“Since Siemens was founded more than 170 years ago, we’ve evolved from a manufacturing and engineering business into a global technology leader. Today, we operate in more than 190 countries with over 320,000 colleagues, and throughout this transformation, we’ve sharpened our focus on sustainability and digitalisation—two pillars that now sit at the heart of our global strategy.

In 2021, we began embedding societal impact directly into our business priorities. At first, our approach was largely reactive. But with the support of the B4SI framework, we’ve shifted to a far more strategic model.

Before adopting B4SI, our social impact efforts were dispersed across teams and difficult to compare. B4SI has given us the structure and clarity to bring these previously fragmented activities into a single, coherent framework—allowing us to categorise global initiatives consistently and measure their inputs, outputs, and long-term impacts in a unified, strategic way.

This shift has enabled us to maintain full visibility over our programmes, allowing us to clearly understand the value created—from volunteering and education initiatives to partnerships with organisations such as the National Emergencies Trust.

With decision-useful data at our fingertips, we’re better able to guide our strategy, track progress, compare across sectors and geographies, and ensure our work remains aligned with the needs of customers and communities. One of the most important shifts for us has been prioritising quality over quantity—choosing fewer, higher‑quality partnerships that can deliver sustained, meaningful impacts.

B4SI’s methodology encourages deeper, longer-term collaborations rather than spreading ourselves too thin. This has helped ensure that our support delivers genuine, lasting change.

It has also strengthened our ability to meet reporting requirements, such as the CSRD, while driving innovation, accountability and real-world outcomes.

A major milestone came in July 2025 with the relaunch of our “People-Centricity in Society” framework. We introduced a three-tier model—engagement, impact, and transformation—and it has empowered our teams to focus on sustainable, long-term results rather than one-off interventions.

 

Siemens and Social Value: Turning Strategy into Measurable Impact

Here in the UK, social value is embedded in public procurement legislation through the Public Services (Social Value) Act. For Siemens PLC in Great Britain, this has become a catalyst for meaningful change in how we operate, deliver, and measure impact.

We define social value as the quantifiable return on societal impact, supported by Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology. But the most significant strategic uplift has come from adopting the B4SI framework across our work.

B4SI gives us a consistent, business-wide approach that helps us balance what our customers expect with what we can sustainably deliver, ensuring our models remain effective, future-proof, and relevant.

By integrating B4SI into our reporting—and feeding this directly into our annual reviews—we gain clarity on which initiatives generate genuine, scalable impact and where our efforts create the greatest value.

Crucially, we see social value as a circular process: our strategy guides delivery, delivery generates measurable outcomes, and those outcomes inform and refine our strategy. B4SI is embedded across all stages—from setting priorities to evaluating results.

By focusing on long-term partnerships and strategic alignment, we avoid diluting our efforts. Whether we are delivering virtual work experience programmes or supporting charities to build more resilient digital infrastructure, our aim is always the same: to create tangible benefits for communities, for our customers, and for Siemens as a business.”

Looking Ahead

As the expectations around social impact continue to evolve, it’s clear that the ability to demonstrate evidence-based impact will be a key differentiator. The challenge—and the opportunity—lies in using impact data to drive dialogue, shape decisions, and create value for both business and society.

This is where B4SI is uniquely placed to support.

Click here to learn more about measuring the impacts of your social activities.

Our refreshed B4SI Impact Toolkit, incorporating New Natural Capital indicators, gives practitioners the tools and confidence to better and more clearly define, measure, and communicate their impact.