Name: Can we assign monetary values to social impact?
Uploaded: 2023-11-10T18:24:49.990Z
Duration: 410.04

Can we assign monetary values to social impact_V3_1.mp4

Can we assign monetary values.vtt

English

{{00:00:00}}
Well, my name is Rebecca Roebuck.

{{00:00:01}}
I'm a social impact advisor and managing director
at a small consulting business called Social Impax.

{{00:00:06}}
We specialize in supporting the infrastructure,
energy and development sectors to

{{00:00:10}}
improve and measure their social impact.

{{00:00:23}}
What is social impact?

{{00:00:24}}
It means different things to different people.

{{00:00:26}}
The way I like to talk about it is that
social impact, it's the consequence or effect

{{00:00:31}}
of change that's experienced by people.

{{00:00:34}}
So there's the people element and then some sort of
change has happened and there's some sort of consequence

{{00:00:39}}
or effect of that change and that's the impact element.

{{00:00:42}}
Do you measure that generally?

{{00:00:43}}
How do you normally measure social impact?

{{00:00:45}}
There's lots of different ways
to measure social, social impact.

{{00:00:48}}
I'm open to lots of different methods and
we use different types of social impact

{{00:00:51}}
measurements depending on the context as well.

{{00:00:54}}
So you can look at social impact from the perspective
of, as I mentioned about the consequence or effect

{{00:00:58}}
of some sort of changes that people have experienced.

{{00:01:00}}
So the first thing you need to sort of
understand is what's changed for people and we

{{00:01:04}}
tend to think about that in terms of outcomes.

{{00:01:06}}
So it's a social outcome.

{{00:01:08}}
When we get into the aspect of impact, it's then, you
know, that's the consequence or effect of that change.

{{00:01:14}}
There's also approaches for social impact measurement
around social valuation or social return on investment.

{{00:01:20}}
And that's often trying to get to a point of how do we
account for the value of whatever that social impact was.

{{00:01:25}}
How do you go about assigning a financial
value to something that's social?

{{00:01:29}}
Yeah, it sounds like, it sounds
like a foreign concept, doesn't it?

{{00:01:34}}
Well, value is really something about relative importance.

{{00:01:37}}
And the example I like to give is, for example,
gold, we think has a value and that's how you

{{00:01:43}}
measure gold by, you know, dollar per ounces.

{{00:01:46}}
But if you've got a family heirloom that's
made of gold, that has a different value

{{00:01:51}}
than say another random piece of gold.

{{00:01:53}}
And that's where the relative importance really comes in.

{{00:01:56}}
So for a social impact perspective,
it's no different from that.

{{00:01:59}}
It's really trying to understand what's the value from the
perspective of the people that are experiencing the change.

{{00:02:07}}
So there's an established methodology that we use,
it's based on social value internationals principles,

{{00:02:13}}
and that's a, a sort of a peak professional body.

{{00:02:17}}
And they've introduced a range of principles,
there's a whole bunch of guidelines and some

{{00:02:22}}
methodologies that we use to basically work out
social return on investment and social valuation.

{{00:02:27}}
So there's a lot of rigor to it, it's a, you
know, a scientific approach, it's kind of like

{{00:02:31}}
accounting principles from that perspective, that's
just doing it with a different a different thing.

{{00:02:37}}
And can you talk about the kinds of
institutions or the kind of areas or the kind of

{{00:02:42}}
industries where you might use this framework?

{{00:02:45}}
Yeah, look, any, any sort of aspect where something
is changing for, for people, you could apply,

{{00:02:52}}
you know, a social value measurement approach
or a social return on investment element.

{{00:02:56}}
I don't always recommend it.

{{00:02:58}}
The times when I do is when you're in an industry or
you've got stakeholders that want to talk in dollar

{{00:03:04}}
terms, or you want to, for example, be able to...

{{00:03:08}}
to prove the, you know, the value
of what you're, you're generating.

{{00:03:13}}
So in a not for profit space, for example, it can be really
useful for them to be able to go to a prospective funder and

{{00:03:18}}
say, if you donate, say, if you give us a hundred thousand
dollars, we'll be able to give you these outcomes and you

{{00:03:24}}
can then, you know, you'll get, you know, a 5 return in
your social value, sort of aspects from that investment.

{{00:03:32}}
So it can be useful from a not for profit perspective.

{{00:03:36}}
The value really comes in two ways.

{{00:03:37}}
One is if you've got stakeholders that want to talk in
dollar terms,  and because it's from a social return

{{00:03:44}}
investment aspect, you can basically look at it from a
ratio perspective of for every dollar you've invested,

{{00:03:49}}
there's some sort of social value return, which can be
negative too, but let's say from a positive perspective.

{{00:03:54}}
It then means you're talking apples and apples.

{{00:03:56}}
So if you've got other programs or initiatives or
companies or projects that are using the same sort

{{00:04:02}}
of measurement approach, you can then get a sense of
relativity compared to what other things are happening.

{{00:04:08}}
So it'd be useful comparing things.

{{00:04:10}}
So would it get used in the private sector as well then?

{{00:04:13}}
Absolutely.

{{00:04:14}}
Yeah.

{{00:04:14}}
We see a lot of, a lot of private companies at the moment
in the context of ESG and sustainability at the moment.

{{00:04:21}}
We're seeing the social aspects
really starting to be elevated.

{{00:04:25}}
I think, you know, governance had a good run,
so has environment, but particularly in the last

{{00:04:29}}
sort of 12 to 18 months, we've seen those sort of
social elements sort of come to the fore in ESG

{{00:04:33}}
especially, and in sustainability elements as well.

{{00:04:37}}
And it becomes then a question of how do you
differentiate for companies in that, in that S bit

{{00:04:42}}
of ESG or the, the social side of sustainability.

{{00:04:46}}
So taking a social value approach and actually
being clear about what your social ambitions

{{00:04:51}}
are and being able to articulate that.

{{00:04:54}}
And social value measurement is
one way to be able to convey that.

{{00:04:57}}
That can be really useful if you're wanting
to differentiate in that market and actually

{{00:05:01}}
include that as part of your value proposition.

{{00:05:04}}
From an investor perspective, there's more interest in it
in terms of ESG, particularly, whereas in the past, I think.

{{00:05:11}}
There was more concern about your green
sort of credentials in terms of, you know,

{{00:05:14}}
carbon and your environmental type stuff.

{{00:05:17}}
Now there's equal interest around, for example, issues
like modern slavery, your workforce conditions your

{{00:05:24}}
overall community benefits that you're generating as well.

{{00:05:27}}
So that social elements really come, come in now to
be of equal weight in terms of investors, you know,

{{00:05:33}}
we've seen some, some examples in industry where
people have lost their, what we call, social license.

{{00:05:39}}
Because their social performance hasn't been, been seen
as, as positive and having negative impact, even though,

{{00:05:45}}
you know, for example, they might be doing exactly
what, what was expected in terms of the, the project.

{{00:05:51}}
So definitely in the investor element,
that's a really key consideration.

{{00:05:56}}
I think too, from a company's perspective, there's
a recognition now that it's not about kind of using

{{00:06:03}}
your workforce and working people to the bone.

{{00:06:06}}
There's a lot more recognition in business
and companies about actually want to create

{{00:06:10}}
positive experiences for their workers.

{{00:06:13}}
And from a general public perspective as
well I think expectations have changed.

{{00:06:18}}
I think, you know, with COVID for example,
you know, post COVID there's a lot more

{{00:06:22}}
emphasis now on health and wellbeing outcomes.

{{00:06:25}}
And that's meant expectations have changed about, you know,
what we build, why we build it, the sorts of amenities

{{00:06:31}}
and features that are a part of what we build as well.

{{00:06:34}}
So I think that sort of increased interest around health
and wellbeing has met an increased emphasis around

{{00:06:39}}
social impact aspects in the built environment too.

I'm a social impact advisor and managing director
at a small consulting business called Social Impax.

We specialize in supporting the infrastructure,
energy and development sectors to

It means different things to different people.

The way I like to talk about it is that
social impact, it's the consequence or effect

So there's the people element and then some sort of
change has happened and there's some sort of consequence

or effect of that change and that's the impact element.

How do you normally measure social impact?

There's lots of different ways
to measure social, social impact.

I'm open to lots of different methods and
we use different types of social impact

measurements depending on the context as well.

So you can look at social impact from the perspective
of, as I mentioned about the consequence or effect

of some sort of changes that people have experienced.

So the first thing you need to sort of
understand is what's changed for people and we

tend to think about that in terms of outcomes.

When we get into the aspect of impact, it's then, you
know, that's the consequence or effect of that change.

There's also approaches for social impact measurement
around social valuation or social return on investment.

And that's often trying to get to a point of how do we
account for the value of whatever that social impact was.

How do you go about assigning a financial
value to something that's social?

Yeah, it sounds like, it sounds
like a foreign concept, doesn't it?

Well, value is really something about relative importance.

And the example I like to give is, for example,
gold, we think has a value and that's how you

measure gold by, you know, dollar per ounces.

But if you've got a family heirloom that's
made of gold, that has a different value

And that's where the relative importance really comes in.

So for a social impact perspective,
it's no different from that.

It's really trying to understand what's the value from the
perspective of the people that are experiencing the change.

So there's an established methodology that we use,
it's based on social value internationals principles,

and that's a, a sort of a peak professional body.

And they've introduced a range of principles,
there's a whole bunch of guidelines and some

methodologies that we use to basically work out
social return on investment and social valuation.

So there's a lot of rigor to it, it's a, you
know, a scientific approach, it's kind of like

accounting principles from that perspective, that's
just doing it with a different a different thing.

And can you talk about the kinds of
institutions or the kind of areas or the kind of

industries where you might use this framework?

Yeah, look, any, any sort of aspect where something
is changing for, for people, you could apply,

you know, a social value measurement approach
or a social return on investment element.

The times when I do is when you're in an industry or
you've got stakeholders that want to talk in dollar

terms, or you want to, for example, be able to...

to prove the, you know, the value
of what you're, you're generating.

So in a not for profit space, for example, it can be really
useful for them to be able to go to a prospective funder and

say, if you donate, say, if you give us a hundred thousand
dollars, we'll be able to give you these outcomes and you

can then, you know, you'll get, you know, a 5 return in
your social value, sort of aspects from that investment.

So it can be useful from a not for profit perspective.

One is if you've got stakeholders that want to talk in
dollar terms,  and because it's from a social return

investment aspect, you can basically look at it from a
ratio perspective of for every dollar you've invested,

there's some sort of social value return, which can be
negative too, but let's say from a positive perspective.

It then means you're talking apples and apples.

So if you've got other programs or initiatives or
companies or projects that are using the same sort

of measurement approach, you can then get a sense of
relativity compared to what other things are happening.

So would it get used in the private sector as well then?

We see a lot of, a lot of private companies at the moment
in the context of ESG and sustainability at the moment.

We're seeing the social aspects
really starting to be elevated.

I think, you know, governance had a good run,
so has environment, but particularly in the last

sort of 12 to 18 months, we've seen those sort of
social elements sort of come to the fore in ESG

especially, and in sustainability elements as well.

And it becomes then a question of how do you
differentiate for companies in that, in that S bit

of ESG or the, the social side of sustainability.

So taking a social value approach and actually
being clear about what your social ambitions

And social value measurement is
one way to be able to convey that.

That can be really useful if you're wanting
to differentiate in that market and actually

include that as part of your value proposition.

From an investor perspective, there's more interest in it
in terms of ESG, particularly, whereas in the past, I think.

There was more concern about your green
sort of credentials in terms of, you know,

carbon and your environmental type stuff.

Now there's equal interest around, for example, issues
like modern slavery, your workforce conditions your

overall community benefits that you're generating as well.

So that social elements really come, come in now to
be of equal weight in terms of investors, you know,

we've seen some, some examples in industry where
people have lost their, what we call, social license.

Because their social performance hasn't been, been seen
as, as positive and having negative impact, even though,

you know, for example, they might be doing exactly
what, what was expected in terms of the, the project.

So definitely in the investor element,
that's a really key consideration.

I think too, from a company's perspective, there's
a recognition now that it's not about kind of using

your workforce and working people to the bone.

There's a lot more recognition in business
and companies about actually want to create

And from a general public perspective as
well I think expectations have changed.

I think, you know, with COVID for example,
you know, post COVID there's a lot more

emphasis now on health and wellbeing outcomes.

And that's meant expectations have changed about, you know,
what we build, why we build it, the sorts of amenities

and features that are a part of what we build as well.

So I think that sort of increased interest around health
and wellbeing has met an increased emphasis around

social impact aspects in the built environment too.

Expert Insight

Social impact refers to the effects or consequences experienced by people due to some kind of change. 
Business can cause both good and bad impact and that's just one of the reasons why measuring social impact is so important. But how can business assess the value of their actions' outcomes and put a number on it?
See how Rebeca Roebuck approaches the idea of value, including in financial terms, and understand the principles and methodologies you can use to make sense of the return on social investment.