Harnessing our social value strategy to support levelling up
The scale of our business and its reach into local communities, means that we have opportunity to support the Levelling Up agenda through our social value strategy. Here Angela Halliday, Director of Social Impact UK and Ireland shares her thoughts on the role businesses can play in delivering real impact.
There has never been a better time to do good business.
During the past 25 years or so, I’ve operated across both the third sector and corporate worlds to support the development of solutions for some of the UK’s most deprived communities. Throughout every moment of those 25 years, I’ve always felt that there has never been a better time to do good business – but that doesn’t make this sentiment any less right today.
Working at Sodexo, I am surrounded by people who recognise the responsibility our business has to make a positive impact on the communities in which we work and live, and the contribution we can – with the scope and scale of our organisation – make to support how we collectively level up our country.
It is also important that we not only do we do good work but that we also hold ourselves accountable through transparent measurement and performance reporting.
If we can understand the true impact of our social value strategy we can understand how to achieve more and go further.
After all, if meaningful progress is going to be made, government, industry, civil society, and educational establishments must all come together, and each play their role. The recent publication of the 2021 Social Progress Index ranked the UK as a second-tier national. Whilst disappointing, it does bring into sharp focus the need for collective effort in creating opportunities, meaningful change, and social impact. This is our purpose at Sodexo – “create a better everyday for everyone to build a better life for all”.
I have always been acutely aware of the need to reduce inequalities and achieve meaningful, impactful outcomes for our communities. This has been a challenge for decades, but Covid-19 has compounded many of these challenges – poverty levels, living standards, health and wellbeing, work and skills and social mobility. Conversely, it has also showcased the immense value of government, private and third sector working collectively.
This is why when the Levelling Up agenda was first announced in the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto and with the government’s Levelling Up White Paper then pending, we set out to ensure anticipated outcomes were embedded into Sodexo’s Social Value Strategy back in 2020. Across our Impact Pathways we have increased our focus on expected outcomes that will create a more even playing field across the country. We know there is also more to do.
At the heart of the government’s strategy is a plan to create more regional mayors, transferring spending power and investment into the regions. Given this growing focus on local decision making, having data that tells us what is happening at community level will be one of the best ways we can understand and influence our approach when focusing on the outcomes that will create long-term, meaningful social impact. 
This complex agenda is not just for government, but for industry, civil society and society as a whole. A co-owned approach to tackle key issues impacting our communities will help mitigate against the potential for a higher rate of unemployment, more poverty and worse levels of health and wellbeing than we are experiencing at this time. We must drill down to understand the challenges impacting our communities and should focus on doing fewer things better if we are to achieve greater impact and make a real difference to people’s lives.
Communities and those who represent communities’ best interests will scrutinise this white paper and demand to see the added value being created. They are rightly concerned about the impact on the social, economic, and environmental factors that their communities face. Our Places impact pathway drives the actions we take to enable a needs-led approach; creating equity for all where people live, work and play. However, Levelling Up is not just about our places. People are at the very heart of this agenda – and by focusing on what really matters – skills, jobs, physical environment and wellbeing – we will determine our contribution to this agenda based on the needs of the individuals within each community where we operate.
This is why Sodexo particularly welcomes the promise of the new Lifetime Skills Guarantee – ensuring everyone, no matter where they live or their background, can gain the skills they need to progress in work at any stage of their lives. This is just one of the ways in which we can start to improve the wellbeing of society.
Protecting the wellbeing of our people and our planet
Whilst looking after the wellbeing of people is paramount, this must go hand in hand with looking after the health and wellbeing of our planet. A healthier society creates a healthier environment.
We recognise that we cannot do this alone. The importance of optimising our eco-system of partners, clients and colleagues is at the forefront of our approach.
I also strongly believe that this agenda must go beyond basic societal and environmental needs. It must drive a deeper approach to social, economic, and environmental impact. As such, the actions we take must be tangible and impactful – what gets measured gets done; and what you measure reflects what you value.
The Purpose Coalition’s Levelling Up Goals provide Sodexo with a framework for benchmarking and measuring our progress. Each goal focuses on key societal outcomes. I have been encouraged through the work we have been doing with the Rt Hon Justine Greening and her team that we are on the right track. The goals complement our Social Value Strategy and will help guide how we focus our energies, the actions we take and measure our impact.
We will consolidate our efforts to drive change, create opportunity and achieve impact. This will include how we recruit and progress our workforce; harness the energy transition; provide choices for students and school leavers and extend enterprise by supporting our partners. These areas will all be underpinned by achieving equality through diversity and inclusion and boosting wellbeing to allow people to fulfil their potential.
The timing of our report published in partnership with the Purpose Coalition provides an analysis of Sodexo’s levelling up impact in the UK. I very much welcome feedback from partners, clients and interested partners – together we will achieve more.