Transparent social value measurement – going beyond the top line figures and avoiding overinflation

A decade of developing attitudes since the Social Value Act

In the wake of the Social Value Act (2012), the social value sector has undergone significant development over the past ten years. We now observe a greater emphasis on social value in the bidding process, going beyond a simple tick box to account for social value and instead giving it a specific quality weighting.

The most significant advancement, however, is more human. People's understanding of what social value is becoming clearer over time, with many identifying it as a decades-long practise that is now seeing more transparency, consistent reporting, and focus. This is a joint, ongoing learning journey for all of us as the industry's emphasis on quality over cost grows and bidding processes become more reflective of this in their weightings.

For decades, social value and positive impact on people and communities have been at the heart of our own DNA at Pick Everard, not because we have to, but because it is the right and ethical thing to do in our position of responsibility. We accompany our clients and supply chain partners on this journey, from education and consultancy to assisting them in improving their own social value questioning for future tendering processes - something we have assisted local authority clients with.

We work with clients that value doing good as much as we do. This extends beyond the impact of the projects on communities to our own delivery team. For example, we have clients who support our graduate programme by embracing and encouraging more junior hands-on involvement.

These clients recognise the long-term impact of openness on young professionals as individuals, assisting them in developing technical skills and feeding into more qualitative areas such as fulfilment and improved wellbeing. This approach also helps us and our clients together develop the skills of tomorrow's construction industry leaders.

Social value-led design

This is also reflected in client design processes, particularly when it comes to creating workplace spaces. The inclusion and well-being of people working in those spaces contributes to the overall social value of the scheme being implemented, and thus contributes to the overall design approach.

For example, ensuring easy and equitable accessibility for disabled employees or visitors. Building designs must be fully inclusive for all people, not just to improve wellbeing and thus social value, but also because it is the right and fair thing to do.

We are working with several clients on their workspaces, involving staff in the process to ensure that it truly supports their needs and enhances their experience rather than adding unnecessary stress.

One such client's space will house call centre employees, who take a 30-minute lunch break. With this in mind, we are ensuring that the breakout space and kitchen facilities are well-coordinated and easily accessible, rather than staff spending half of their break rushing to the opposite end of the site to get their food. These are small and simple ideas, but they are extremely powerful in the big picture and should not be overlooked.

Accuracy and accountability – bigger doesn’t always mean better

Having larger social value figures does not always imply that they are better. Social value is a broad concept that includes a variety of social, economic, and environmental outcomes, as well as qualitative and quantitative measurements.

The monetisation approach to social value was initially used to help demonstrate something that can be extremely difficult to quantify in something familiar - pounds and pence. However, by being too rigid in providing only monetary figures, there is a risk of two things happening:

1. Misleading and inaccurate or overinflated figures
2. Losing sight of the human impact

When it comes to social value, accuracy in figures is critical to avoid misleading stakeholders, undermining credibility, ignoring key issues, diverting attention away from long-term impact, and raising potential ethical concerns. We must meet the requirements of frameworks and bidding processes, but when it comes down to it, social value must consider not only the hard numbers but also the people and real-life impact behind them.

Creating an apprentice role, for example, adds one number to a total figure. What that single figure does not capture is qualitative information on how that role advances the individual's career and improves areas such as their finances and overall well-being. It also does not account for the subsequent effects, such as increased financial stability within their household or the ability to rent or buy their own home.

Overinflated social value figures should be avoided because they can mislead stakeholders, undermine credibility, ignore important social issues, divert attention away from long-term impact, and raise ethical concerns. It is critical to ensure that social value measurement is carried out with rigour, transparency, and accountability, and that the figures presented accurately reflect the social value created by a project - best practise also includes capturing negative impacts.

We are seeing clauses in tender processes that are intended to increase accountability for the social value promises made. This places those who do not achieve what they say they will be eligible to pay up in exchange, which should work to ensure the promises are realistic to begin with, and do not simply pump up the figures to secure the work under quality weighting without the action to back it up.

These accountability practises are likely to grow in the future to ensure that actions can be relied on and that 'impact washing' is avoided.

In short, while social value figures can be useful indicators of a project's positive impact, they should be weighed alongside other data and contextual factors. The worth of a social value figure is determined by how it is generated and what it represents, and it should not be used as the sole indicator of success or impact.

An introspective look at our own social value

We collaborate with clients and frameworks to help truly understand their needs in a particular area and how to together provide sustained activity that adds value. For example, our appointment to Surrey County Council’s framework sees broad commitments that can be applied to specific projects. Here, we are working to make sure activity is sustained, such as delivering a programme within the community or local schools, rather than a standalone drop-in session that would be less impactful.

A key aim is to capture the all-important qualitative feedback from those attending the events, including our own staff to understand the full picture. This is one step ahead of other organisations, which may not include their own people in evaluation processes, implying that they are missing some of the puzzle pieces.