How to make social value a priority in your organisation
Interested in implementing a successful social value strategy for your organisation but not sure where to start? We speak to Jeremy Willis, Director of Procurement at PwC about his team's experiences and his advice for other organisations.
For any organisation, implementing and embedding a successful social value strategy requires involvement and input in a number of key areas. For many of the organisations that have pledged to take part in Social Enterprise Scotland’s Corporate Challenge, an initiative in which Scottish businesses are invited to redirect their everyday spend towards local social enterprises, social value has become a priority. As a founding partner of the corporate challenge, PwC is one of these organisations. We spoke with the Director of Procurement, Jeremy Willis, about how his team has generated social value, and the successes and challenges they’ve experienced along the way. He also provides a number of tips for how other organisations can approach social value in light of PwC’s success.
What exactly is social value?
The definition of social value given by Social Value UK is: ‘the value that people place on the changes they experience in their lives. Some, but not all of this value is captured in market prices.’ Applying this principle of social value to an organisation’s procurement practices means considering the social and environmental impact of the goods and services it buys. It enables organisations to create a positive impact in society through their purchasing power.
In Scotland, the Procurement Reform Act (2014) requires public sector bodies to consider the social, economic and environmental impact of their procurement activity. This, among other key factors, has encouraged many organisations (both public and private) to consider social value. However, there is great variation in the uptake and implementation of social value strategies between organisations.
What are the benefits of prioritising social value?
There are numerous benefits to adopting and implementing a social value strategy, both from the perspective of the organisation and the community in which it operates. These range from engaging your staff and increasing their wellbeing and satisfaction, to raising awareness about important issues and helping build the solutions. Jeremy Willis summarised how this has worked for PwC:
‘By focusing on social value we have been able to demonstrate that we are living our purpose and values, whilst enhancing our reputation in the marketplace (both as a business partner and employer), building our community contribution, and minimising our impact on the environment. Our efforts have supported social mobility and provided a more inclusive environment to support the career progression and wellbeing of our people. It has also enhanced the diversity and innovation that we can bring to our service propositions.
From a procurement perspective, it has given us access to more creative, agile and committed social enterprises who value the partnership with PwC and often deliver their services at a very competitive price point. It has also helped to further raise awareness of some of the major social and environmental issues facing us today, including food waste, homelessness, climate change, employment inequality, social inequality, and resource scarcity.’
Challenges for implementation
A consistent challenge for procurement functions is the fact they are mostly not the budget holders for service delivery areas and are not always able to directly influence local purchasing decisions.
“This can sometimes lead to a dilution of the senior executive level ambition to create social value through supply chain engagement” says Jeremy.
“This is why it is imperative that a multi-channel approach to engaging the business is pursued, and that the budget holders and purchasers in the business are as closely engaged as possible and share the ultimate vision” he adds.
Top tips for prioritising social value
Despite challenges such as this, a consistent and integrated social value approach doesn't need to be complicated and arduous. In addition to describing the various benefits, Jeremy offered up some top tips to help other organisations prioritise social value:
Know your purpose
An organisation’s purpose and principles should guide its approach to social value. Make purpose the starting point, and build from there. The more clearly the new initiatives fall in line with the ongoing structure, vision, projects, or community relationships, the easier it is to build momentum.
‘At PwC our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. Having this as a clear ‘North Star’, around which we can position our client services and business practises, is a key enabler for prioritising social value at PwC. Fighting climate change, tackling economic inequality, ensuring equal opportunity, improving wellbeing and supporting COVID-19 recovery are the most significant challenges facing us all currently. The resolution of these issues is, therefore, at the heart of what we do. This includes our global commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2030; our provision of higher apprenticeships to school leavers; the digital upskilling of our people; and our focus on creating a culture that’s genuinely inclusive and respectful, and which promotes wellbeing at work and beyond.’
Measure and report against key metrics
Measuring social value can undoubtedly be tricky, but there are already metrics out there that all organisations should be measuring up against. This is a really helpful way of showing what’s going well, and of addressing any opportunities for improvement.
‘A key enabler is to measure and report against key metrics such as Gender Pay Gap, Ethnicity Pay Gap, and the socio-economic background of our partners and employees … The transparency and accountability that our diversity metrics bring is crucial to driving equality and fairness across the firm. A summary view of our performance against the metrics that underpin our responsible business framework is reported annually in our “non-financial scorecard”’.
It’s also important to have a good internal process for measuring your social value. PwC measure social value in line with the key themes of the Social Value Model, grouping their impact across five elements of their own responsible business framework:
- Fair and trusted business
- Low carbon and circular business
- Empowered people and communities
- The work they do for clients
- Their perspective on the future
Progress against these targets is then reported annually as part of their non-financial scorecard.
Form collaborative working relationships across teams
Speaking of what really helped make implementing a social value strategy work, Jeremy highlighted the importance of the collaborative and forward thinking working relationships between internal procurement, corporate sustainability, and operational service leaders.
“Drawing on the specific expertise and influence of each of these stakeholders has ensured that solutions are developed for realising social value which are achievable, innovative, and sustainable. This has been a core enabler for the development of our social enterprise agenda within the supply chain.”
Find and create partnerships
Collaborating with partners can help an organisation to maximise its social value.
“A core element of progressing our social value ambitions in the supply chain has been the partnership and shared sense of ownership from some of our most significant tier 1 suppliers” says Jeremy. “They have been pivotal in working with us to bring social enterprises into their own delivery models.”
He also describes the strong partnerships and relationships PwC has built with other organisations part of the Corporate Challenge. This has given them the opportunity to collaborate, share experiences of successes of bringing social enterprises into their respective businesses, and also what challenges they have collectively faced along the way.
“It is very rewarding to be part of a community that has a shared ambition to create a positive social impact.”
Are you looking to maximise social value in your organisation and have a positive impact on the communities you work in?
Find out more about how you can work with social enterprise suppliers by getting in touch with the team at Social Enterprise Scotland. Email us at buysocial@socialenterprise.scot for more information.