How Hays is raising the bar for Social Value in recruitment

For over five decades UK recruitment leader Hays has been connecting talented candidates with opportunities.  

But over the past few years, they have blazed a new trail for the recruitment industry with a Social Value strategy that is breaking down employment barriers, creating opportunities for those furthest from the job market, championing sustainability, and much more.  

In 2024, Hays delivered £1.2 million of Social Value across the UK and Ireland, with each pound representing real impact and lives changed. In this spotlight, we’ll take an in-depth look at how Hays is driving positive change. 

🎥 Watch: How Hays is driving Social Value

Partnering with Social Value Portal: A first for recruitment 

In October 2022, Hays became the first recruitment business to join Social Value Portal. Their goal was to embed a transparent and measurable Social Value strategy across the organisation that would make a real and lasting impact. 

Building Hays’ Social Value strategy 

Hays’ workforce is highly engaged with the notion of ‘doing the right thing’, and the business’s skillsets, operations and supply chain present a major opportunity to tackle the UK’s skills shortage crisis by improving employability. 

Our Consulting team worked closely with Hays to build a visionary strategy that would unlock positive impact across their operations. A central part of this was adopting the Social Value TOM System™, the leading standard for measuring Social Value.   

The TOM System enabled Hays to track tangible outputs (e.g., hours of volunteering), and overall impact using the ‘Social Value £’, while aligning to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 

The outcome was a clear roadmap with short, medium, and long-term goals to elevate Hays’ Social Value impact. These included: 

• Creating a formal data gathering and reporting process around Social Value 

• Establishing ownership for Social Value across Hays’ structure and different regions  

• Expanding dedication of time, space, and resources to Social Value 

Kate Clarfelt, who helped Hays create their Social Value strategy, commented:  

Hays has an incredible reach across both employers and the talent market, backed by a passionate and skilled workforce. Our goal in developing their strategy was to channel these strengths into structured, measurable actions that drive real impact across the regions that Hays touches. Hays has unlocked value across their stakeholder community of clients and employers by influencing responsible recruitment and business practices. The team has truly embraced this strategy, turning ambition into action and quickly delivering on the socioeconomic and environmental outcomes that they set out to address. 

Kate Clarfelt, Senior Consultant, Social Value Portal 

Spotlights: Key Social Value initiatives at Hays  

So, how exactly is Hays using its expertise and resources to make a positive difference? Here’s a snapshot of a few of their most impactful and inspirational initiatives: 

Project Flourish: Changing young lives 

Youth homelessness is a growing crisis in the UK – it’s been estimated that 118,134 young people aged 16-24 were homeless or at risk of homelessness during 2023/24.  

And for many, the lack of a permanent home is just one part of a much bigger challenge. Lack of access to practical and financial resources to find employment, as well as the absence of support networks, make it incredibly difficult to build a secure future. 

Since 2019, Hays has been partnered with EveryYouth, a UK charity that supports young people experiencing homelessness.  

Through fundraising efforts, they’ve already generated over £400,000 for the charity. That equates to 296 young people placed into employment, or 16,000 hours of 1-2-1 career coaching through EveryYouth’s employability programme.  

But Hays knew that with their resources and expertise, more was possible. 

The birth of Project Flourish 

Project Flourish is a first of its kind pro bono consultancy service, created in collaboration with EveryYouth, that breaks down employment barriers for young people facing homelessness through:  

• Tailored guidance and support to young people throughout the recruitment process 

• Education for employers on how to address the barriers that young people experiencing homelessness face 

• Direct funding through Hays’ ‘Super Boost’ bursary, covering everything from a young person’s food and accommodation, to travel and pastoral support  

Project Flourish provided us with a structure and process to follow from start to finish, including an Employer Awareness Session with a clinical psychologist who specialises in ‘Psychologically Informed Environments’ for young people. This enabled us to really understand the differing management styles required to support a young person affected by trauma. Our experience has been both humbling and enlightening; it has lifted team spirits and has provided us all with a huge lesson in resilience. I would highly recommend Project Flourish. 

An employer participant in Project Flourish 

The impact of Project Flourish

It’s hard to put a number on the life-changing support Project Flourish has created, but here’s a snapshot of its impact so far: 

• 10 young people provided meaningful employment opportunities (and counting) 

• £60,000 in funding via Hays’ Super Boost bursary 

• £166,000+ of Social Value delivered 

The success of the initiative was formally recognised at the 2024 Social Value Awards, where the project won the ‘Creating Capability’ category. 

🎥 Watch: The impact of Project Flourish

Volunteering: How Hays & Neighbourly are strengthening communities across the UK & Ireland 

Volunteering is one of the most powerful ways businesses can create Social Value. By mobilising their workforces – and their skillsets – companies can support community causes and tackle a range of social, economic, and environmental challenges.  

Hays Gets Neighbourly 

Hays have embraced this approach through an extensive volunteering partnership with Neighbourly. In July 2023, Hays launched ‘Hays Gets Neighbourly’, a volunteering campaign that: 

• Supported 282 community causes 

• Reached 76 postcodes across the UK & Ireland 

But Hays didn’t stop there. In 2024, they scaled up their efforts, running two phases of volunteering with a sharper focus on deploying strategic skills:  

Phase 1: May 2024 

• Connected over 1,300 Hays volunteers with 190 events  

• Contributed 6,600 hours of volunteering and supported 145 good causes  

• Impacted 55,000 people: 52% people with disabilities, 45% families and 37% young people  

• Created £116,000 of Social Value 

Phase 2: October 2024  

• An ‘always-on’ skills-based volunteering campaign 

• Encompassed careers advise, IT, marketing support, and more 

• 94% of Hays volunteers said it gave them a sense of sense of achievement and satisfaction 

• 88% of Hays volunteers said they felt more connected to the local community 

I wanted to thank the team from Hays... they were fantastic and a credit to Hays – hardworking, professional, but also bright and down to earth and engaged so well with our guests. It really makes it a lovely and welcoming environment when we have volunteers who are excited to be there. 

Lorraine, Shelter Coordinator, C4WS Homeless Project 

Empowering social enterprises with Amey 

Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs) play a vital role in strengthening local economies and supporting vulnerable communities.  

That’s why Hays partnered with Amey, a leading engineering and infrastructure company, to help four VCSEs scale up their operations and expand their reach.  

What did this look like on the ground? Hays’ support included:  

• 73 hours of mentoring 

• 64 hours of skills-based volunteering  

• And a £40,000 grant!  

This support is helping the VCSEs continue and expand their critical work – which includes employability support for those furthest from the job market and changing public perceptions of people experiencing homelessness.  

All counted, Hays’ partnership with Amey has generated £56,000 of Social Value.  

Tackling mental health in construction with Band of Builders 

The construction industry is a pillar of the UK economy, but the wellbeing of its workforce often goes overlooked, with mental health challenges being especially prevalent. 

Hays is tackling this problem through their partnership with Band of Builders (BoB), a National UK Construction charity. 

Since launching the partnership in 2023, Hays has been providing practical support, awareness, and resources to tradespeople. They’ve visited 570 construction sites to discuss mental health with workers and provide branded merchandise raising awareness.  

Using the TOM System, Hays calculated over £31,000 of Social Value delivered by the initiative – which was also shortlisted for the 2024 Inside Out Employer Initiative Award, receiving ‘Highly Commended’. 

What does the future hold for Social Value at Hays? 

With an already impressive track record in Social Value, Hays isn’t slowing down. Their future plans include: 

• Providing employment pathways and training opportunities as a Homewards Activator 

• Scaling up Project Flourish to support even more young people facing homelessness 

• Expanding their support for social enterprises and amplifying their social value 

• Growing their volunteering programme and delivering a third Neighbourly campaign 

• Strengthening their environmental commitments, with a structured plan to reduce Scope 3 emissions 

Hays has been a true changemaker in the recruitment space. From partnerships like Project Flourish to their volunteering and support for social enterprises, they’re showing what’s possible with a committed, purpose-driven approach to business. At Social Value Portal, we’re so proud to be supporting Hays on their Social Value journey and are excited to see their future plans come to fruition!  

Claire Houston-Holland, Strategic Account Manager, Social Value Portal 

Reporting Social Value at Hays 

Hays uses Social Value Portal’s all-in-one platform to record, report, and manage all their Social Value activity – across operations, contracts, and supply chain – in one place.  

And at a time when greenwashing and social washing are under increasing scrutiny, Hays ensures credibility by having all their Social Value reporting independently validated by Social Value Portal’s expert data review team.  

Partnering with Social Value Portal has had a transformative impact on the way Hays delivers Social Value, and instrumental in embedding a robust Social Value strategy across our operations. The TOM System™ – and the platform's comprehensive capabilities – have enabled us to measure and report our social impact with unprecedented transparency and accuracy. This level of insight has helped us focus on what local people, businesses and communities require to thrive – and how we’re able to continue delivering on these unique needs. Together with the expertise and support from the SVP team, the collaboration has empowered us to drive meaningful change on scale and make a real difference to the communities we serve. 

Karen Young, Director and Social & Environmental Purpose Lead, Hays UK&I 

Looking for more inspiration?  

Hays’ Social Value work is making a difference for communities across the UK & Ireland. Want to see the full impact? Explore their 2024 Social Impact Report.  

Or, for more inspiration, read more Social Value success stories.