Value Toolkit | Driving Value-Based Decision Making

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Ellie Jenkins

Overview

Clients are now expected to realise value beyond cost for every investment decision, but balancing traditional measures of success, with societal and environmental outcomes is complex. The Construction Innovation Hub’s R&D project, the Value Toolkit, has been developed as a direct response to industry and government calls for more outcomes-led decision making and is built on the foundations of the CLC’s Procuring for Value approach. The Value Toolkit is a series of activities, supported by a digital tool and training framework, to help clients and policymakers become more consistent in defining and realising, better environmental, social and economic outcomes.

What we did

As Integrated Project Lead for the Value Toolkit, we used our social sustainability and industry knowledge to guide the project through an extensive pilot phase, directly engaging with over 200 key government and industry stakeholders. Our aim was to create a sustainable operating model to ensure that the Value Toolkit could be deployed at scale, driving benefit for the public sector and, in turn, the wider market. Working closely with the Construction Innovation Hub’s Information Management and Platform Design Programme work streams, we refined the methodology in line with technical feedback from the market and key partners. We developed training standards, a competency framework and facilitator training content, delivering training workshops for over 140 organisations to date. Akerlof has used the Value Toolkit to inform strategy on £2bn new hospital projects, as well as the Ministry of Justice’s £4bn New Prison Programme.

The impact

  • Engagement and management of over 200 industry and government stakeholders, to develop a technical solution and advocacy network.
  • Collaboration with all the sector institutions and bodies to develop a market-ready innovation, tested at scale and ready for deployment.
  • A policy landscape that supports and enables an outcomes-led approach.

Don't just take our word for it...

Akerlof has acted as our strategic lead for the Value Toolkit for over a year, guiding the project through an extensive pilot, managing a vast network of influential stakeholders and driving policy alignment. As one of our flagship schemes, we didn’t offer this responsibility lightly. Ellie’s ability to shape and deliver strategic outcomes for a project of this scale and complexity is second to none. As a trusted partner of the programme, we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Akerlof.

Jon Musset, Operations Director, The Construction Innovation Hub

Read this Construction Innovation Hub article ‘Pilot for ground-breaking Value Toolkit takes off
Building reports on the official launch of the Value Toolkit: ‘
‘Toolkit launched to help industry make better decisions based on value’

Jamie Hillier

Partner
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With a penchant for tweed and jackets with leather arm patches, Jamie began his career as a quantity surveyor, before climbing the ladder to lead major projects for a Tier 1 contractor.

Eventually expanding his book collection beyond copies of SMM7, Jamie has interest in a broad range of subjects linked to delivering better outcomes for society and the environment.

His strategic insights on MMC and behavioural science have made their way into numerous government, industry and academic publications, including the Construction Playbook, Transforming Infrastructure Performance Roadmap to 2030, the Platform Rulebook and the RIBA DfMA Overlay.

John Handscomb

Partner
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Construction is in John’s blood. Learning from his father who was a planner and project manager, John began his career by working on some iconic projects in both the public and private sector.

As a procurement expert and integrator of new ways of working, John has pioneered the integration of platform principles, DfMA processes and supply chain within over £5bn projects in the last 15 years, for some of the largest building programmes in the UK. Despite his considerable expertise, John keeps it simple, communicating complicated ideas with ease and helping to equip the industry with new knowledge and skills.

Outside of Akerlof, John enjoys his executive role with technology start-up ScanTech Digital, spending time with his family, taking trips down the football, playing a bit of golf with friends and the odd pint. 

Our name is shared with George Akerlof, a Nobel Prize-winning economist.

His seminal paper, Market for Lemons, demonstrated the devastating consequences of making decisions under the conditions of quality uncertainty and unequal information between buyers and sellers, increasing the chance of buyers ending up with a ‘lemon’.

This 50-year-old concept continues to retain parallels within the construction industry.

Through our insight and experience, we can rebalance this information asymmetry on behalf of our clients, levelling the playing field to deliver better outcomes.