to provide the Company) to enhance performance skills in the past fiscal
training to promote year?
professional
2. Excluding newly hired workers, what % of full-time and part-time
advancement for my workers received the following types of formal training during the last
employees (beyond 12 months?
Skills-based training on cross-job functions (i.e. training
core job training
beyond regular job responsibilities, e.g. public speaking
and/or on-boarding). training or management training for non-managers)
3. Excluding newly hired workers, what % of full-time and part-time
workers received the following types of formal training during the last
12 months?
Training on life skills for personal development (i.e. literacy,
personal financial planning, etc.)
3
RESOURCES
PLEDGE QUESTIONS
PLEDGE CORRESPONDING QUESTIONS
Section of the Challenge: Benefits
1. What is the annual minimum number of paid days off (including
holidays) for full-time employees?
I pledge to
provide/expand 2. What is the minimum number of weeks tenured hourly/salaried workers
receive paid primary caregiver leave, either through the company or the
paid time off or
government?
paid family leave
to my employees. 3. What is the minimum number of days of paid paternity leave offered
to full-time tenured workers (tenured defined as with the
company for 1+ years or life of the company)?
4. Does your company provide paid leave to care for a seriously ill family
member? If so, how many days does the company offer?
I pledge to hire job Section of the Challenge: Hiring
seekers who face
barriers to employment 1. Does your company intentionally hire people with barriers
to employment?
or who are placed
through a workforce
development program.
I pledge to consistently Section of the Challenge: Hiring
promote entry-level or
1. What % of positions above entry level have been filled with
hourly workers internally internal candidates in the last 12 months?
as jobs become available.
4
RESOURCES
DOCUMENTATION
Use this section to find the documentation that corresponds with the question you will be getting verified. Download and
fill in the documentation template for each improvement you've made at your company. You will need to submit the
completed template for your review call to get your change officially verified with the team at B Lab.
QUESTION DOCUMENTATION
Pledge: Providing financial empowerment services to employees.
1. Does the company provide any of the following financial
Documentation Template for
products or services that help to meet urgent needs of
Financial Empowerment Services
employees, discourage predatory lending and/or facilitate
savings?
Pledge: Providing training to promote employee advancement.
1. What % of full-time workers have participated in
external professional development opportunities or Documentation Template
lifelong learning opportunities (paid for in advance, for Professional Development
reimbursed or subsidized by the Company) to enhance Opportunities
performance skills in the past fiscal year?
2. Excluding newly hired workers, what % of full-time and
Documentation Template
part-time workers received skills-based training for
for Increased Skills-Based Training
core job responsibilities during the last 12 months?
3. Excluding newly hired workers, what % of full-time and
Documentation Template
part-time workers received skills-based training on
for Increased Cross-Job Training
cross-job functions during the last 12 months?
5
RESOURCES
DOCUMENTATION
QUESTION DOCUMENTATION
Pledge: Providing or expanding paid family leave or paid time off to employees.
1. What is the annual minimum number of paid days off Documentation Template
(including holidays) for full-time employees? for Paid Time Off
2. What is the minimum number of weeks tenured
Documentation Template
hourly/salaried workers receive paid primary caregiver
for Primary Caregiver Leave
leave, either through the company or the government?
3. What is the minimum number of days of paid paternity leave
Documentation Template
offered to full-time tenured workers (tenured defined as
for Secondary Caregiver Leave
with the company for 1+ years or life of the company)?
4. Does your company provide paid leave to care for a seriously ill Documentation Template
family member? If so, how many days does the company offer? for Paid Family Leave
Pledge: Hiring job seekers from populations that face barriers to employment.
1. Does your company intentionally hire people with barriers to Documentation Template
employment? for Intentional Hiring Program
Pledge: Promoting internally as new positions become available.
1. What % of positions above entry level have been filled Documentation Template
with internal candidates in the last 12 months? for Internal Promotion
6
RESOURCES
ONLINE TOOLS
Use these tools to help you keep track of the questions you want to focus on improving your answer to, and to
craft plans for making changes to your business practices.
TOOL USE THIS TOOL TO:
The following resources are found at the top of each question in the Best
ASSESSMENT for NYC Challenge:
TOOLS Explain This, Show Example, and In Practice links will provide
examples and tools to help you learn more about the business
practice mentioned in the question
What: Tips and Examples
Star and marker icons allow you to add the question to a compiled
Where: Within each question in the Best
list of questions you want to return to later (the questions compile
for NYC Challenge
into the two reports described below)
The following reports are generated lists of questions for you to return to
AUTO- later and keep in one place:
GENERATED Improvement Report: Compiled list of all of the questions you
REPORTS marked with the star icon
What: Online reports Revisit Report: Compiled list of all of the questions you marked
with the marker icon
Where: Best for NYC Challenge
Dashboard
The Impact Planner is an Excel workbook designed to help you:
IMPACT
PLANNER
Make a plan for each business practice you want to improve
Assign due dates, team members to involve, and milestones
What: Excel Workbook
Track which questions you are working to improve your answers
Where: Best for NYC Website
to so that you can fulfill your Best for NYC pledge
7
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE BENEFITS
USE YOUR CHANGEMAKER STATUS TO GAIN
STAY IN THE CITYWIDE RECOGNITION FOR YOUR COMPANY.
LOOP ON THE
LATEST IN Businesses receive a Best for
BEST FOR NYC Changemaker logo after having
NYC... GET their positive change verified. Use it
NOTICED to promote your company's local
leadership within the values-driven
business community.
CONNECT WITH
THE COMMUNITY
bestfor.nyc
GET Businesses are eligible for deeper marketing
@BestforNYC opportunities through citywide channels if they
FEATURED
attain Changemaker status.
READ THE
STORIES FROM
BUSINESSES LIKE Businesses become listed in the online Best for
YOU GET NYC Business Directory after completing the
Challenge, and receive the special designation
Visit: LISTED of "Changemaker" status if they fulfill their Best
www.medium.com/
for NYC pledge.
best-for-nyc
QUESTIONS?
LEAD A CITYWIDE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE
Email: USING BUSINESS AS A FORCE FOR GOOD.
bestforverification@
BECOME A BEST FOR NYC
bcorporation.net
CHANGEMAKER.
