A look at how client involvement in social value can benefit business.
A focus on social value is not just a responsibility, but a testament to a company’s commitment to community welfare. Our clients are setting the bar high by actively engaging in our volunteering days, charity events, and social value initiatives. This case study looks at how we’re encouraging create client involvement in social value events and the benefits of this. While supporting our resource requirements as we grow, this also contributes to a client’s own social value ambitions.
Background
Since the business began, we have always had a culture of supporting social value. There has recently been a sharpening of focus in this activity and a drive to do even more.
To support the growing number of events, we have needed to find a greater number of volunteers. There has therefore been a recent emphasis on client collaboration, which provides the opportunity to build stronger partnerships. This lets clients increase their social value contribution, while supporting our communities and creating better places for all.
In collaboration with St Mungo’s, we recently organised a pamper event for International Women’s Day in March 2024. This was an event for those that use the St Mungo’s service and required female volunteers. We received huge support from our client JLL at 240 Blackfriars with several volunteers coming along on the day. The success of the event showed us how impactful client involvement in social value can be. Collaboration across organisations forms a wider sense of community, and it makes events like this truly inspiring.
The Challenge
Initially, our biggest challenge was not having established partnerships that provided us with the level of volunteering opportunities we desired.
Since partnering with St Mungo’s, we have regular opportunities to make a real difference. On entering this partnership, the engagement from our own colleagues was overwhelming, and it quickly became clear that the desire to get involved was there. As our volunteering resource needs grew, we saw an opportunity to engage across clients and service partners to meet these requirements.
We knew that our clients wanted to do something positive, so we needed to find ways to achieve this collaboratively. Being a homelessness charity, the work of St Mungo’s can impact our clients who may witness homelessness in their areas and this seemed a wonderful opportunity to relate back to the local environment. The types of events volunteers are needed for can vary and a diverse range of talent and ability is therefore often required. These can include gardening days, cooking events, teaching classes, pampering events, employment fairs, and painting and decorating.
Solution
The solution was to recruit volunteers from key clients and service partners to help. To begin, we needed to engage clients and let them know that by working with us, these social value opportunities were available. Our focus became communicating the opportunities in a way that raises awareness, inspires involvement, and translates into tangible participation.
We’ve adapted how we approach social impact and now look to collaborate with our clients, their service partners alongside our service partners to bring the greatest impact.
Gemma Bowers, Chief People & Culture Officer
This meant not only in capturing and communicating opportunities, but also highlighting the key benefits of taking part. Some clients sought to understand the difference their people had on these events and how their involvement impacted social value. We therefore identified the need for comprehensive communication channels and engagement strategies to address this challenge. Leveraging our network and resources, we started to streamline our volunteering initiatives and make them more accessible to clients.
There has since been an active effort to highlight the types of initiatives we have to offer, and articulate the impact that these have on our communities. In doing this, we can provide clarity on how client participation contributes to this, and shed light on the benefits of client participation. This includes:
- A culture of active involvement and collaboration makes our social value initiatives more helpful to communities.
- Our initiatives contribute to our clients’ social value targets.
- Client involvement improves collaboration and creates stronger partnerships.
- Collaboratively we can do something to end homelessness.
- By gaining clients and service partners as volunteers, we offer a wider range of skills to our charity partners.
