Stakeholder engagement and dialogue
Why?
A key concept of sustainable business practice is transparency to stakeholders, which by definition requires an understanding of who they are and how to communicate effectively with them. Much of current best practice relates to stakeholder understanding and engagement from strategy to reporting.
On a more basic level, it is the relationships and interactions between stakeholders such as customers, consumers, employees, suppliers and investors that create value for a company and underpin its long term earning potential. Having a clear map of and ongoing dialogue with the people that underpin your future earnings is therefore just common sense.
How to identify significant stakeholders
A stakeholder can be regarded as significant if they satisfy one or more fo the following criteria:
- they supply business critical resources
- they place something of value (e.g. capital, career, own welfare) at risk in relation to the performance of your business
- they have sufficient power to have a positive or negative effect on business performance.
Common stakeholders are: employees, employees families, shareholders, customers, consumers, media, public, lobby groups, politicians, legislators, regulators, trade unions, investors, consumer groups, suppliers, business partners, trade associations, local communities.
Dialogue
"A dialogue is a reciprocal conversation between two or more entities" Wikipedia
Methods
Face to face meeting - individual
Face to face meeting - group
Email
Telephone
Letter
Publication / paper
Interactive web sites
Communication mix selection criteria
Stage of dialogue
Number of participants
Resources available to particpants
Cultural preferences
Participants expressed preferences
Particpant geographical distribution
Time frame
Engagement
"A meaningful interaction between two or more entities" REN Solutions
- Determine the material issues
- Establish the engagement objectives and scope
- Develop the engagement strategy
- Generate time table
- Engage
- Process feedback and generate consequential actions
- Communicate action plan to stakeholders
- Review engagement process effectiveness
How can REN Solutions help?
We can work with you to give you the extra resource and / or know how to manage your stakeholder engagement, develop skills and knowledge in your teams and leave you self sufficient. Our definition of success is adding real value and under staying our welcome, we do not seek to become embedded.
Please contact us for further information info@rensolutions.co.uk.
If you require our services then please call Nick on 07944 333102 or email nickr@rensolutions.co.uk
REN Solutions offers professional advice and consultancy services including:
- Measurement and reporting
- Auditing & inspection
- Coaching & Mentoring
- Research & development
- Impact assessment
- Stakeholder mapping, engagement and dialogue
- Workshops
- Bid support for sustainability issues
- Interim management