What Social Value looks like in practice in our business sector has been much debated.
At one-point RMP looked into employing a separate team to deliver on our Social Value undertakings. However, after much staff consultation we realised it was vital for our own frontline account directors to lead on the projects and be key members of the team. Social Value, just like account, claims or risk management, needs to form part of our DNA.
I am sure I am not alone when I say Social Value is not something we felt comfortable committing to. We are insurance technicians and that is what we are employed to do first and foremost.
Below is an example of what RMP did to deliver on one of our Social Value promises for a major Metropolitan Council.
Sam Tomkinson from the RMP team and I, led on an exercise to hold mock job interviews at a high school in a very deprived area. The aim of the event was to support year ten pupils by providing them with an experience of participating in a mock job interview in a safe environment.
We attended alongside other employers who had volunteered to provide staff to act as interviewers. The intention of the interviews was to enhance student confidence and help them reflect on what techniques they need to improve, and how to market themselves.
Preparation
There was much internal preparation ahead of the day to ensure our questions and feedback would be relevant and beneficial, support which both myself and Sam found invaluable and helped to sooth our initial nerves around the project – especially my own!
The groundwork we did in respect of the typical questions school leavers would experience in a job interview served us extremely well. While the Authority was happy for us to introduce our own interview questions, provided us with some interview questions in advance. The aim of this was to achieve parity and consistency of questions for the students being interviewed by volunteers. They also supplied a student feedback form commenting on each student’s overall performance.
Mock interview day
Our team that attended was a split age range (from 25 years old) as we felt this cross-section of people may be more representative of a real interview situation.
While it was not actually referred to, the school would have undertaken mandatory screenings to confirm those volunteering were not prohibited from working with vulnerable groups.
Once volunteers registered their attendance in the school reception area, we were led to the main school hall. There were a series of desks and chairs spread out across one half of the hall with a curtain separating the volunteers from the students’ area where they were under supervision in small groups. It felt like a return to my own school days some 43 years ago sitting ‘O’ levels!
General instructions were given on how to conduct the interviews within the expected time frame per student; no more than a strict 10 -15 minutes. Teachers and school careers advisers managed the process, directing students to the next available interviewer.
Volunteers were not allowed to leave the main hall without being accompanied by a teacher or career’s advisor. This was partly due to key fob access to some areas, but it was evident that the school recognised the need to safeguard children and manage the movement of visitors.
Learnings
As you would expect, the performance of student in the mock interviews differed significantly given there was a wide range of abilities. It should be noted that this was the first interview type experience the pupils had encountered, and the majority were very nervous, as were we!
There were some who relished the opportunity to experience the mock interviews and were excellent. Others clearly thought the opportunity was a good one and would help them in the future, but they could have performed better where it not for being so nervous.
Some students were clearly well prepared with CVs, and some had perhaps been schooled in the interview process by parents. A limited number of students showed no interest and said they were only there because they had to attend.
While interview questions were provided by the school, it became apparent that sometimes you needed to ask the same question on the question set but in a different manner to suit individuals. This was particularly relevant for those students who were perhaps neurodiverse. This was a skill we had to learn.
It is therefore, with no small degree of pleasure, I can confirm that while initially being reluctant to become too involved in the day, we were genuinely satisfied at our contribution. In particular, our interaction with those students who had clearly put a lot into the interviews; some performing excellently.
The event was positive and feedback from volunteers and students demonstrated that the interaction with employers was very successful. We hope it was beneficial for students, helping them develop confidence, and an opportunity to find out more about working life and how to prepare for interviews.
