Social Value is now firmly on the agenda. The UK Government launched a new Policy, categorising Social Value into 5 themes which, from early 2021, have been built into all Government procurement. CIPS talks about public sector procurement “Looking beyond the price of each contract at what the collective benefit to a community is”.
The 5 themes are:
· Covid Recovery
· Tackling Economic Inequality
· Fighting Climate Change
· Equal Opportunity
· Wellbeing
These themes are all individually important, but I want to talk more broadly about approach, thinking, attitude and behaviour. Because for me, this is about culture.
To discover where your approach to Social Value is ask yourself where each theme sits in the hierarchy of strategic and operational thinking?
When approaching a Government bid, do you consider Social Value a ‘box-ticking’ compliance exercise, or think more about the opportunities the bid gives to achieve tangible policy outcomes?
The reality is that by now it’s probably a bit of both. But the tide is changing quickly. A year ago it may have been enough to “wrap what you are already doing in a Social Value context”, as someone put it. Now, however, Government buyers are increasingly expecting to see proactive and intentful behaviour being demonstrated in the examples given of how a business is committed to driving Social Value.
So, the challenge is clear. A business needs to have Social Value at its core; enshrined in its values and encouraged in its thinking and behaviour. Social Value must be cultural. The rise of the “B Corp” companies is a testament to this cultural sea-change that is gathering pace across the globe, as are the swathes of potential employees who seek these businesses out when deciding where to work.
This isn’t just for big business though, there is something every size of company can do to build Social Value into their DNA. It’s not the overall scale of activity that’s important, it’s the relative scale of the activity (vs the scale of the business). Of course, lots of small actions can make as much impact as one big action.
Social Value is also a virtuous circle; it’s good for wellbeing and helps build not just healthy happy businesses, but healthy, happy communities too. And, as pointed out earlier, the modern workforce is beginning to seek out those businesses that embed Social Value centre stage within their culture.
So, a business’s maturity in its approach to Social Value is beginning to be differentiated by “tick box” compliance and cultural embedding. And this culture is about how we all behave, starting with each of us as individuals because we all have the power to ‘be the change we want to see in the world.’
