Job spotlight: social value manager, Esh Construction

What does a social value manager do?

As a social value manager, not only do we engage with communities, schools and organisations directly to deliver meaningful engagement surrounding our construction sites, but we also conduct quarterly reports to reflect on our strategies and programme delivery so that we can continually learn and adapt our approach for live and future projects.

A key part of this is local stakeholder engagement.

There are countless organisations – from third sector to educational establishments to trade bodies – that exist to engage within their local communities and deliver a lasting impact with the help of select partners and supporters.

Our collaboration with such organisations is key to programme innovation and controlled growth.

We are also working with social value monitoring platform Loop to support its wider integration of social value reporting across the construction sector.

I work closely with clients to agree the social value commitments of schemes, which then supports a collaborative approach from tender to site.

Our delivery approach centres on our Constructing Local strategy, which features 30 bespoke programmes grouped into six ‘E’ themes – employment, education, engagement, even greener, employees and economy.

What does your typical day look like?

As clichéd as it is to say, no two days are the same. I sometimes start my day with a call to a construction manager to get updates on live schemes and to understand what is in our tender pipeline. From here, I could then visit site to catch up with a recent T Level student placement as part of our scheme commitments.

Other days I am back-to-back delivering in schools, such as one of our Construction in the Curriculum workshops to Year 10 students, with our most recently introduced subject, Science, proving popular within schools.

When I find time to catch up in the office, I’m likely to be finalising a report for a client meeting to showcase the social and economic engagement we have actioned on their doorstep as our range of civil engineering and affordable housing projects progress.

What skills and experience do you need for your role?

In social value, you wear many caps, so it’s important to have an open and adaptive personality. In any day, you could be running from a council leadership meeting to an employability workshop with post-16 students. Having a good understanding of the frame of reference is vital as communication is a key ingredient.

Our work involves a lot of organisation and presentation skills through programme delivery, so having an ability to adapt your delivery styles is crucial for every situation.

We tap into our creative skills to find new ways to engage different community groups to keep our programmes fresh.

I’m fortunate to have a background in construction prior to joining Esh, so it certainly helps for delivery of programmes promoting careers in our industry.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

On a weekly basis I meet a vast cross-section of the community and it’s really rewarding to see how our work can help transform the lives of people from various backgrounds, who otherwise might not have opportunities that we are putting in front of them.

We recently made a contribution to Rotherham Hospital’s neonatal unit and it was inspiring to meet the families who are being supported by the funds that Esh Construction donated.

I also really enjoy working on our social value strategies and planning. I’m really passionate about our work and there is a thrill in plotting out routes to success for the business and the communities in which we serve.

Social value is growing in priority across construction. How do you think this might help to attract the next generation to careers in the industry?

The introduction of the Targets, Outcomes and Measures (TOMs) became a catalyst for change for social value in the sector and it’s enabled us to shift the dial on our programme delivery.

Employability sessions and Construction in the Curriculum workshops have become a key driver of our social value delivery. By engaging children from an early age, and working with all age groups, including adult learners, we are showcasing the vast roles that are now available in construction.

Not only are we helping to shift the mindset of the traditional ‘brickie’ and the on-site nature of construction roles, but we are showcasing how you can work in construction – whether you are interested in business development, IT, graphic design, account management, finance or the more traditional civil engineer or quantity surveyor operations.