Social value services

As pioneers in social value development, we know that embedding social value in your processes from beginning to end can seem daunting – that’s why we’re here to help.

 

Over the years we’ve worked with hundreds of organisations both from the Housing Sector and beyond –  from procurement specialists and construction firms,  to law firms and consultancy experts, we’ve used our wellbeing approach to going above and beyond what is just required, and help embed, measure and demonstrate the full impact across the whole organisation.

 

We offer a range of invaluable services, from discovery reports that support your initial approach, to our certification that verifies the contents of your latest social value report. Social value should be viewed as a transformational activity, rather than just a transactional one – this is where we can help.

 

Work with the social value experts

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Demonstrate the Social Value you make

What is social value?

Good question - Social value a way to quantify how different interventions affect people’s lives – the overall impact on people’s wellbeing, or their quality of life. It is a way of measuring the positive benefits your work has on both individuals and communities.

Understanding the different ways social value can be built into projects is key to ensuring the social value you build in to your plans has a positive tangible impact on the community.

Why measure?

By measuring the social value you create, you can evidence the impact your organisation is having on the people and communities you work with.

It will also help you to make informed decisions about how you can improve your services, with increased positive results , embedding it in everything you do in your organisation.

Why use HACT's Social Value measurement?

Developed over 10 years ago, the UK Social Value Bank contains a suite of 88 outcomes. Each outcome has a defined financial metric, which incorporates a wellbeing value, a health top up value and, where applicable, an Exchequer value (savings to the state).

The outcomes have been developed using a consistent methodology, using more than eight years of research and national data surveys. The Bank builds on person centred principles, using data on self-reported wellbeing and life circumstances measuring people’s actual experiences. This means that the values for each outcome are based on how they impact people’s lives as they live them.

Discovery

What does social value mean to your organisation?

Our discovery report service supports you in creating the right strategy and delivering an organisation-wide approach to social value by assessing your unique aspirations and drivers.

Framework

How effectively are you using social value?

Our framework service provides a template from which to begin your social value journey. It ensures your organisation is pointing in the right direction and helps you evidence your impact and improve your services.

Certification

Have you applied your social value metrics correctly?

Our certification service gives your Board the confidence that your social value figures add up. We check your data and recommend improvements to the way you measure social value moving forward.

Report

Do you know your overall social impact?

By analysing the data you provide we produce social value reports that let you confidently demonstrate your social value to your Board and other stakeholders.

Health check

How healthy are your processes?

By reviewing your processes and highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of your methods, we can provide a roadmap to improving your approach to social value.

Procurement advice

Want to maximise the social impact of your procurement spend?

We turn the outcome you want into a procurement framework and provide independent assurance that your contractors are delivering the social value promised.

Wherever you are on your social value journey, we can help

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Social Value
Audit and Certification

Giving you the evidence to confidently demonstrate and communicate the robustness of your Social Value approach to your stakeholders.

Through our expertise, we’ll ensure your data and the application of your social value measurement adds up. Providing a full report, along with the HACT certification stamp of approval, we’ll provide observations and recommend improvements to the way you measure social value moving forward.

Get in touch with our experts about gaining certification

Social Value Accelerator Toolkit

Want support in making a start?

For some, that first step can feel daunting. If you are ready to move forward, but need support in getting started, HACT’s Social Value Accelerator Toolkit provides you with the self-service tools you need, combined with support and expertise from us, to build and develop your social value strategy.

Step 1: Diagnosis

Step 2: Action Plan

Step 3: Expert help

Ask about how to get access our Toolkit

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Bespoke Training

We can also develop and run bespoke social value training around your organisation’s specific requirements. This could take the form of an introductory overview of social value or a more in-depth workshop looking at how you can implement a social value framework within your organisation.

Just start the conversation and we can tailor to you and your organisation

Social value masterclass

Our online half-day introduction to social value masterclass demystifies the world of social value for you. We help you understand, calculate and communicate the social value of your organisation using the UK Social Value Bank (UKSVB) and associated tools and resources. The UKSVB is free for social housing associations, you can read more about it and request access here. We can also bespoke training for your team or organisations.

The training covers the following topics and tools:

Social Value Theory and contexts
Getting to know the UK Social Value Bank
Social Value Practice and implementation

Discover Social Value Insight

Model, monitor and measure – all in one place.

Accessed through our platform, our Social Value Insight tool provides you with the support, advice and insights you need whether you are evidencing your social value for an ESG fund, monitoring the social value created through procurement or looking to improve your community investment services, with the tool you can:

  • measure and manage your projects all the way through, planning in social value from the outset
  • set targets, budgets and project details
  • view all your projects in one place and easily filter to find what you need
  • create meaningful reports that can be easily exported
  • use the learning journeys, bank of topic guidance and support tools to help you on your social value journey
Find out more and book a free demo

Social value services in action

VIVID: Applying consistency in measuring social value

We were approached by VIVID, Hampshire's largest provider of affordable homeswho faced a problem common to many housing providers: social value wasn't reported on consistently across their organsiation.
Our social value discovery service was able to provide concrete solutions.
Working with VIVID, we held a number of interviews with key heads of service and directors to identify what would help them most and what their current contextual drivers were. We then reviewed this evidence and made practical recommendations to address their needs.
VIVID have since adopted all our recommendations. Their Board have adopted a social value statement and all their service areas are working in a common approach to delivering social value.
We have also helped a number of other high profile and large scale housing providers such as Peabody.

EDAROTH: Developing a social value framework

EDAROTH are an affordable housing developer who wanted to understand how they generated social value and how they could link that to their operating environment.

Through a series of tailored workshops bringing together people from across the organisation, we EDAROTH helped identify its unique operating circumstances and the needs of the communities it services.

The output of this process was a social value framework, which is the foundation of any organisation looking to understand,  measure and improve its social value.

The framework is helping EDAROTH to understand and measure is social value, using the data to inform business development and drive value for its communities.

We have develvoped social value frameworks for small and large housing associations (such as VIVD and Bernicia), as well as organisations working across the social housing sector.

Sovini Group: A rigorous certification service

The Sovini Group, a property management company and development group, faced multiple challenges around social value, such as inaccurate reporting and a lack of experience on how to report.
Our certification service offered them solutions. It provided a rigourous MOT of all their key processes around reporting to ensure accuracy and high standards, and made recommendations of how the organisation's approach to collecting social value information could be improved.
Our collaborative approach to information sharing was key. We set up one-to-one dialogues with staff, including the performance team manager, the community investment manager, and the business reporting lead.
After using our service the business and their Board had greater confidence in their systems of social value reporting. They knew they were collecting the right information, that it was accurate and that they were applying wellbeing evaluation in the right way.
The certificate they recieved on completion confirms the robustness and high quality of their reporting standards.
We have also helped a number of other clients, such as Tower Hamlets Homes, Stonewater Housing and Homes in Sedgemoore.

Let's talk

If you have a question, query or idea, we’d love to hear from you.

Start the conversation by getting in touch with us

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