Considering Social Value for your Small Business
Social value is about being aware of how your business or organization impacts your community. It usually refers to positive ways you can take action to improve and sustain the local economy, employment and environment.
Many customers are now aware of social value and want to deal with businesses who provide help in these areas. It is expected that companies who support social values will be ahead in market positions.
What social value actions can a small business take?
It’s best to set up measurable objectives within a fixed time scale. You can start small, for example, introducing recycle bins at the office and then work up to wider recycling projects in the community.
Employing local people and supporting local independent businesses are good ways to generate local economic value. You could urge any partner organisations to also prioritise social value. By considering employing people who have previously been unemployed you can address issues of inequality and just by having staff who don’t need to commute you are reducing your carbon footprint. We are proud to say NovaLoca’s staff are all live within 4 miles of the workplace.
Many businesses support charities but how about asking your staff which local causes they would like to support? Perhaps you could also sponsor a local team.
It’s not just about the people. It’s about the building your company occupies too. Property Week has reported on the Social Value Toolkit for Architecture which not only explores how social value can be incorporated in the building design process but also on property occupancy and how it can contribute towards health, connecting people to their environment and benefit the community.
If you have found this article useful you may also want to look at our other blog posts: The Healthy Building of the Future and Property Trends 2021
