How to implement social value across your business – and get everyone on board

Embedding social value in your organisation requires involving everyone—from the boardroom to frontline staff. However, transforming habits when social value hasn’t been a business priority can be quite challenging.

We understand that achieving this integration can be easier said than done. Support from across the organisation is needed to deliver and measure social value activities, as well as to secure endorsement from the leadership team

However, in just 18 months, VolkerLaser , part of VolkerWessels UK , accomplished this.

We spoke with Kelly Gracie, CMktr , Head of CSR, Marketing, and Communications at VolkerLaser, who shared how they transformed their company culture. This change has enabled them to consistently exceed their social value targets, strengthen client relationships and engage their supply chain.

Kelly’s advice is two-fold: you need to manage up and manage down. Gaining buy-in from the top is crucial, but making social value relevant to your teams and their roles is equally important.

How embedding social value is transforming business for VolkerLaser

Now that VolkerLaser has embedded social value in their business they are hitting business goals – scoring 20% higher on bids than they previously were.

In 2023 they easily surpassed their social value target of ￡28.5 million, instead hitting an impressive ￡48.1 million. This was the equivalent to 58% of the company’s turnover!

Next year their target for social and economic benefit will increase to an impressive 65% of company turnover.

Kelly has won a VolkerWessels UK Platinum Award for her work as a sustainability, environment and social value champion – although she is keen to point out that she couldn’t have done it without the support of the business.

“It’s because everybody has bought into this that it’s worked,” Kelly says. “I’m really proud of our achievements and if sharing that helps another company achieve something similar then that, for me, is brilliant.”

Here are five things VolkerLaser did to get the whole business on board and embed social value in just 18 months:

1.??? Demonstrate social value as a business need

Getting senior-level buy-in is a vital first step. This means presenting clear evidence that social value is no longer just a nice-to-have. It can now make the difference between winning and losing work.

In 2022 the pre-construction team started to notice that the trend for the % of social value requested in bids was starting to get higher – up to 25% in some cases. VolkerLaser had no evidence to say they could commit to this, in spite of any social value work that was indeed going on in the business.

The lack of past evidence to back up bid submissions meant they started to lose out on those tenders.

Kelly tackled this by getting a report from the bid team to show the trends – how the % requested in bids had increased over time and where they had missed out.

She submitted this to VolkerLaser’s board.

“The figures showed where we’d missed out on things or scored really low,” says Kelly. “It showed that if we continued as we were, it would only become a bigger problem.”

From that point on, Kelly had the full support of senior management in her plans.

2.??? Audit social value activity in the organisation

At VolkerLaser, social value was happening in the business, but it wasn’t being captured, nor was it really understood. We know this is true for so many organisations.

Carrying out a social value audit is the first step in addressing this challenge. By finding out where social value is already occurring, an organisation can then start to capture it consistently and get a clearer picture of the total impact the business is having.

At VolkerLaser, Kelly went around the whole organisation to dig up whatever information she could. She gathered all data from 2022 and recorded it in Thrive to give a baseline of what they had done previously.

“Through a full situational analysis it became clear we’d been doing much more in the business than we thought. But I needed to work out where we were right now, where to get the information from, who owns it, which teams I needed to speak to and what reports I needed to look at. Then working out where the gaps were and how to plug them.”

This gave Kelly the basis to proceed.

3.??? Educate the business about social value

To adopt a social-value-first approach across the business, it’s crucial that everyone understands what social value is and why it’s important. This task can be challenging, especially with long-time staff who have never focused on this before. Convincing them that social value is now a priority can be particularly difficult.

Internal communications are key. Utilise skills and relationships within the business to get the message across. Using existing channels that staff are already familiar with provides a forum that will more readily be open and listened to.

At VolkerLaser Kelly used various approaches to educate staff – both in the beginning and for and ongoing basis.

To begin with, Kelly fed into regular VolkerLaser staff briefings about the need for social value. She also attended regional briefings to talk to people face-to-face. This helped overcome some of the objections around “Why. Why do we have to do this?”

“I took it back to basics to explain what social value is, gave real-life examples, made it clear it was things they’re doing already – not extra work. All they needed to do was identify it and let us know about it.”

For Kelly, it was important to empower operational teams and let them know they had the opportunity to make a difference. As Kelly explained:

“Our site teams know the projects and their unique communities better than I do, and I was keen for them to know they could propose ideas on how they could help. We put into place a social value request form for them to submit directly to management for approval –this has led to local sports team sponsorship, work experience, volunteering, plant donations, dog walking and so much more. Every person at every level has a part to play”

On a more regular basis Kelly harnesses existing communications channels like the fortnightly lunch and learn to keep up the momentum. Relaying stories, letting people hear about the difference they are making reinforces the need and maintains the positivity.

“When people can see the good things they are doing reported back it encourages them to do more,” Kelly says. “We put social value news in the company newsletter, and in our company app. It creates a drip-feed of positivity, ideas and inspiration.”

4.??? Introduce accountability for reporting social value activities

Getting everyone in the business to start implementing social value reporting can be difficult, especially when it hasn’t been a priority before. Beyond educating workers about the importance of social value, establishing accountability is crucial.

Initially, Kelly realised that she would need to input data herself since others were not yet doing it. However, this approach wasn’t sustainable, so she needed to create accountability among her colleagues.

She started small by conducting a gap analysis, identifying seven or eight metrics that couldn’t be sourced centrally and needed input from the site level. Kelly created a simple spreadsheet for the relevant people to complete, making the task manageable. This helped them get accustomed to the process and take responsibility for it.

Now, on-site teams complete a monthly spreadsheet, contributing to reports for regional directors. There are clear targets, and everyone is accountable, making it evident when targets are missed.

“This shows that social value reporting isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential for the business,” says Kelly.

5.??? Have a Single Source of Truth

Using social value measurement software streamlines the process of capturing, managing, and monitoring a business’s social value activities. Instead of having information siloed within different departments, consolidating all social value data in one place provides a clear picture of the business’s impact. This makes it much easier and quicker to access information for stakeholder reports or bid submissions.

Early in their social value journey, VolkerLaser adopted the Thrive platform to simplify recording outputs, gathering statistics, and maintaining an overview of ongoing activities.

“If our MD needs quick information to show a client, we can just grab it and break the information down however it’s needed,” says Kelly.

Bid teams leverage evidence and case studies from Thrive to support their submissions.

“Being able to provide the bid team with accurate, impactful figures to use in tender responses has made a significant difference,” Kelly adds.

Demonstrating the social value created on similar projects greatly strengthens their bids. It’s clear why they are enthusiastic about the social value system.

Additionally, each division now receives its own report, allowing them to see their progress toward their social value targets. Something they never did before.

“Thrive is super easy to use, and we couldn’t imagine using anything else!”

What has changed for VolkerLaser?

The commercial gains for VolkerLaser from having an organised and efficient way to capture social value have already been discussed. However, the company has also experienced significant non-financial benefits:

Increased Employee Accountability and Engagement

Social value has become integral to the decision-making process for many staff members. About a year after implementing the changes, Kelly noticed more employees proactively sharing their social value ideas and activities.

“It’s changed the way they approach their jobs. They’re thinking, ‘What can I do to help?’ We completed a project at the end of last year, and a project manager reached out to tell me he’d contacted a local school to donate leftover stationery and a bookcase—the school was thrilled! When I started receiving more emails like that, I knew we were finally getting it right.”

For Kelly, the importance of employee engagement extends to attracting new talent too.

“In a world where the future generation of workers aren’t focused solely on salary, but more on a companies’ purpose, embedding social value into our culture and delivering on our promises is key to attracting the right talent and helping us keep them.

We are keen to build upon our social value success year on year and continue to make a positive difference in the communities in which we work.

Improved Client Relationships

The tone of conversations with clients has become more collaborative. As clients’ understanding of social value has grown, so have their expectations. Working with a partner like VolkerLaser, which has a strong social value pedigree, allows clients to rely more on their suppliers’ skills and resources to deliver the right social value.

One recent bid included the question: “If you had free reign to do whatever you wanted in terms of social value, what would you do for this project?”

This opens the door for greater collaboration, fostering a 360-degree relationship that ultimately delivers a more significant impact.

What can you do?

Transforming your organisation to embrace a social value culture is challenging but immensely rewarding, as VolkerLaser’s experience shows.

By involving everyone from senior management to frontline staff, they have exceeded their social value targets, improved client relationships and engaged their supply chain.

If you’re ready to take the next step in embedding social value within your organisation, consider Thrive social value software.

Thrive’s comprehensive tools can help you capture, manage, and monitor your social value activities effectively, ensuring you make a lasting positive impact.

Contact us now to learn more about how Thrive can help you succeed.