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Because of that influence, organisations have an opportunity to create value beyond business performance alone. Through the way workplaces are operated and experienced, they can support inclusion, skills development and social mobility while strengthening their own business objectives.
Strong social outcomes can support talent attraction and retention, strengthen employee engagement and demonstrate measurable progress against ESG commitments.
The workplace as a social catalyst
Through its workforce, supply chains and community partnerships, ISS helps customers widen participation for people from a broad range of backgrounds, experiences and circumstances.
This can be particularly valuable for organisations with highly specialised or knowledge-based workforces, where the nature of the roles available may limit recruitment from a broad cross-section of society. Through its diverse range of roles, recruitment networks and career pathways, ISS can reach and employ talent that might otherwise be underrepresented in these workplace environments.
Customers benefit from new perspectives, skills and experiences that help create more dynamic and engaging places to work. This extends the social impact of the workplace beyond the customer’s direct employee population, strengthening local community connections and supporting social cohesion.
Turning social value into business value
Facilities management has a unique position at the intersection of people, workplaces and communities. By connecting services, people and operations, ISS helps customers translate social sustainability ambitions into measurable outcomes. This can include creating pathways into employment, supporting skills development, promoting fair employment practices and opening opportunities for people who may otherwise face barriers to work.
At a time when organisations face growing expectations from employees, investors and society, social value provides evidence of the broader impact being created through business operations and partnerships. It helps turn social sustainability from an aspiration into tangible business value.
The most effective partnerships take a long-term view. By starting with clear goals, agreed measures of success and regular dialogue, customers and ISS can create impact that is visible not only in reporting, but also in stronger employee engagement, deeper community connections and lasting social value.
"Our role is to help customers create measurable social value through their people, workplaces and communities, while providing the evidence needed to understand, demonstrate and strengthen that impact over time."
Margot Slattery
Social Value and Inclusion Ambassador, ISS A/S
From commitment to evidence
Creating social value is only part of the challenge. Organisations also need to understand and demonstrate the impact they are creating for people and communities.
With more than 330,000 placemakers worldwide, ISS sees every day how workplaces can create opportunity, strengthen communities and support social mobility. By measuring these outcomes consistently and at scale, ISS helps customers understand the value being created through their workplaces, supply chains and community partnerships.
Social value in action
Creating impact through the workplace
How can the workplace strengthen local communities?
When a customer opened a new site in an economically disadvantaged area, local planning commitments included creating employment opportunities within the surrounding community. However, many of the customer's own roles required specialist technical expertise, meaning much of its recruitment would come from outside the local area. ISS helped bridge that gap. By recruiting service staff locally, identifying community-based suppliers and creating training pathways for local residents, ISS enabled the customer to create tangible social value through the workplace.
How can the workplace unlock overlooked talent?
At a consulting customer's office, ISS trained and employed a team of deaf baristas to operate the workplace coffee bar. Interactive displays help employees learn basic sign language for ordering, creating a more inclusive workplace experience while opening career opportunities for talented individuals who are often overlooked in traditional recruitment processes. Through its specialist expertise, recruitment networks and tailored training programmes, ISS was able to access talent pools that the customer would have been unlikely to reach directly. The result is a workplace experience that strengthens inclusion and belonging while creating meaningful employment opportunities.
How can the workplace bring inclusion to life?
At the headquarters of a global engineering company, ISS provides cleaning services through a team where 65% of employees have different abilities, with nearly 70% of those living with severe disabilities. Working closely with the customer, ISS creates meaningful employment opportunities while providing the support and workplace adaptations people need to thrive in their roles.
The partnership makes inclusion a visible part of everyday workplace life, bringing a broader range of skills, experiences and perspectives into the workplace. As the customer puts it, the ambition is to reach a point where “inclusion is no longer seen as noteworthy because it has become a natural part of workplace life.”
As economies and communities evolve, not everyone benefits equally. Inclusive employment, skills development and community investment remain important opportunities for organisations that want to create lasting value beyond their own workforce.
Scaling impact together
Social sustainability creates the greatest value when organisations, suppliers and communities work towards shared outcomes, particularly when those efforts can be scaled across locations and markets.
ISS' approach helps customers build a more consistent picture of social value across countries while recognising local needs and opportunities. The result is stronger workplaces, greater opportunity for people and more resilient communities.
The most successful partnerships recognise that social value is not created in isolation. When customers and providers work together around shared ambitions, the workplace can become a catalyst for inclusion, skills development and social mobility, creating lasting value for people, organisations and society.
Making it visible helps organisations understand what is working, where opportunities remain and how successful approaches can be scaled over time. By combining meaningful outcomes with consistent measurement, ISS helps customers turn social sustainability from an aspiration into a measurable driver of lasting value for people, communities and business.
From commitment to evidence: Social sustainability at ISS
- More than 120,000 recognised qualifications delivered to placemakers or their family members
- Target of 350,000 qualifications by 2030
- Expanded living wage assessments across multiple markets
- Partnership with Social Value Portal to measure impact across people, communities and the wider economy
- A distinctive global approach to measuring social impact across countries, contracts and communities
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