Community engagement 101

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 101
A CASE STUDY FOR BEST PRACTICE
Reana Rossouw
Next Generation Consultants

QUESTION?
What is the difference
between general
stakeholder engagement
and community
engagement?
2016/04/10 NEXT GENERATION CONSULTANTS 2

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IS ….
Stakeholder engagement can be described as an organisation’s efforts to
understand and involve stakeholders and their concerns in its activities and
decision-making processes.
The purpose of stakeholder engagement is to drive strategic direction and
operational excellence for an organisation. Done correctly, engaging stakeholders
can result in learning, innovation, and enhanced performance that will not only
benefit the organisation, but also its stakeholders and society as a whole.
In addition to serving as a key tool to support a company’s sustainability reporting
efforts, stakeholder engagement can be seen as a foundation that supports an
organisation’s broader sustainability efforts to set strategic goals, implement
action plans, and assess its performance over time.

QUESTION? Why conduct stakeholder
engagement?

VALUE OF STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT (1)
Anticipate and manage emerging issues
A mechanism to improve an understanding of stakeholder priorities and to respond to emerging stakeholder concerns
To identify, evaluate, address and improve sustainability performance issues before they become threats or lost
opportunities
Helps ensure that a company can consistently convey complete, comparable, inclusive, responsive and accurate
information to the outside world
Promote productive collaboration with stakeholders
Creates an information sharing platform whereby organisations can disclose specific information i.e. performance,
practices, strategies and goals to stakeholders (to enable them to make informed decisions)
Serves as an opportunity for stakeholders to identify impact/risk areas about which they have a concern
Creates opportunities to discuss priority issues together with stakeholders thereby building trust and collaboration via
dialogue
Allows for increased, shared understanding of the company’s impacts, improvements and challenges, whereby
organisations and stakeholders can build consensus to find solutions and set goals to address challenges
To reduce/mitigate negative reactions to future, unforeseen incidents and/or impacts because of better
understanding and communication

VALUE OF STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT (2)
Improve decision-making and operational performance
Allows a company to align its management plans and actions with the expectations,
needs and demands of key stakeholders
Helps streamline responses to various information requests, and thereby potentially
reduce reporting redundancies and time burdens
Enables companies to maximize opportunities for improving resource management and
risk management by tracking performance over time
Helps engage and motivate staff who are responsible for various aspects of performance
Leverages performance improvements as the organisation works to follow through on
agreed commitments

CORE VALUES FOR THE PRACTICE OF
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Stakeholders should have a say in decisions about actions that could affect their
lives or an essential environment for life (good quality of life)
Stakeholder participation includes the promise/commitment that stakeholder’s
contribution will influence management/operational decisions
Stakeholder participation promotes sustainability decisions by recognizing and
observing the needs and interests of all participants
Effective stakeholder engagement:
Ensures participants are equipped to engage
Ensures participation from the start (designing engagement) to the end (communicating and reporting
on the outcomes of the engagement
Ensures agreement on input decision-making (how input will be utilised)

QUESTION?
How is stakeholder
engagement different to any
other form of communication?

IN THE BEGINNING
Before any expensive and lengthy engagement process can begin, it is important to have a
good understanding, and indeed consider what level of participation is actually being
sought. Public participation can be broadly categorised into the following:
Levels of public participation goals
Inform To provide the public with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the
problem, alternatives, opportunities, and/or solutions
Consult To obtain public feedback for decision-makers on analysis, alternatives and/or decisions
Involve To work directly with the public throughout the process to ensure that public concerns and
aspirations are consistently understood and considered in decision-making processes
Collaborate To partner with the public in each aspect of the decision making process including the development
of alternatives and the identification of the preferred solution
Empower To place final decision-making in the hands of the public

WHY IS STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT SO DIFFICULT?
Stakeholder management is difficult because it involves different people with different
expectations and different information needs.
Engaging stakeholders for collaboration involves constant vigilance in a constantly
changing landscape of relationships with stakeholders whose support, interests and
influence fluctuates unpredictably.
Why is stakeholder engagement so
expensive?

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT 101
Engagement is but one form of stakeholder relations along a spectrum of possible interactions that also
include activities like message delivery, media outreach, deal negotiations, lobbying, coalition development,
advocacy, damage control, research surveys, focus groups, issue management and benchmarking.
Stakeholder engagement is when the company initiates open, two-way dialogue seeking understanding
and solutions to issues of mutual concern.
It involves discovering and may result in implementing ideas that benefit both stakeholders and the
company. This is not the same thing as opinion research, message delivery, lobbying, constituency relations or
grant making or sales or wage negotiations.

DIFFERENTIATION IN ENGAGEMENT

BUILDING BLOCKS OF STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Stakeholder engagement is an umbrella term
encompassing a range of activities and
interactions:
Stakeholder identification and analysis
Information disclosure
Stakeholder consultation
Negotiation and partnerships
Grievance management
Reporting to stakeholders
Management, governance, compliance, risk
management functions
Stakeholder involvement in project/process
monitoring

DEFINITIONS WITHIN THE CONTEXT
Communication:
Any manner of information sharing with stakeholders, generally through one-way, non-iterative processes
Consultation:
The process of gathering information or advice from stakeholders and taking those views into consideration to
amend plans, make decisions or set directions
Dialogue:
An exchange of views and opinion to explore different perspectives, needs and alternatives, with a view to
fostering mutual understanding, trust and cooperation on a strategy or initiative
Engagement:
An organisation’s efforts to understand and involve stakeholders and their concerns in its activities and
decision-making processes
Reference: Stakeholder Engagement Manual – Page 6, UNEP, Volume 1 – www.stakeholderresearch.com

SPECTRUM OF ENGAGEMENT

ONE SIDED INSTRUMENTS
•Customer Satisfaction
•Supplier Surveys
•Employee Surveys
•Stakeholder Opinion Surveys
•Self Assessments
•Stakeholder Perceptions
•Balance Scorecards
•360 Degree Frameworks
Investor Relations
Customer
Relations
Human Relations
Media Relations
Industrial
Relations
Public Relations

STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Context
• Objectives,
approach,
expectations
• Identify
relationships
(issues & risks)
• Stakeholder
identification &
prioritisation
• Buy in & support
both parties
Data
• Sampling – how
many
• Methodology of
communication
• F2F, telephone,
etc.
• Questionnaire
Analysis
• Interpret Data
• Link to business
objectives &
outcomes
• Discuss results of
engagement -
collectively
• Report results of
engagement
Report
• Highlight strengths
and weaknesses
• Highlight areas of
impact
risk
differences/
similarities
• Recommendations
– Stakeholder
Management Plan

QUESTION?
Who are stakeholders?
How are stakeholders
categorised?
How are stakeholders
prioritised?

WHAT ARE STAKEHOLDERS?
By definition, stakeholders have a stake in
the company/the issue, or who may
experience losses or be harmed as a result
of the operations of a company
A person, group, or organisation that has
direct or indirect stake in an organisation
because it can affect or be affected by the
organisation's actions, objectives, and
policies.
Although ‘stakeholding’ is usually self-
legitimising (those who judge themselves to
be stakeholders are a stakeholder), all
stakeholders are not equal and different
stakeholders are entitled to different
considerations.

WHO ARE STAKEHOLDERS?
A stakeholder can be defined as any person, or group, who has an interest/stake in a
project/process or strategy or could be potentially affected by its delivery or outputs.
Stakeholders is often categorised into ‘groups’ based on a number of factors including:
Geographic boundaries or location
Recognised bodies or institutions
Income groups
Land ownership or occupation
Legal requirements
Real or perceived views of the issue under dispute
The nature of stakeholder classification means that stakeholder groups are usually not
homogenous entities.
It is more likely in fact, that an identified stakeholder group will comprise a diverse mix of individuals,
who may – or may not – identify themselves with the particular “stakeholder group” into which they
have been categorised.

IDENTIFYING COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS
General Company Stakeholders
Customers
Employees
Media
Suppliers
Government
Communities
Specific community stakeholders
Program
Implementers -
Intermediaries
Co-Funding
Partners
Program
Influencers –
Government
Direct Program
Beneficiaries
Indirect
Program
Beneficiaries

ANALYSING AND PRIORITISING STAKEHOLDERS
Community Stakeholder Groups
Program Approvals
• Local Wards
• Traditional Councils
• School Principles/Councils
Program Approvals
• Government Departments
• National/Provincial/Local
Program Influencers –
Program Design
• Co-Funders
Program Influencers –
Program
Implementation
• NGO’s
Program Beneficiaries
–
Direct/Indirect
Let’s Test It: Program Funding:
Education
Sport
Health
Disaster Relief
Funder(s)
Media
Local Interest Groups (Cleaner Air/Tax
Payers/Media/
Let’s Test It: Program M&E/Reporting:

ANALYSING STAKEHOLDERS
Segmentation
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Others
Cause Related Programs
Donation/Sponsorship
Comparative/Competitive
Geographic spread
Sample Sizes
Depends on
Available Data
Age of Data
Budget
Resources
Engagement Methodology(ies)
Prioritising / Sample Sizes
Determining the boundaries/objectives and outcomes of
community engagement

IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS
Primary stakeholders are those stakeholders that have a direct stake in the
organisation and its success
Secondary stakeholders are those that have a public or special interest in the
organisation
Core stakeholders are essential to the survival of the business/program
Strategic stakeholders are vital to the organisation and/or the threats and
opportunities the organisation faces (current or future)
Environmental stakeholders are all others in the organisation's environment
Legitimacy refers to the perceived validity of the stakeholder’s claim to a stake
Power refers to the ability or capacity of a stakeholder to produce/influence an effect/risk
Urgency refers to the degree to which the stakeholder’s claim demands immediate attention

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS (1)
Who decides who is involved
As the selection of participants can be a politically charged responsibility, the selection process must be as transparent
as possible.
It is wise to ensure that the reasons for selection are noted/documented so that any questions about
selection/prioritisation can be answered.
Resist pressure on numbers
There is often internal and external pressure to expand or reduce the list of those involved.
The number of people involved should not be arbitrary but based on a coherent understanding of the purpose and the
context of the engagement process.
Marginalising “Usual suspects”
Organisations sometimes try to avoid involving the “usual suspects”, which has become a term of denigration for people
who habitually give time and effort to what they see as their civic responsibilities.
Describing someone as a ‘usual suspect’ should never be grounds to exclude them from a process any more than it is
grounds for including them: people should be involved because they are the right people.
Opponents
It is equally wrong to exclude an individual or an organisation for being a known opponent of a given purpose or
process. There are often good reasons for keeping opponents “inside the tent”: these can be the people who most need
to be involved so that they gain some ownership of the process and perhaps become more likely to support the final
outcome (or at least, less inclined to undermine it as they might have, had they been excluded).

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS (2)
Hard to Reach Groups
It is important to try to include all relevant stakeholders, and those who often get omitted are the hard to reach groups. Extra effort
and innovation will be needed to contact and engage with these groups or individuals, who do not generally come forward by their
own volition. Including these minority or “hard to reach” groups is important to obtaining a more balanced picture from the
engagement process.
Everyone does not have to be involved in everything
With good planning, and the agreement of participants, different people can be involved only in those parts of the process which
are most relevant to them.
Campaigning organisations
Many campaigning bodies, especially national civil society organisations, are constantly asked to be involved in participatory
exercises, and do not always see these as the most effective use of their limited resources.
In addition, some see the compromise that can be inherent in some participatory processes as conflicting with their primary purposes.
It can be useful to consider (and discuss with them) at which stage of the policy process NGOs are best suited to participate: agenda
setting, policy development, policy implementation or policy review.
What’s In It for Them (WIIFT)?
It is important to consider and discuss with participants what they want to get out of the process and what could prevent them from
participating. If everyone’s motivations can be clarified at the start, there will be less confusion and everyone is more likely to be
satisfied with the outcomes. This is especially important in an area that is suffering from consultation/engagement fatigue.

IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS
Be systematic
Consider all aspects of the company’s area of influence, e.g. technical, business, geographical etc.
Remember the interest groups
Identify those groups or organisations that are not directly impacted by the company e.g. but whose interests
determine them as stakeholders e.g. Security personnel or unions, media, etc.
Use past stakeholder information
Referring to previous similar projects can save time and highlight stakeholders risks, liabilities, or unresolved issues that
can then be included in the analysis.
Consider the entire project lifecycle/company stage (growth/startup/mature)
It is important to remember that both stakeholders and their interests may change as the company evolves and
progresses. Consider all stages of the company life cycle (prospecting, start-up, growing, operational, closing) when
drawing up the stakeholder list and review it regularly as the stakeholder process matures.
People matter
Although stakeholders may be both organisations and people, ultimately you can only communicate with individual
people. Make sure that you identify the correct individual stakeholders within each stakeholder group. Remember
people are mobile and therefore stakeholders change all the time.

QUESTION?
How to engage?
What would constitute
engagement?

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT TOOLS (1)
Technique Most appropriate application Main advantages and disadvantages
Personal
Interviews
• Identify issues specific to each stakeholder
• Provide opportunities for stakeholders to
speak confidentially
• Build relationships with individual stakeholders
Advantages:
• Demonstrates commitment on part of the company
• Provides an opportunity to build relationships
• Provides detailed data through two-way communication
Disadvantages:
• Time and resource intensive
• No opportunity to test attitudes and assertions independently
• Individuals may not necessarily be representative of a stakeholder group as a
whole
Workshops • Form relationships with and between high
level stakeholders and experts
• Involve stakeholders in thinking through
issues, to develop a strategic approach or
resolve an issue/s
• Communicate aspects of stakeholder
engagement process or issues management
to stakeholders and employees
• Analyze impacts
• Prioritize/rank issues and potential solutions
Advantages:
• Provides an opportunity to build a network of relationships
• Allows issues to be verified, tested and solutions developed
• Increases ownership by participants
Disadvantages:
• Participation is limited to a relatively small number of stakeholders
• Individuals may not necessarily be representative of a stakeholder group as a
whole
• Need to provide sufficient information beforehand such that participants can
provide informed views/opinions/solutions

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT TOOLS (2)Technique Most appropriate application Main advantages and disadvantages
Focus Groups /
Forums
• Identify stakeholder views on a specific issue
• Discuss the views of a common interest stakeholder group
• Gather baseline data
• Support, pilot, test or gain feedback on the outputs of
other methods (e.g. surveys, interviews)
• Determine stakeholder responses/views/opinions to
proposed mitigation / risk based strategies
• Monitor and evaluate social/environmental or economic
performance of an organisation/operation
Advantages:
• Provides an opportunity to build a network of relationships
• Allows issues to be verified, tested and solutions developed collectively
• Increases ownership by participants
Disadvantages:
• Participation is limited to relatively small number of stakeholders
• Individuals may not necessarily be representative of a stakeholder group or community as a
whole
• Need to provide sufficient (sometimes sensitive) information such that participants can provide
informed views/opinions/input
Public or ‘Town Hall”
meeting
• Reach large audiences in particular communities quickly
• Present information and seek feedback from stakeholders
instantaneously
• Ensure that everyone gets a change to provide comment /
criticism / feedback
Advantages:
• Relatively inexpensive and quick
• Allows reach of a large number of people simultaneously
• Demonstrate willingness to be open to public criticism
• Provides communities with opportunity to speak directly to company representatives
Disadvantages:
• There is a risk that vocal but unrepresentative groups may ‘hijack’ the meeting
• Some communities or groups within them, may not be comfortable speaking in such a public
forum
• Limited opportunity to explore issues of particular stakeholders in detail
• Can be difficult to facilitate if the issue(s) under discussion is/are controversial or highly emotive

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT TOOLS (3)
Technique Most appropriate application Main advantages and disadvantages
Surveys • Identify stakeholder issues and assess
community needs
• Obtain an objective overview of a
group of stakeholders to a particular
issue or potential impact
• Develop mitigation / risk-based
strategies
• Gather data for evaluation or
reporting quickly
• Monitor and compare data/ impacts
and performance using repeat surveys
Advantages:
• Provides detail data on specific issues
• Assuming an appropriate sample is gathered, provides a
good insight to the extend of an issue/s or significance of
an issue within a community
• Widely known and acceptable methodology
Disadvantages:
• Written surveys are not appropriate in an environment
where literacy levels/technology access are low
• Can be easily manipulated or designed to yield
particular results
• Depending on the response method, surveys generally
yield poor/low response rates
• Surveys take considerable time and resources to prepare,
implement and analyze results

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT TOOLS (4)Technique Most appropriate application Main advantages and disadvantages
Participatory
Tools
• Scope and identify community needs
/ aspirations
• Involve stakeholders in the
development of engagement tools
• Monitor and evaluate social/human
rights/ environmental impacts and
performance over time per aspect
Advantages:
• Provides the opportunity to build relationships and stakeholder ownership of
outcomes
• Can gain in-depth understanding of stakeholder cultures, beliefs, assets and
interactions
Disadvantages
• Need to manage conflicting community demands
• Can result in unrealistic community expectations
• Process can be dominated by well articulated and organised stakeholder groups
Stakeholder
Panels
• Provide detailed, expert, specific
input into strategies
• Give expert guidance on company
direction, development of new
products / services
• Share industry/context specific
information, developments, progress
Advantages:
• Examines specific aspects of corporate policy, action or performance
• Produce comments or recommendations upon which the company may or may not
make specific commitments
• Assists company in receiving advice, gauge expectations and criticism
• May anticipate possible threats to activities/issues that may arise in future
Disadvantages
• May not be representative
• May not have expertise in specific subject/or in issues

ENGAGEMENT STANDARDS,
FRAMEWORKS AND GUIDELINES

GRI REPORTING REQUIREMENTSDefinition:
The reporting organisation should identify its stakeholders and explain in the report how it has responded to their
reasonable expectations and interests.
The reasonable expectations and interests of stakeholders are a key reference point for many decisions in the
preparation of a sustainability report, such as the scope, boundary, application of indicators, and assurance approach.
Stakeholder engagement processes can serve as tools for understanding the reasonable expectations and interests of
stakeholders.
For a report to be assurable, the process of stakeholder engagement should be documented and they should be based on
systematic or generally accepted approaches, methodologies or principles.
The reporting organisation should:
Document its approach for defining which stakeholders it engaged with, how and when it engaged with them, and how engagement has influenced the
report content and the organisation’s sustainability activities (strategies and reports).
Tests:
The organisation can describe the stakeholders to whom it considers itself accountable.
The report draws on upon the outcomes of stakeholder engagement processes used by the organisation and as required
by legal and institutional frameworks in which it operates.
The report content draws upon the outcomes of any stakeholder engagement processes undertaken specifically for the
report.
The stakeholder engagement processes that inform decisions about the report content are consistent with the scope and
boundary of the report.

KING III AND STAKEHOLDER INCLUSIVENESS
The Board should:
Appreciate that stakeholders’ perceptions affect a company’s reputation
Identify important stakeholder groupings
Delegate to management to proactively deal with stakeholder relationships
Disclose in its integrated report the nature of the company’s dealings with stakeholders and the outcomes of these
dealings
Strive to achieve the appropriate balance between its various stakeholder groupings, in the best interests of the
company
Take account of the legitimate interests and expectations of its stakeholders in its decision-making in the best
interests of the company
Adopt communication guidelines that support a responsible communication programme
Reference: King III – www.IOD.co.za

KING III - STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT GOVERNANCE
Board roles and responsibilities
Define stakeholder engagement as a core value
Identify, discuss and prioritize key risks associated with changing societal expectations
Determine the stakeholders financial and non-financial information needs for decision-
making, management oversight, and monitoring key stakeholder relationships associated
with generating value and wealth
Discuss and approve key performance indicators for social, environmental, and
financial performance
Approve a policy for external reporting
Integrate stakeholder issues into annual general meetings of shareowners
Discuss the risks and impacts of projects and operations and provide transparent
disclosure information to shareowners and other key stakeholder groups
Convene stakeholder forums and invite key stakeholder representatives to address
board meetings

THE COMPANIES ACT AND STAKEHOLDERS (1)
Social and Ethics Committee
Companies Act, Number 71 of 2008 became effective 1 May 2011
Sought to modernise and ‘simplify’ company law
Many changes to regulatory, accountability, transparency and governance requirements
Section 72 (4) and Regulation 43 (2) requires a Social and Ethics Committee for applicable companies
Reasons – Stakeholder governance model in SA (not just about shareholders – refer also King III)
To monitor the company’s activities, having regard to relevant legislation, to other legal requirements, or prevailing
codes of best practice. To draw matters within its mandate to the attention of the board and to report to shareholders
at the AGM
Scope of matters
Social and economic development
Good corporate citizenship
The environment, health and public safety
Consumer relationships
Labour and employment
Reference: Companies Act No. 71 of 2008

COMPANIES ACT (2)
The Regulations prescribe that a Social and Ethics Committee has the following functions:
1) To monitor the company’s activities, having regard to any relevant legislation, other legal requirements
or prevailing codes of best practice, with regard to matters relating to:
Social and economic development, including the company’s standing in terms of the goals and purposes of-
The 10 principles set out in the United Global Compact Principles;
The OECD recommendations regarding corruption;
The Employment Equity Act; and
The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act;
Good corporate citizenship, including the company’s-
Promotion of equality, prevention of unfair discrimination, and reduction of corruption;
Contribution to development of the communities in which its activities are predominantly conducted or within which its products or services are predominantly
marketed; and
Record of sponsorship, donations and charitable giving;
The environment, health and public safety, including the impact of the company’s activities and of its products or services;
Consumer relationships, including the company’s advertising, public relations and compliance with consumer protection laws; and
Labour and employment, including-
The company’s standing in terms of the International Labour Organisation Protocol on decent work and working conditions; and
The company’s employment relationships, and its contribution toward the educational development of its employees;
2) To draw matters within its mandate to the attention of the Board as occasion requires; and
3) To report, through one of its members, to the shareholders of the company’s annual general meeting on
the matters within its mandate.2016/04/10 NEXT GENERATION CONSULTANTS 38

INTEGRATED REPORTING AND STAKEHOLDERS - IIRC
An Integrated Report should provide insight into the nature and quality of the organisation’s
relationships with its key stakeholders, including how and to what extent the organisation
understands, takes into account and responds to their legitimate needs and interests.
Stakeholders provide useful insights about matters that are important to them, including economic,
environmental and social issues that also affect the ability of the organisation to create value.
Understand how stakeholders perceive value
Identify trends that might not have come to the general attention, but which are rising in significance
Identify material matters, including risks and opportunities
Develop and evaluate strategy
Manage risks
Implement activities, including strategic and accountable responses to material matters

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT STANDARD:
ACCOUNTABILITY AA1000SES
Definitions:
Stakeholder Inclusivity is the participation of stakeholders in developing and achieving an accountable and strategic
response to sustainability
Stakeholder Engagement is a tool that organisations use to help them achieve inclusivity
Companies using AA1000SES must:
Commit publicly that they used the Standard and that they will follow the principles of materiality, inclusiveness and
responsiveness
Integrate stakeholder engagement into governance and decision-making (strategy and operational) processes
Define the purpose and scope of engagement
Have a process for stakeholder engagement
Have a stakeholder engagement plan/strategy
Profile/map of stakeholders
Determine the engagement level and methods
Establish and communicate boundaries of disclosure
Establish indicators to measure the quality of stakeholder engagement
Document the engagement and outputs
Develop an action plan
Reference: AccountAbility Stakeholder Engagement Standard (AA1000SES) 2011 – www.accountability.co.uk

IFC STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Handbook provides guidance on stakeholder engagement specifically for:
Mining/extractive industries on stakeholder engagement processes as it pertains to:
ESIA – Environmental, Social Impact Assessments
Mine Closure, Site Selection and Construction, Social and Labour Plans, Industry Specific Guidelines – i.e.
ICMM
Financial and Development Institutions
Equator Principles – Responsible Lending
Service Industries
Perception Surveys, Grievance processes and mechanisms
Reference: International Finance Corporation – Stakeholder Engagement – A good practice Handbook for companies doing business in emerging markets

OTHER STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
TOOLS & RESOURCES
From Words to Action:
The Stakeholder Engagement Manual – Volume 1 – The guide to practitioners perspectives on stakeholder
engagement www.uneptie.org
Volume 2 – The practitioners handbook on stakeholder engagement www.uneptie.org;
www.accountability.org.uk, www.stakeholderresearch.com
Stakeholder Engagement – Practitioners Handbook -stakeholder.engagement@immi.gov.au
Proactive Stakeholder Engagement – A Practical Guideline for Companies and Stakeholders –
The European Alliance for CSR
BSR: A tool for stakeholder mapping – www.bsr.org

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE
ENGAGEMENT?

AFTER THE ENGAGEMENT
Follow-through is important to any relationship and this certainly applies to relationships with
stakeholders. Whether or not a company is able to implement what it has learned from
stakeholders, there is an obligation to report back, to make it clear that stakeholder
concerns and interests were heard, considered, and valued.
Companies have a responsibility to respond to stakeholders about concerns shared, to explain
how or whether concerns or suggestions are being addressed.
In addition to responding to issues raised by stakeholders, companies should keep track of
any promises or commitments they have made to stakeholders. Just as a company would
hold themselves accountable for promising earnings growth to shareowners, commitments to
community members or environmental groups/experts (or any other stakeholders). For an
engagement process to be considered credible companies need to implement/respond to the
reasonable expectations of stakeholders.
Information reported to stakeholders should be translated into local languages and in easily
understood formats, and any material changes to commitments or implementation actions
should be communicated very clearly and regularly.

STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT PLAN - CONTENT
•Scope (background, logic, impact)
•Define ownership and process (accountability & methodology)
•Define governance process (i.e. assurance)
•Identify and define key stakeholder groups (prioritisation)
•Describe the engagement plan, methodology, frequency & channels
•Identify legitimate concerns and interests of stakeholders
•Identify and describe possible conflict management in engagement processes
•Define and describe feedback mechanisms of engagement process to ensure alignment and
integration with strategies and operations
•Detail stakeholder feedback – responses and commitments
•Generate reports, actions, activities and priorities – including for sustainability and integrated
reports

DO’S AND DON’TS OF STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS
Do seek stakeholder partners with real credibility and strong credentials, whose independence
and integrity are unquestioned in the stakeholder communities you are trying to reach.
Do give the stakeholder organisations you engage or work with genuine independence,
allowing them to set up their own processes and procedures and giving them the opportunity to
communicate with the outside world freely and without censorship.
Do involve your own key leaders who are in a position to make and keep commitments on behalf
of the company.
Don’t create “Astroturf” organisations — phony stakeholder groups that masquerades as an
independent stakeholders while secretly serving your own corporate interests.
Do be up-front about your role in helping create and, if necessary, fund a stakeholder group; if
the connection is exposed against your wishes due to investigative work by the media, it will
seriously damage both your credibility and that of any stakeholders involved.
Don’t renege on any commitments you make; the damage to your company’s reputation will be
doubly serious if you first boast about, then try to eliminate, any moves toward dialogue and
partnership with outside stakeholders.

IN SUMMARY
Stakeholder engagement has tremendous value across the business
Stakeholder engagement is best understood if the whole business is involved
Stakeholder engagement is better supported if managed in relation to other communication
activities
Don’t lump stakeholders in homogenous groups
Don’t make assumptions about the specific risks/issues that will be discussed
Don’t pre-empt the process by linking indicators or KPI’s too soon
Be flexible and allow stakeholders to dominate discussion
Remember it requires commitment to feedback the outcome and result to the stakeholders after
the event
Less is more!

THANK YOU
Reana Rossouw - Next Generation Consultants
Next Generation Consultants are internationally recognized
and have published extensively and spoken at local and
international conferences. Copies of these articles, research
papers, presentations, whitepapers and awards are
available on:
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Community engagement 101

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