As well as an understanding of the issues relating to health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, in the contract workforce, the guidance on the two award sub-criteria provides tenderers with examples of the types of activities to demonstrate how they can achieve this.
Support health and wellbeing in the workforce
- Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, development practices and retention focussed activities including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition.
- Investing in the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the contract workforce, for example by implementing the six standards in the Mental Health at Work commitment, and outlining plans to engage the contract workforce in deciding the most important issues to address.
- Methods to measure staff engagement over time and adapt to any changes in the results.
Theme 5 of the Social Value Model addresses two government policy outcomes: improving health and wellbeing; and improving community integration. Health and wellbeing will be relevant for contracts where there is a reliance on a large workforce, and it is important to the performance of the service.
As well as an understanding of the issues relating to health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, in the contract workforce, the guidance on the two award sub-criteria provides tenderers with examples of the types of activities to demonstrate how they can achieve this.
Support health and wellbeing in the workforce
- Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, development practices and retention focussed activities including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition.
- Investing in the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the contract workforce, for example by implementing the six standards in the Mental Health at Work commitment, and outlining plans to engage the contract workforce in deciding the most important issues to address.
- Methods to measure staff engagement over time and adapt to any changes in the results.
Influencing support for health and wellbeing
- Measures to raise awareness or increase the influence of staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders to promote health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, for example through engagement, co-design/creation, training and education, partnering/collaborating and volunteering.
There are plenty of useful resources available for supporting and improving wellbeing. For example, the government has partnered with Mind, the mental health charity, in the creation of the Mental Health at Work website, which includes documents, guides, tips, videos, courses, podcasts, templates and information from key organisations across the UK, all aimed at helping employers get to grips with workplace mental health.
The second policy outcome is improving community integration, for example through volunteering and greater collaboration of public and private sector organisations and local communities. Where contracts involve engagement with the community, for example through planning or local consultation processes, focus groups or end-user consultation, or opportunities such as construction site visits for school children, this is likely to feature. Again, the guidance on the two award sub-criteria provides tenderers with examples of the types of activities to demonstrate how they can achieve this.
Collaborate in codesign and delivery
- Understanding of local demographics, needs and opportunities for the co-design of the goods, services and works to be delivered under the contract.
- Methods for engaging with different parts of the community to inform decisions, strategy and projects, such as engagement events, awareness campaigns and outreach activities.
- Measures for making facilities used in the delivery of the contract available for community groups, education or training.
- Support to community-led initiatives relevant to the contract, such as reducing loneliness, helping with English language proficiency, and helping meaningful social mixing among people with different backgrounds.
- Employee volunteering schemes applicable to the contract workforce.
Influence to support strong, integrated communities
- Measures to raise awareness or increase the influence of staff, suppliers, customers, communities and stakeholders to promote strong, integrated communities, for example through engagement, training and education, partnering/collaborating and volunteering.
The outcome of improving community integration may be especially relevant for those procurements where the performance of the contract will need to be scaled up in specific locations, enabling suppliers to engage with communities where they operate. Reporting metrics focus on outputs, for example, the percentage of all companies in the supply chain under the contract who have implemented measures to improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of employees. This is augmented with qualitative feedback from participants such as employees, to evidence the success of initiatives and to help inform improvement throughout the course of the contract.
For more information on responding to social value tender questions, you can contact us free on 0800 612 5563 or email info@executivecompass.co.uk