A-step-by-step-guide-to-building-a-stakehoder-engagement-plan

SECURING
Success
STORY
social acceptance
A step-by-step guide to building a
stakeholder engagement plan
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Table of Contents
Why engage stakeholders? / 4
The shift toward meaningful engagement
The 3 pillars of stakeholder engagement / 6
The continuous cycle of stakeholder engagement
Steps in building a stakeholder engagement plan / 9
Putting your plan into action / 26
If you need help / 29
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Securing social acceptance - 2019
Why
engage
stakeholders?
Even before your project or operations are up
and running, stakeholders are influencing its
outcome. They all have the potential to speed up,
and local communities – not to mention lending
institutions, industry regulators and even internal
staff.
The more your project depends on stakeholder
acceptance, the more important it is to take a
proactive and strategic approach to stakeholder
engagement.
slow down or completely obstruct your progress to
This guide offers a step-by-step approach for
varying degrees. They can also be extremely useful
building an effective stakeholder engagement plan
advocates, sponsors and agents of change.
and increasing your chances of successful project
Whether you realize it or not, you are
constantly building relationships with
stakeholders - from boards of directors and
government agencies to environmental groups
delivery. This process begins by approaching
stakeholder engagement just like you would any
other business function – one that needs to be
carefully managed.
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The shift toward
meaningful engagement
Until only recently, stakeholder management
The emerging approach to stakeholder
was widely viewed as simply another form of risk
engagement is much broader, reflecting a more
management and often consisted of a one-time
inclusive and continuous process that spans the
set of public consultations typically around the
entire project lifecycle. Beyond recognizing the
environmental and social assessment process.
business and reputational risks that come from
Efforts rarely extended in any meaningful way
places a growing emphasis on corporate
social responsibility, transparency
and reporting.
beyond the project planning phase. Nor were
they integrated into core business activities
or measured in terms of their effectiveness in
building constructive working relationships.
poor stakeholder relations, this new approach
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The 3 pillars
of stakeholder
engagement
Plan
The first step in any successful venture is having a
good plan. The more impact your project potentially
has on stakeholders, the more important this
planning becomes. (figure a.)
Measure
Engage
A stakeholder engagement plan won’t guarantee
your social license to operate, but it will give
you a huge head start. Obviously, you can’t plan
Figure a.
it all. Incidents occur. So do natural disasters
and economic crises. But a solid stakeholder
Reality In an ideal world, projects would keep all
engagement plan will improve relations with
stakeholders happy at all times. In the real world,
stakeholders – making it easier to weather
balance needs to be struck between prioritizing
unplanned events and even crises.
project objectives and stakeholder needs. A good
stakeholder plan can help you do just that.
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A stakeholder engagement plan is not static.
Nor is it meant to be. It should be constantly
reviewed and revised as your project
progresses. (figure b.)
Think of stakeholder engagement more as
an upward spiral that becomes increasingly
focused as you work your way toward
successful project delivery. Things will
evolve over the project’s lifespan. Certain
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The continuous cycle of
stakeholder engagement
the quality of your
relationships with
them.
The initial purpose
of a stakeholder
plan is to provide a
solid footing from
which to initiate your
engagement activities
– all carefully planned
and executed in line
with overall company
objectives.
issues and grievances will be gradually
resolved. Others may suddenly arise. Even
your project affected people (PAP) and
key stakeholders may change. So may
Figure b.
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THE 10 STEPS OF BUILDING A
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PLAN
Assess project
issues, risks &
opportunities
PLAN ANNOUNCEMENT
Identify
stakeholders
FEEDBACK
Define
objectives
ENGAGEMENT PLAN
Define
methodology
and grievance
management
process
Build
engagement
plan activities
and matrix
Confirm
engagement
plan
Create an
engagement
timetable
Identify,
analyze & map
stakeholders
Measure
Identify
resources &
responsibilities
Figure c.
Determine
budget
Engage
9
Step 1
Assess project issues,
risks & opportunities
regulations can help you weed through the evergrowing tangle of applicable requirements and
understand what steps must be taken to ensure
compliance.
Sample Regulations & Requirements
Identifying applicable regulations
and requirements
Virtually all projects must comply with a number of
regulations and requirements, whether imposed
INTERNAL
EXTERNAL
Code of business conduct and ethics
Local, regional and national regulations
Anti-bribery and corruption policies
Lender requirements
Privacy policy
Applicable industry standard
Risk management
International standards
Health, safety & environment
World Bank (IFC)
Free, prior and informed consent (FPIC)
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
internally or externally through industry standards or
local and national governments.
Gathering this information at the beginning of
Reality A stakeholder plan is a great place to gather
all applicable regulations and requirements in a single
location. Centralizing this information will give you
your project can help to uncover certain risks
a global view of project requirements and make it
and opportunities. Working with experts in industry
easier to monitor compliance over time.
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Preliminary strategy plan
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1. Assess project issues,
risks & opportunities
Identifying benefits
and drawback
SOCIAL
ENVIRONNEMENT
HEALT & SAFETY
ECONOMIC
Projects also come with their fair share of benefits and
SECURITY
drawbacks – both perceived and real. These can be
anything from opportunities for local employment and
new infrastructure to temporary noise disturbances to
permanent resettlement.
The following is an example of how issues can be
categorized and subcategorized. (figure d.)
Reality Not all project issues can be anticipated from
the project’s outset, but many can. A careful analysis
will give you a clearer sense of where your stakeholder
engagement efforts will probably need to be directed and
at which stage of the project.
Figure d.
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Step 2
Identifying stakeholders
Once you have assessed the project’s
main issues, it will be easier to identify the
Classifying stakeholders
Stakeholder Category Matrix
GOVERNMENT
AFFECTED COMMUNITIES
Classifying stakeholders according to issue
AUTHORITIES
Project affected people (PAP)
makes it easier to see which stakeholders
Local authorities
First Nations
Governments
Representatives of
Ministries
affected people
Public advisory bodies
Job seekers
CIVIL SOCIETY &
COMMERCIAL
DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
ORGANIZATIONS
are affected by which issues. In turn, this will
make it easier to allocate resources where it
counts most.
individuals and groups that are likely to be
Part of this exercise should include
Development agencies
Local businesses
impacted by the project, and to what degree.
classifying stakeholders according to broad
Nongovernmental organizations
Local providers (services and
(NGOs)
products)
Religious authorities
Associations
Academic and research centers
Unions
Reality Not all project affected people
(PAP) will be key stakeholders, nor will all
key stakeholders be PAP. However, these
individuals and groups can wield influence
over your project’s successful delivery. It’s
important to know exactly who they are and
just what degree of influence they may have
over your project.
categories and more precise sub-categories,
as shown in the sample matrix below.
Reality Some stakeholder groups might
be predetermined through regulatory
requirements. Also be sure to identify
vulnerable stakeholders such as ethnic
minorities, elderly, disabled, low income,
women, etc., which may require special
attention.
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Figure e.
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It’s not enough to simply know who your
stakeholders are. You also need to know
why and how you should be engaging with
them – and how often.
An in-depth analysis of stakeholders will
allow you to anticipate their potential
impact on your project according to:
•
Their interests in the project
•
How they will be affected by the project
•
The amount of influence they wield
Basic Stakeholder
Influence/Interest Chart
Power / Influence of stakeholder
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Analyzing & mapping
stakeholders
Skip this important step and you could end
up missing time-sensitive opportunities to
foster constructive relationships
with key stakeholders – or worse,
waste your engagement efforts on
MEET THEIR NEEDS
MANAGE CLOSELY
the wrong people.
Reality Not all stakeholders in
a particular group or sub-group
will necessarily share the same
KEEP INTO ACCOUNT
KEEP INFORMED
concerns, opinions or priorities.
What’s more, some highly
interested stakeholders have
Level of interest of stakeholder
Figure f.
little to no influence among their
peers. The goal is to focus more
efforts on stakeholders with the
most power capacity and impact.
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SAMPLE STAKEHOLDER MAP
Katherine Woods
Influence : -4
Position
4
4
Position : 1
2
2
0
0
-2
-2
-4
-4
-6
Figure h.
-4
-2
0
Influence
2
4
6
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Step 3
Define objectives
You now have a fairly clear picture of
your project-related issues, who your
stakeholders are and how they should
Objectives may include the following:
• Gather feedback and information from
stakeholders to guide certain project
parameters such as route selection
and design.
• Work constructively with
stakeholders to successfully manage
their varying interests.
use this knowledge to define your
• Ensure any issues raised by
stakeholders are considered and
properly managed.
stakeholder engagement objectives.
• Avoid project delays or rejection due
be prioritized. The next step is to
Having a clear set of objectives is
important. Not only will they form the
basis against which your stakeholder
engagement plan is measured, but
knowing where you are starting and
where you want to go will help keep
your planning and engagement
activities on track.
Goals
to stakeholder mismanagement.
Figure i.
Frank Gellar
Gather feedback from stakeholders
John Smith
Work constructively with stakeholders
Frank Gellar
Manage raised isssues proprely
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Determine your
methodology & grievance management process
There are a number of codes, frameworks and standards
systematic processes, strategies and policies for guiding all
stakeholder engagement-related decisions, activities and overall
performance.
Grievance
management process
organizations can refer to when developing their stakeholder
engagement plan. These frameworks, which aim to improve
sustainability performance, include:
Depending on the nature of your project, it may be helpful to also
• AA1000 standard on stakeholder engagement
have a clear grievance management process in place. This process
• IAP2 on public participation and engagement
should allow you to respond to grievances in a transparent and
• GRI sustainability reporting guidelines on reporting
timely manner, keep good records and report back.
• SA8000 on labor standards compliance
• EQM excellence model on quality management
Ideally, you should publicly state your grievance management
process and make it accessible to all stakeholders. It can also
be helpful to provide stakeholders a clear definition of what a
grievance is and your process for managing grievances, including
an estimated resolution time.
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Step 4
These and other similar standards can help you establish
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Determining your
monitoring and reporting
process
Monitoring and reporting make it possible
for you and any concerned stakeholders to
see your engagement efforts in action.
Depending on your project, you may need
to keep track of a multi-person team
engaging with multiple stakeholder groups
and individuals scattered across multiple
locations. This can add up to a lot of
emails, phone calls, face-to-face meetings,
commitments, travel logistics and more.
There are many different ways of measuring
Unfortunately, organizations often
the outcomes of stakeholder engagement
underappreciate the value of being able
activities, from Excel spreadsheets to
to properly measure their stakeholder
specialized information management
engagement efforts and fail to dedicate
systems that centralize all stakeholder data
the necessary resources to properly do
and related activities in a single location.
so. This can limit their ability to respond to
such requests in a timely and professional
At any given point in a project, you can
expect various stakeholders to ask for
summaries and status reports of your
engagement activities. These requests
may come from local communities, upper
management, regulatory agencies or
financial lenders – all looking for specific
information.
manner.
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Reality Being able to keep a close
Elements to consider:
• How will you monitor all stakeholder
activities?
eye on all engagement efforts and their
• How will you use this information?
project will empower you to quickly
address emerging issues before they
Having a clear process in place for
• What information will you need to
report and to whom?
monitoring and reporting stakeholder
• How will this information impact
whether the appropriate actions are
activities creates an environment of
engagement activities?
outcomes throughout the life of the
snowball into crises. It will also confirm
being taken in a timely manner, such as
transparency and accountability, which in
following up on stakeholder calls, emails,
turn, promotes continuous improvement.
grievances, commitments, etc.
It also sets the stage for ensuring lessons
learned are put into practice and for
building a lasting corporate memory to
guide future stakeholder engagement
teams and activities.
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Why is implementing a
monitoring and reporting
process so important?
Figure j.
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19
Using a specialized stakeholder
The more powerful systems out there
engagement information management
also offer tremendous analysis potential,
system allows you to centralize all
giving even more meaning to your data. For
stakeholder data in a single location.
example, in just a few clicks you can see
This makes it easy to share the right
things like:
information with the right people – such as
across various levels of hierarchy within
the organization and with field staff
in remote locations.
This real-time access to information can
be immensely helpful when you need to
refer to a particular engagement that
took place two years ago, or when you’re
suddenly asked to report on all outstanding
commitments.
• The date of your last meeting with the
mayor, what subjects were discussed
and what commitments were made.
• How many grievances you’ve had over
the past 18 months, with details like
areas, subject and resolution time.
• A monthly report of your team’s
engagements with trends. Some
systems also come with built-in social
and environmental data.
Some systems also come with built-in
social and environmental data.
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Using powerful software to improve
monitoring and reporting
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Step 5
Stakeholder
Areas of influence
/ interest
Project
phase
Stakeholder Engagement
manager
approach
Engagement
tools
Frequency
Ministry of
environment
Regulatory
compliance
All
Government
Face-to-face
Very frequent
Ministry of
infrastructures
Now that your stakeholder engagement
objectives have been validated, you can
confidently develop your engagement
• Create core messages
• Identify methods of communication
Emails
Disuption of existing
infrastructure
Construction
Government
Consult
Realtors
Face-to-face
Frequent
Emails
Development of new
infrastructure
Traditional
chiefs
activities. Among other things, you’ll need to:
• Identify which tools will be used to
implement your strategy
Realtors
Environmental
mointoring
Build your engagement plan
activities and matrix
Consult
Impact of traditional
habits and customs
All
Socio-economic
and environmental
monitoring
Consult
Realtors
Local impact and
opportunities
NGOs
Manager
Manager
Realtors
Less frequent
Information
boards
Community
All
Face-to-face
Consult
Face-to-face
Occasional
Newsletter
Community
Figure k.
• Determine frequency of engagement
Creating visual reference tools like matrixes and timetables can help make this stage of
• Plan public consultations & outreach
planning easier. They will also help to ensure everyone remains on target and on schedule.
• Identify audiences for each engagement
• Etc.
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Step 6
Create an
engagement timeline
Your stakeholder engagement timeline should
include all key dates and actions, including
when final decisions need to be taken and
by whom. When creating your timeline, be
realistic about how long things take. Always
plan for more rather than less time for people
to get involved. Remember that time is needed
between events for work to be completed and
to be taken to the next stage.
Figure l.
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Step 7
organizational chart can be a good way to
As needed, develop your staff’s capacity
provide a visual overview of roles.
to engage stakeholders. This may include
Elements to identify:
hiring new staff members and providing
• A list of all team members, along with
their titles, detailed job descriptions and
locations
any necessary training.
• Who is responsible for what
responsibilities will help to avoid
• To whom grievances are escalated
sticky issues like oversight, overlap,
This step involves taking an inventory
• Who is in charge
contradicting commitments, inconsistent
of your organization’s resources and the
• Etc.
communications, etc.
Identify resources
& responsibilities
team’s current capacity, including any
Reality Clearly defining roles and
specific knowledge, skills, weaknesses
or strengths. This exercise will allow you
to identify any gaps that could prevent
you from successfully carrying out your
Tasks
Follow ups assigned to
Frank Gallerger
engagement plan.
Grievances management assigned to
Next, clearly identify who is responsible for
what, so that team members can properly
coordinate their efforts. Including an
Monitor progression assigned to
John Smith
Monica Green
23
Determine your budget
your budget provides sufficient funding
to allow for in-depth and meaningful
stakeholder engagement that’s carried
out, monitored and reported as
efficiently as possible. Budgeting can be
a challenging task; you may need to turn
• Production/translation of
informational
or educational materials
• Operational costs of community
consultations, advisory boards (CABs)
and similar structures
• Commitments
• Etc.
Your preliminary plan should include
to other business units or even outside
a detailed budget for carrying out
consultants for assistance.
your stakeholder engagement plan.
Depending on existing resources and
Reality Regularly review your budget
Having a budget will ensure greater
the nature of the project, a stakeholder
throughout the life of the project to
accountability on how resources are
engagement plan budget may need to
ensure your resources reflect evolving
used. Once you begin engaging and
cover items such as:
stakeholder relationships
building relationships, having a clear
• Capacity building, such as hiring
& training staff
idea of your available budget will also
reduce the risk of overpromises or
suggesting that you can provide support
beyond your means.
• Acquiring an information
management system
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Step 8
To the greatest extent possible, ensure
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Step 9
Announce the project
& collect feedback
Before your team dives head-first into carrying out your
stakeholder engagement plan, you need to ensure it’s aligned
with company objectives, stakeholder expectations, and any
applicable requirements and regulations.
The plan should be announced to the appropriate stakeholder
groups and their feedback should be gathered to shape the
actual plan you will be executing.
This step is extremely important as it will reveal any
shortcomings, oversights or over-reaches in your plan – all of
which could jeopardize the success of your project.
25
FEEDBACK
PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT
FEEDBACK
ENGAGEMENT
PLAN
ENGAGEMENT PLAN
Throughout the life of the project, you will
Confirm
need to constantly gather feedback from
engagement
plan
key stakeholders and make adjustments
to your plan as you carry out the 4 phases
of execution:
Identify,
analyze & map
stakeholders
Measure
Engage
Securing social acceptance - 2019
Congratulations, you have
successfully developed a wellthought out plan. But it’s not
quite final just yet. A stakeholder
engagement plan never truly is.
PLAN ANNOUNCEMENT
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Putting
your plan
into action
Keep in mind that a stakeholder
engagement plan only tells you where
you want to go. You also need the right
tools to get there while building and
maintaining trusted relationships with
key stakeholders.
Having an integrated stakeholder
engagement management system will
make it easy to proactively monitor
and report on all activities, and most
importantly, demonstrate that you are
meeting your commitments.
27
2
Identify, analyze & map
stakeholders
3
Engage Engage Engage
You can now use the valuable stakeholder
Stakeholders are constantly changing
Thanks to everything done up to this
feedback collected on your preliminary plan
throughout the lifespan of a project. So may
point, you are now ready to engage with
to firm up your official engagement plan. This
their opinions, needs and impact on your
stakeholders. More specifically, you know
may entail making adjustments to some or all
project. Be sure to constantly reanalyze and
which team members need to engage with
of the elements covered in the planning steps
map stakeholders. This will let you know in real
which stakeholders, in which manner, for what
leading up to this point.
time who is influencing your project and how
purpose, and how often.
you should be engaging with them.
If you have properly done your homework,
You probably also have a fairly good idea
these adjustments will most likely be minimal.
of what results you can expect from your
Even if they are not, however, this is the time
engagement activities. The only way to be
to be making major changes to your plan – not
sure you’re on the right track, however, is by
later on when oversights could put your project
measuring your efforts
in hot water with key stakeholders.
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1
Confirm your
engagement plan
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4
Measure
outcomes
Constantly measuring the results of your plan in action
will enable you to take the necessary corrective actions
quickly before emerging issues snowball into larger
problems.
Just as importantly, effective measuring and accurate
reporting will ensure that you and key stakeholders
have a credible real-time view of whether individual
engagement activities – or your stakeholder plan as a
whole – are meeting set requirements and objectives.
Reality Measuring outcomes over time gives you
an opportunity to constantly refine your plan to take
into account any new issues or stakeholders that
may emerge as the project advances. In this way, a
stakeholder engagement plan is never truly final; it
just becomes increasingly more focused and efficient
as you work your way toward successful project
delivery.
If you need help
For the last 15 years, Borealis has been helping
companies in various industries around the
world successfully deliver projects by giving
them the tools and expertise they need to
efficiently engage with key stakeholders and
secure their support.
Through our Boréalis stakeholder engagement
software and global network of collaborators, we
can help your team to:
• Align, monitor & report processes
on multiple sites
• Improve reporting
• Optimize social performance / community
relations activities
Learn more at boreal-is.com or contact us at:
Toll Free (Canada & U.S.) 1 855 238-8966
1 819 575-6037 / 1 514 313-5951
Every day / 8am - 8pm EDT/EST
[email protected]
• Put your engagement plan into action
• Facilitate land acquisition
• Meet lender requirements
• Comply with international best practices
• Demonstrate compliance
• Measuring outcomes over time gives
you for audit
• Gain & maintain social license to operate
Opposition
Neutral
Support
Securing social
acceptance
BORÉALIS stakeholder engagement software
One platform for:
• Stakeholder engagement
A step-by-step guide to building a stakeholder
• Community relations
engagement plan
• Public affairs
• Social investment
is published by Boréalis. Content from this publication
• Social baseline
may be reprinted when permission is obtained and credit
• Local content
given to Boréalis. For editorial information, please contact
• Impact assessment and monitoring
Boréalis at [email protected].
• Land access and compensation
• Socio-economic contributions
• Governance, risk and compliance
• Environmental monitoring
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