Sémawé: three certifications, one governance system

In Brief

Organization: Sémawé, Grenoble, France
Sector: coaching, training, facilitation, organizational transformation
Platform: Talkspirit I Module Structure used for 8 years
Certifications: Qualiopi (2020) · ISO 9001 (2023) · B Corp (2025)
Strength: first ISO 9001-certified holacracy organization in France

When organizational clarity speeds up certification processes

Seven people. Three demanding certifications. One foundation to bring everything together. With Talkspirit, our partner Sémawé has converted its dynamic governance into auditable evidence, without rigid paperwork, bureaucracy, or friction.

The challenge: proving quality without getting bogged down in processes

Sémawé is a Grenoble-based organization that supports other organizations in their managerial and organizational transformation. The team operates using a distributed governance system that clarifies who decides what and who does what through autonomous roles and circles.

When Sémawé aims for three certifications: Qualiopi for its training courses, ISO 9001 for its quality management system, and B Corp for its social and environmental impact, a paradox arises: how can it satisfy standards that require documented processes, explicit responsibilities, and proof of governance without falling back into static, procedural documentation, which runs counter to the agility that underpins its operations?

The answer lay in a tool that was already central to everyday life.

"We showed the auditors what we were already doing every day at Talkspirit. Shared governance wasn't a side project: it was integrated into how we operated."
— Sarah Dantz, Partner and Holacracy Coach, Head of Certifications

The approach: shared governance that creates a quality system

With Talkspirit's Structure module, Sémawé structured the organization into roles, circles, decision-making authorities, processes, tactical meetings, and governance meetings.

This governance is dynamic: it evolves continuously through governance meetings and asynchronous organizational development proposals. Every change is tracked, time-stamped, accessible to the entire team, and even to the public, as Sémawé's governance can be viewed online.

What Talkspirit has made possible:

Qualiopi: a training organization structured around roles

The training management process is explained in the governance via Talkspirit: roles of trainer, certification, disability advisor, educational consistency, etc., each with clear responsibilities. A specific nomenclature makes it possible to identify the requirements for maintaining Qualiopi certification in the governance. This ensures that these requirements are not removed from the governance over time. When a recurring need arises, it is integrated into governance rather than added to a separate document.

The team also advocates a subtractive approach: avoiding overspecification. Overly detailed roles are simplified, and certain procedures remain documented in a shared space in order to maintain simple and clear governance. The goal is clarity, without procedural inflation.

ISO 9001: a living map of processes

ISO 9001 requires process mapping, clear responsibilities, and a system for continuous improvement. In most organizations, this translates into voluminous documentation that quickly becomes obsolete.

Sémawé takes the opposite approach: in Talkspirit, mapping roles and circles is equivalent to mapping processes. Each role has a purpose, responsibilities (explicit duties), and decision-making authority. Circles function as "SME serving one another.

Result: during the audit, the team simply shares the link to its governance policy.

"The auditor found our approach both innovative and intelligent. Quality was fully integrated into our daily work. He didn't see an organization that produces documents on the day of the audit: he saw a living system."

B Corp: transparency in governance as proof

B Corp evaluates five pillars: governance, employees, community, environment, and customers. For Sémawé, Talkspirit had a particularly strong impact on two of these pillars.

• Governance: the platform makes visible the distribution of authority, the purpose of each role and each circle, and the participatory decision-making processes. "Meaning" is not just a slogan: it is reflected operationally in the roles.
  
  
• Employees (Sémawé's strongest pillar): the role structure illustrates access to responsibilities without a traditional hierarchy. Employees can take on or leave a role without going through the codes of "promotion" or "demotion."
  

Another key point: each client support service is structured around a dedicated circle, with a role representing the client invited to participate in governance. This level of transparency is rare in consulting!

Results that speak for themselves

Certifications

• Qualiopi: obtained in 2020 — renewed without non-compliance.
• ISO 9001: 2015, 9 months (from decision to certification) — zero non-compliance, first ISO 9001-certified holacracy organization in France.
• B Corp: certified in April 2025 — overall score: 89.5.

Detailed B Corp Score

• Governance: 14.7 — purpose defined in roles, documented authorities, public governance.
• Employees: 57.9 — flexible role structure, access to responsibilities, autonomous initiative, "Worker Owned" bonus.
• Community: 9.8 — dedicated circles per client with guest client role.
  
• Customers: 4.5 — transparency through public governance, customer integration into circles.
  

Operating income

• Documentation time (ISO 9001): 30% estimated time saved compared to static documentation.
• Usage rate: approximately 80% of the team uses Talkspirit daily.
• Alignment meetings: reduced by half thanks to asynchronous communication; synchronous communication is reserved for complex topics.
• Asynchronous governance: proposals dealt with on an ad hoc basis, without mobilizing the entire team.
• Onboarding new employees: quickly understand who does what thanks to the search engine and role views.
  

Living proof: public governance

The distinguishing feature of this case study in one sentence: the evidence is accessible at the click of a button. Sémawé's entire governance structure is public. Auditors, customers, partners, and prospects can view the organization's structure, roles, role holders, and distributed authorities in real time. This is not a snapshot: it is an evolving system, updated at every governance meeting.

This transparency impressed the ISO auditors and contributed to the B Corp score on the Governance pillar.

Talkspirit as a certification infrastructure

Sémawé's experience reveals a counterintuitive idea: certification is not primarily a documentation project, but a project of organizational clarity.

Organizations that struggle with certification do not necessarily lack processes; they lack clarity about who does what and why. They produce documentation that does not reflect reality, then prepare their evidence when the auditor arrives, instead of showing it.

Talkspirit tackles the problem at its root by aligning three layers:

• The structure: roles, circles, authorities, documented processes in governance
• Collaboration: coordinated execution, tactical meetings, role-related projects
• Communication: structured information, asynchronous sharing, reduction of unnecessary meetings

When these three layers converge, certification becomes a confirmation of what already exists, rather than an additional effort.

What this means for your organization

• Already B Corp certified: if your governance relies on static files, spreadsheets, or collective memory, Talkspirit transforms evidence into maintainable reality that is easier to update and more robust to present for renewal.
  
  
• In preparation for B Corp certification: governance, transparency, and stakeholder involvement requirements are no longer just boxes to tick; they are becoming standard operating procedures, particularly in terms of governance and employees.
  
  
• ISO 9001 objective: the example of Sémawé shows that structured governance can serve as a quality management system, with a successful audit on the first attempt, without additional paperwork.
  
  
• Qualiopi training organization: structuring roles and continuous improvement in governance facilitate the maintenance of certification over time.

What the Sémawé team says

" For me, the essential features are the search engine and the views that allow you to quickly find out who does what and who makes the decisions. This increases everyone's autonomy and efficiency. And asynchronous governance is irreplaceable: it allows you to keep documentation up to date, as close as possible to the reality of the organization. "

" The technology platform is an operational system that helps embed habits and rituals, maintain clarity, and support organizational evolution."