Helping SUEZ Drive Social Value in Waste Contracts
SUEZ recycling and recovery UK pioneers sustainable solutions and innovative technologies for the UK’s circular economy. Social responsibility is at the core of SUEZ’s triple bottom line approach and it aims to optimise social value creation through the delivery of new and innovative projects, in partnership with local authorities.
The SUEZ bid team have found that there is a breadth of interest from local authorities tendering contracts and their offering doesn’t always land effectively with potential customers.
The team realised they did not have a full appreciation of the internal barriers many authorities were facing, which could limit opportunities to deliver meaningful non-financial benefits to communities.
To address this, SUEZ commissioned Sustainable Sidekicks to help their bid team better engage local authorities to maximise the potential of social value in their contracts.
Our Brief:
- Equip SUEZ teams with tools and processes to engage local authorities on social value opportunities.
- Overcome key barriers such as:
- Skepticism about social value deliverables.
- Limited weighting of social value in scoring.
- Budget constraints and short-term thinking.
- Identify opportunities with key clients and embed effective tools for future tenders.
Our Approach:
Through a 2-part workshop series, we introduced the SUEZ team to behavioural science principles and tools to uncover opportunities, engage stakeholders, and address barriers.
1. Segmenting Audiences:
Using social value segments identified by Eunomia, we categorised clients into:
- Embracers
- Adopters
- Compliers
- Bystanders
2. Empathy Mapping:
We helped the team explore what key stakeholders in local authorities might think, feel, see, hear, and do when considering social value.
3. Journey Mapping:
The team examined every stage of the tender process, identifying barriers and opportunities for integrating social value by considering:
- Cognitive, operational, and political influences.
- Social-cultural dynamics within organisations.
4. Sphere of Control, Influence, and Concern:
We helped SUEZ focus their energy on areas where they could make the greatest impact while acknowledging external limitations.
Workshop Delivery:
In online sessions, we guided the team through these tools and concepts collectively. Breakout rooms enabled smaller groups to practice with realistic scenarios, such as pitching social value initiatives like re-use centers that create local jobs.
- Session 1: Tackled challenges and barriers.
- Session 2: Developed solutions to overcome those barriers.
Key Outcomes:
The workshops equipped SUEZ teams with actionable insights and tools to optimise social value engagement:
- Client-Centered Thinking: The team gained a deeper understanding of their clients’ challenges and developed strategies to support them effectively.
- Opportunities for Influence: They identified ways to elevate social value discussions, such as highlighting its benefits at public events.
- Creative Solutions to Barriers:
- Simplifying the concept of social value for easier adoption.
- Sharing success stories from trusted peers who embrace social value.
- Breaking down silos by engaging different departments within local authorities.
Finally, the team pinpointed where these tools fit into their internal processes, ensuring they could embed and apply them in future tenders.
This behavioural science-led approach not only strengthened the bid team’s ability to engage clients but also empowered them to lead conversations on social value in waste management.
The workshop highlighted new ways to understand our clients’ challenges, how to adopt behavioural science approaches and thinking within our existing processes and how to create thoughtful customer profiles to drive bespoke offers for our customers. Our experience of working with Livvy, Sustainable Sidekicks was thought provoking and enjoyable.