The Stakeholder Engagement Manual Volume 2 - AccountAbility

Strengthen Capacities for Engagement
P12: DEVELOPING THE INTERNAL SKILLS AND CHARACTERISTICS NEEDED FOR STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
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For more on boundary spanners, please also see: Sean Ansett's article in the AccountAbility
Forum No.6 Stakeholder Engagement, London, 2005.
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See also the Placer Dome case study in Volume 1: :The Guide to Practitioners' Perspectives on
Stakeholder Engagement", p29, box 2.4.
BACKGROUND
When deciding to engage with stakeholders, it is vital that you consider what
internal skills are required. Many path-breaking engagement processes involve or
are driven by what Sean Ansett calls ‘boundary spanners’. Th ese are individuals
within organisations that establish links across organisational boundaries,
identify threats and opportunities, embed insights back into the organisation and
make complex multi-stakeholder collaboration possible 9 . However, engagement
processes are likely to involve a broad variety of people with diff erent levels of
expertise and experience in the area. Th is means eff orts to develop stakeholder
engagement related skills should not only focus on sustainability and CSR
managers or stakeholder engagement specialists, but also on general managers
across functions.
Th ere is no generic stakeholder engagement skill-set, as diff erent expertise and
experience may be needed to engage with public policy makers, supply chain
workers, or to moderate an internet discussion with consumer activists for
example. However, a basic range of skills and characteristics can be identifi ed.
Sometimes it may be practical to develop these skills with people who are dealing
directly with stakeholders, but are not ‘engagement specialists’. In other cases, it
may be more suitable to draw on the expertise of practitioners from established
professions such as labour relations, lobbying, public aff airs, and market
research 10 . Apart from skills, another key contributor to successful engagement
is credibility. For example, facilitators who are from a similar background to
the stakeholder group may be better able to understand cultural issues and put
stakeholders at ease.
In addition to the ability to engage successfully, being knowledgeable on relevant
issues and being credible, benefi cial skills include project management and
analytical skills, as well as certain personality traits. The engagement skills and
characteristics map on the following page illustrates this required combination
of skills and characteristics. The requirements associated with each of these skills
and characteristics are described in further detail below, along with possible
sources for improvement.
Telefónica’s Internal Training
Telefónica’s CSR and Human Resources department are working together to integrate CSR
and stakeholder issues into internal training courses for employees from various departments
and business functions. A focus lies on creating an awareness of the link between brand,
reputation and social responsibility. This part of the training is tied to an introduction to
Telefónica’s values, policies and vision. Apart from the direct benefi ts of increased awareness
among employees, it also promotes an understanding of Telefónica’s CSR strategy and positioning
as a source of help for identifying risks, solving problems and generating opportunities
across the company.