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Boosting social value with Theory of Change
By Helen Longfils, Mitie Director of Social Value
The term social value has become a cornerstone of how organisations define their role in society. At Mitie, we’re no exception. As Director of Social Value, I’m deeply committed, both personally and professionally, to making sure our work leaves a positive legacy in the communities we serve.
Across the corporate world, social value strategies often revolve around familiar pillars: community, supply chain, people and planet. These have provided a helpful framework – and served us well too. But over time, I’ve grown increasingly aware of their limitations. Too often, they focus on what we do, rather than why we do it or what change we’re trying to create.
After all, if we don’t know what change we’re trying to create, how can we know whether we’re succeeding? That’s why at Mitie we’re now taking a different path.
What is a Theory of Change?
In the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector, the Theory of Change (TOC) is a well-established tool for planning and evaluating impact. It maps the path from inputs to long-term outcomes, helping organisations stay focused on the difference they want to make.
It’s typically visualised as a flow: Inputs → Activities → Outputs → Outcomes → Impact
- Inputs are what we invest: time, funding, partnerships, data.
- Activities are what we do: programmes, interventions, initiatives.
- Outputs are the immediate results: people reached, services delivered, partnerships created, community assets and spaces improved.
- Outcomes are the changes we help bring about: people gaining skills, accessing jobs, progressing in careers.
- Impact is the deeper, long-term change we aim for: improved wellbeing, social mobility, reduced inequality, stronger communities.
The need to deliver benefits in the real world means more organisations are using TOC in their approach to social value. However, typically charities and mission-driven organisations have led the way. We believe the same approach can – and should – be applied in business.
Our focus: The biggest lever we can pull
Too often, corporate social value strategies become a catalogue of ‘nice things we do’: volunteering days, charity donations, school visits. These are good things. But they don’t necessarily result in sustained impact or drive system change.
So we asked ourselves: What’s the most significant, scalable difference we can make as a business?
The answer: investing in employability, skills and sustainable careers.
Jobs change lives. Secure jobs – in inclusive cultures that prioritise wellbeing, progression, security and giving back – create ripple effects across families and communities. What’s more, as a facilities management company, our core work centres around creating and shaping high-performing places – places that are greener, cleaner, and safer. That focus enables us to deliver social value by empowering people and transforming the environments they live and work in.
Our Theory of Change puts this at the centre. It connects how we give back to our communities through the Mitie Foundation’s volunteering, fundraising and employability support; hiring practices; learning, development and apprenticeship programmes; inclusion, health and wellbeing initiatives; supply chain collaboration; and community partnerships – all into one coherent strategy.
Plan Thrive: Our Theory of Change in action
Plan Thrive is our commitment to give back to the communities we serve and the people within them. We’ve adopted TOC in recognition of how it can bridge the gap between intention and measurable impact and help us deliver in line with Mitie’s new purpose: Better places, thriving communities.
We start with listening to the needs of the communities we serve and tailoring how we support employability and provide access to sustainable careers, plus create places that help those communities succeed.
By hiring people who may traditionally find barriers to employment and supporting individuals in the workforce, we aim to create a thriving society. Once individuals take up their employment at Mitie, we provide them with the necessary skills, support and an inclusive culture to become happy, well, productive colleagues who can give back to their communities. This creates a positive feedback loop, where the overall outcome is a more prosperous society.
Why this matters
Adopting a TOC moves us beyond ‘doing good things’ and further towards making measurable, meaningful change. It brings cohesion across our teams and clarity in how we talk about impact, internally and externally. It also gives us the confidence to set bold pledges, measure what matters, and be transparent about what we’re learning.
But more than anything, it helps us lead with purpose, not just pillars.
We believe more businesses should adopt this approach. Because when we shift from pillars to purpose, and from activities to outcomes and impact, we unlock the full potential of what business can do for society.
And that’s the kind of business we want to be.
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