‘Social Value Matters’ – Successfully embedding social value in projects

Following the implementation of the Social Value Act more than 10 years ago, ‘social value’ has become common within public sector projects across many different industries within the UK. However, this can come in different forms and can sometimes result in an act of social value becoming nothing more than a boxed-up buzz word, moved to the last page on a project’s to-do list. As a result, the journey to successfully embedding social value within projects is not wholly understood by all, nor is the impact that it can have on local communities.

At this stage, public sector businesses know that social value matters, but the tangible delivery of this may seem foggy and lacking in structure. This is the issue we’re tackling as part of our brand-new knowledge hub, ‘Social Value Matters’ – an initiative that aims to bring together resources exploring all matters of social value in one space.

To kick this off, our first webinar explored the topic of successfully embedding social value in projects. Our Social Value Engagement Lead Will Campbell was joined by Laura Perry, Social Value Project Consultant at Built Environment Consultancy, Ridge and Partners.

Three stages to success

Our speakers first pointed to the Principles of Social Value, set out by Social Value UK, that showcase the eight stages to measuring, reporting and the decision making related to effective social value within projects.

While such guidance is surely welcome, for time-strapped project managers it’s not surprising that some might find the process overwhelming. However, as Will explained, using specialist social value platforms like Loop can dramatically reduce the process. Many of these principles are embedded within the system and when using such tools effectively, the stages can be condensed into just three, which Laura highlighted as being to understand, deliver and maximise, to deliver social value in an effective, structured and measurable way. Understood in line with the theory of change and assuming maximum impact, to understand, deliver and maximise is a robust and quantifiable route to social value success.

Understand the before, to focus on the after

In any new project, a business will find itself coming in fresh and therefore the story of the project, the area around it and the needs of the local community will be one of many unknowns. An initial in-depth analysis of a project’s local area is key to understanding this story, Laura explained. This, combined with client priorities, and stakeholder engagement to understand concerns, will prove incredibly effective for a project team and is key for effective implementation. To help, a business should embed social value within its culture to ensure all are on board to achieve the same goals.

It’s worth noting that the project team may not have the expertise to deliver all elements of social value. This is where identifying core delivery partners is key, whether that be employability experts, digital skills teams or charities local to the area, to ensure that all areas for focused social value work are tackled effectively.

Gaining an overall understanding before any social value even begins will prove incredibly fruitful, and tools like Loop, with a ‘forecast’ ability, can help to target outcomes, which allows these quantifiable social value deliverables to be placed.

Devising delivery for maximum efficiency

Once the social value needs have been identified, a project will only be successful if it can deliver these effectively. Laura shared a benchmark delivery structure, which placed importance on reporting outcomes accurately, including all details necessary to paint the full picture such as exact numbers relating to training hours, funds donated and community engagement exercises.

With a tool like Loop, Will explained, a business can stringently monitor its delivery of social value in this way. Other elements like internal auditing are simplified, as all evidence, such as documents, images and testimonials to showcase what has been done, and where the improvements can be made on a month-by-month basis across a project’s duration can be saved for easy access.

These deliverables and feedback can easily be used to create a further plan for a project’s future and can be monitored consistently throughout. Collectively utilising these within quarterly social value reports builds this structure further and allows the data to speak for itself, with nothing falling through the gaps.

Maximising outcomes for long term gain

 The work can’t stop once the set deliverables are achieved. The theory of change, referenced throughout the webinar, spotlights ‘outcomes’ as a core area in development, with Laura noting that these outcomes can be long term as well as short. An example may be that an employability workshop for the local community has given a resident a collection of new skills, which in a year’s time may result in a new job. Although the project itself may have finished, the effects of the social value elements achieved are long lasting.

Analysing feedback and tracking these long-term outcomes can build an overarching view of success. The success and the impact of using such a stringent approach to delivering social value also makes it easy to create case studies that truly showcase the impact of a business’s work for the community, stakeholders and its client. Qualitative and quantitative data can be used here, supported by tools like Loop which can effectively calculate the monetary value from each outcome.

As part of the wider ‘Social Value Matters’ initiative, our first webinar is one of many we have planned, all with the aim of enhancing and increasing the knowledge of social value and how here at Loop, we can support businesses on that journey.

The new ‘Social Value Matters’ hub is free to access, with more information about us and how we can help on your social value journey available here.

To watch the full recording of our first webinar in our ‘Social Value Matters’ webinar series, find the recording here.