Roche is committed to helping achieve a healthier and more equal society. This purpose goes beyond developing tests and treatments - it's also about reducing pressure on the NHS, championing social mobility, and contributing to a more sustainable sector.
We had the chance to interview Gerard Harkin, Head of Social Value at Roche Diagnostics UK & Ireland - he told us all about the business's Social Value strategy, how to get started with Social Value, and much more.
What does Social Value in Action look like at Roche?
It starts with the needs of our customers - so the NHS.
The NHS has really ambitious goals to achieve net zero by 2045, so as a supplier, we've got a lot of programs in place around sustainability. That's how we design our products and how we deliver our products - for example, using hydrogenated vegetable oils is a 90 percent reduction in carbon. It could also be biodiversity projects that our staff do in and around the NHS trust areas.
Social mobility is also another big theme for the NHS. I'm really proud that we partnered with IntoUniversity, an award winning charity across the UK at 43 locations. Some of our social mobility work is done with there, but there's many other examples at Roche.
I think health inequalities is another big issue for the NHS, and we've got a number of targeted health inequality programmes at Roche.
Why did you choose Social Value Portal as your partner?
We chose Social Value Portal as a customer because of the range of the capabilities and the breadth of your offering - from strategy consulting, to the measurement system, to the metrics, and just the general advice and support that we knew you'd be able to give us.
Your culture as well - you're very easy to work with. As a very busy, corporate, industrial organisation, having partners that we can work with and are easy to work with really helps.
In terms of how working with Social Value Portal has helped us at Roche, I think we've now got a really coherent strategy on Social Value, and you've helped upskill a number of our staff as well.
You've also helped us a lot on the measurement side - uploading our customer commitments and really understanding the elements of measurement. That's been really important.
I think the great thing is the feedback we've had from the market in the last two years since we started the journey - that we're real market leaders. Our ambition is to be the leader in Social Value in the healthcare industry and that's the signal that we're getting back from the industry. It's a great position for us to be in.
How do you deliver Social Value for customers?
The weighting is a minimum of 10% in the healthcare industry for Social Value - sometimes it's 15%, and there's talk of it being 20%.
When we submit a bid, we commit over 10 to 15 years over the contract period to deliver Social Value for that customer. So a part of it is based on our commitments to customers - setting up the projects and initiatives for our customers over those timelines.
We also do a lot of Social Value as a business as well, whether that's the environmental programs that we have, working with our supply chains, working with the procurement partners, or getting our staff excited about volunteering in their local communities.
There's many, many different ways in which we integrate it into our business, but a key part is supporting our customers and the commitments that we've made to the NHS.
What's your advice for organisations just starting out in Social Value?
My advice to companies who are thinking about getting started in Social Value is not to overthink it. There's a lot of great resources at Social Value Portal so you can get up to speed very very quickly on what Social Value is about.
You'll already as an organisation be delivering a lot of Social Value. You'll probably be employing local people, your staff will be volunteering, you'll be making charity donations. So realise you're already delivering Social Value and just figure out how much Social Value you're actually delivering today.
I think as well, just go and talk to local organisations, local Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises in your areas. Listen to what their issues and challenges are, and try to figure out what action you can take now to help and support those organisations. That's a great way to get you on your journey.
One of the things we do at Roche is make videos of practically everything we're doing and we play it back in our corporate office, so that when people are queuing to get a coffee, there's a big screen and they can see everything that their colleagues are doing to deliver Social Value. So you get that really positive effect happening.
Start small, get things moving, don't overthink it.
I could ask the question, 'When is the right time to start a Social Value project?' 20 years ago, right? So what that means is, just get moving, don't overthink it, and start making an impact'.
We chose Social Value Portal as a customer because of the range of the capabilities that exist and the breadth of your offering - from strategy consulting, to the measurement system, to the metrics, and just the general advice and support that we knew you'd be able to give us.
Gerard Harkin, Head of Social Value, Roche Diagnostics UK & Ireland
What's next for Roche and Social Value?
So, what's next for Roche:
- Our Social Value pledge: We're the first healthcare company in the UK to make a big bold £200 million pledge in Social Value we'll deliver. I'm really proud that we've made that pledge.
- Achieving Net Zero by 2045: In fact, we're going to go further than that - we're going to deliver Net Zero by 2045, and we're going to deliver 'real zero' by 2050. So again, very, very ambitious.
- Health inequalities: There are so many health inequalities in the UK, so that's going to become a core focus for us at Roche - helping to tackle health inequalities to support and reduce pressures on the NHS.
- Suppliers: The next level is to educate our supply base and amplify Social Value across our supply chain. It's not just Roche - it's Roche and our partners, so that we can maximise the impact we're making in the UK
Want to learn more about how Roche is pioneering Social Value in healthcare? Check out our dedicated spotlight on their work.
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