Chichi is the Social Value Adviser at the Hyde Group and convenes the Social Value Leaders Group
Hi Chichi, how are you today?
Hi Dan. I am well thanks. A little suspicious of the weather – it’s been acting rather cute and spring-like today, as if it didn’t transport half the country’s bins and garden sheds off into another dimension just last week!
We’ve known each other for a while but for our readers, can you tell us about Hyde Housing and your role there?
We have indeed known each other for a while and what sights we have seen in the Social Value space over the years!
The Hyde Group is one of the UK’s leading (and award-winning!) providers of affordable housing in London, the south east of England and neighbouring areas. It is made up of a group of ‘not-for-profit’ organisations (headed by Hyde Housing Association) and our main business is to provide and manage good quality and safe accommodation, at prices people can afford to buy or rent on long tenancies. We put about 50,000 rooves (and counting) over the heads of more than 100,000 people who might not otherwise have one, as well as providing services to help them improve their life chances, enjoy their environment and contribute to their community.
I have worked for the Hyde Group for *inaudible mumble* years!, but I took up its first Social Value Adviser role about 4 years ago. I have developed the Social Value function from inception, scoping out the service area, developing the processes, procedures and frameworks necessary to maximise Social Value from Hyde’s supply chain – and to track and monitor delivery. I work hand in hand with the Hyde Foundation (and other customer facing teams) because their community partnerships, relationships with local groups, services and individuals facing challenges puts them in a prime position to inform me about where the Social Value we have negotiated needs to be directed.
Building relationships with our Procurement Team has been absolutely pivotal to my role and remit, because the best way to secure Social Value is to formally embed it into the procurement process. I have also needed to inform and liaise with contract managers and those responsible for Hyde’s contracts – encouraging staff across the business to understand the role they play in securing and monitoring Social Value on an ongoing basis. Ultimately I drive Hyde’s Social Value strategy, demonstrating how a commitment to Social Value contributes to our corporate mission and objectives, feeds into our ESG framework and even aligns with the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals. With the support of our corporate sponsor (executive leadership team representative), Social Value remains an important fixture on Hyde’s agenda.
You also organise and support the Social Value Leaders Group – can you tell us about that?
The SVLG is a bit of a ‘meeting of the minds’. It is a forum for Social Value leads from across the social housing sector (mainly housing associations, but a few local authorities and other housing related bodies) to connect, learn about Social Value principles, best practice and policy/legislation; and share Social Value approaches, processes, strategies, reporting frameworks and experiences. Ultimately, we support each other to embed and broaden the scope of Social Value within our organisations, acting as a sounding board for ideas and solutions to challenges. It is also a stimulus for collaboration and joint projects that demonstrate the benefits of Social Value on a wider scale. We want to present a collective picture of what Social Value can do for people, local charities/social enterprises, the environment, and shared spaces. We also want to continue to influence Social Value discussions more broadly, so watch this space!
You’re always super busy – but what’s the most interesting thing you’re working on at the moment?
I’d say the piece of kit we are working on together is the most interesting! The MatchMyProject platform that will be launched imminently, is something I am really looking forward to implementing. Making the brokerage function less manual and reliant on human efforts (as efficient as I am!) will mean greater access to support for a wider range of community organisations and local resident groups. Once we register a number of Hyde suppliers/contractors and also community organisations and groups, the pace of matching up requests will see a momentum like never before!
I am also about to Launch Hyde’s first official Social Value strategy, setting out our current position and perhaps most importantly, our ambitions for Social Value up to 2025. The MatchMyProject platform is also linked to the strategy actually, because the strategy delivery plan sets out a target to embed a digital solution for Social Value brokerage! I do love a full-circle moment!
As someone who’s been involved with the Social Value agenda for a long time, what’s the single most important piece of advice you could give to practitioners new to the space?
Keep your approach to requesting Social Value simple (e.g. your framework). It is important that what you are asking for is fair, relevant and commensurate to the value of the contract, informed by the ‘need on the ground’ (beneficiaries being targeted) and clear to all involved – including your supply chain, internal contract managers and senior leaders. It is so easy to get lost in the science of Social Value frameworks and approaches, trying to find the perfect model. There is no flawless model and all systems and frameworks – for requesting Social Value and measuring its impact, should be taken with a pinch of salt. Ultimately we want to engage the supply-chain and encourage them to be stakeholders in the communities they are serving. Bringing about positive change does not need to be super complicated – if it is, fewer suppliers/contractors will engage and local communities will be the ones who miss out.
Thanks for your time Chichi!
Any time!
We think this might be helpful…
‘7 Things To Think About If You’re Doing Social Value And Want To Do It Right’
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