The Stakeholder Engagement Manual Volume 2 - AccountAbility

Strengthen Capacities for Engagement
P11: STRENGTHENING YOUR COMPANY’S ABILITY TO RESPOND
Strengthening Enablers for Successful Response
Enabler Ways of Strengthening the Enabler
Board and management
commitment to issue
Top management fully aware of the
issue, the required resources, and
understand linkages with business
strategy and objectives, as well as the
opportunities and the risks associated
with engagement.
Agreed policies or procedures
regarding the issue
Policies developed through dialogues
involving those responsible for
implementation, those infl uenced
by them, and those responsible for
allocating the required resources for their
implementation.
Current engagement activities
regarding the issue
Engagement activities aligned with the
governance and management processes
that direct the business.
Performance indicators and targets
regarding the issue
Performance indicators, measurements
and targets informed by stakeholder
dialogue.
Internal responsibility and competency
to address the issue
Staff involved have the required
skills, personal characteristics
and competencies to engage with
stakeholders and address this issue.
Review and learning processes in regards
to the issue
Processes in place to ensure review
and learning to innovate and adapt
organisational policy and processes.
Senior level champions for specifi c issues can drive high level responsiveness.
Internal allies can be very helpful in taking specifi c issues to top-level management,
can be found across the company, for example risk managers, investor relations, the
marketing department or quality management.
Executive remuneration can be linked with issue-specifi c metrics.
Key budget holders need to be involved in a conversation about necessary budgets
and the availability of fi nancial resources. Their understanding of these issues is
crucial to their buy-in, and for securing the necessary resources.
Board and management shall also be encouraged to take a leadership role
in championing the issue. They need to be involved in order to understand their
responsibility for leading the process and driving the associated vision, mission,
strategic considerations and developing a responsive internal culture and values.
Not all internal groups will be involved in the development of a fi rst policy draft, but
should be involved in shaping the fi nal policy through, for example, stakeholder
advisory panels or consultations .
Corporate responsibility standards, like the ones mentioned in the table on p57.
(where to look for further learning) or those developed by other companies can
provide a model for policies, which draws on or has already been legitimised through
stakeholder involvement.
The timing of stakeholder interactions should allow them to feed into internal
reporting, budgeting and management cycles.
Governance and management processes should include specifi c quality control
mechanisms to control the quality of the organisational response.
Initial internal discussion about indicators and targets especially considered within
the context of other business objectives and measurement systems can form a basis
for discussion with other internal and external stakeholders.
Integration of relevant skills into recruitment policies, job-requirements and
performance-appraisals is essential. This should include both individuals with
signifi cant contact with external stakeholders as well as for managers with signifi cant
infl uence over internal stakeholders.
A holistic approach to reviewing the whole engagement process is set out in Stage 5,
but on a smaller scale learning circles, discussion forums as well as learning
networks within or between different companies or stakeholders are a useful
mechanism.