Any project impacts stakeholders, and they hold enough power to make or break your success.
Knowing this, you would definitely want to engage in effective stakeholder engagement that helps build relationships and collaboration, reduces risks, and hopefully leads to successful outcomes.
Definitely, this is not easy, and learning how to do it is a complex task.
Do you need some ideas to engage your organization’s stakeholders?
This blog discusses the best stakeholder engagement examples and tips from them that you should take note of to boost your project success.
Table of Contents
What You Need to Know About Stakeholder Engagement
Effective stakeholder engagement is a key player in a successful strategy plan. It comprises recognizing, comprehending, and involving individuals or entities who have a stake in the outcome of the plan.
Stakeholder engagement requires a multifaceted approach with detailed communication, active listening, and collaboration.
What is a Stakeholder?
Stakeholders are individuals or entities, each involved in an organization. They are anyone with a stake in the organization through interest or influence.
Stakeholders include shareholders, board members, volunteers, funders, the government, and customers.
Why is Stakeholder Engagement Important?
Stakeholder engagement is essential for organizations to be aware of the needs and wants of all their stakeholders. This helps nurture connections, trust, and confidence.
The greatest importance of stakeholder engagement is to reduce potential risks and conflicts with stakeholders, such as dissatisfaction, doubt, misunderstandings, and disagreements.
The Best Stakeholder Engagement Examples
The following stakeholder engagement examples will definitely help you start thinking out of the box:
The Body Shop’s Community Fair Trade Program
Known for its ethical and sustainable practices, the Body Shop properly recognizes the importance of stakeholder engagement.
This was observed in the launch of their Community Fair Trade Program in 1987. Through the program, the company began acquiring ingredients from sustainable suppliers such as producers, artisans, and farmers from developing countries.
Additionally, they pay them fair prices and provide them with support and training. This program helped create several jobs, consequently enhancing the livelihoods of thousands of people.
Cisco’s Employee Resource Groups (ERG)
Cisco is a networking company passionately dedicated to diversity and inclusion. It takes a creative approach to stakeholder engagement.
Employee resource groups (ERGs) are led by employees and focus on a specific identity or affinity group. Cisco has several ERGs, such as for women, people of colour, and people with disabilities.
These ERGs offer a space for employees to get to know each other, share resources, and build diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Google’s Google for Education Initiative
Google is one of the best companies to look at for stakeholder engagement examples.
One of Google’s best attempts at increasing engagement is through the Google for Education Initiative. This initiative supports educational institutions such as schools and universities by assisting them in implementing advanced technology in their classrooms.
They also offer a myriad of resources, such as training, curriculum support, and access to Google’s wide range of productivity tools.
Intel’s Empowerment of Marginalized Communities
Known for its dedication towards sustainability, Intel is a top semiconductor chip manufacturer.
Through its joint efforts with its stakeholders, Intel has successfully empowered marginalized communities through technology and education.
Additionally, it has worked to push accountability and improve its worldwide supply chain, especially regarding human rights.
Starbucks’s Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices Program (C.A.F.E.)
Starbucks is another good stakeholder engagement example.
One of the best ways it engages with its stakeholders is through its Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices program (C.A.F.E.).
This program certifies coffee farms that are on par with specific environmental and social standards. Additionally, it offers support to farmers in enhancing their practices.
Stakeholder Engagement Strategies You Should Consider
As mentioned earlier, keeping your stakeholders engaged is essential for a business’s smooth journey to long-term success.
The primary goals of stakeholder engagement are to ensure everyone is in agreement, identify everybody’s interests, and ensure that the right stakeholders receive the right amount of engagement efforts.
Here are some key steps you should consider to elevate your stakeholder engagement strategy:
Establish Objectives and a Plan
With the many interesting stakeholder engagement examples discussed, it is tempting to begin your action right away.
However, you need to set some objectives and come up with a plan.
The following are some questions to think about when setting up your objectives:
1. What do you want to achieve from your stakeholder engagement strategy? Is it increased stakeholder loyalty, stronger relationships with stakeholders, or the development of effective communication?
2. How do you plan to measure the success of your outcomes through the engagement process? What are some quantifiable indicators?
3. What measurable outcomes would you like to see at the end of your plan?
The following are some questions to think about when coming up with stakeholder engagement plans:
1. Who are your stakeholders?
2. Why do you need to keep them engaged?
3. What are the specific stakeholder engagement activities you plan to employ?
Thoroughly Identify Your Stakeholders
Although stakeholder identification sounds quite straightforward, it can get confusing.
You might end up with a clutter of several stakeholder groups that you may not even be able to manage.
It is essential to give it a good amount of time to identify and categorize the relevant stakeholders properly.
Are they key stakeholders or external stakeholders?
This can be done easily through the process of stakeholder mapping.
Stakeholder Relationship Management Systems (SRMs)
SRMs are a powerful tool to engage your stakeholders more effectively and efficiently. A good and strategic planning tool typically has the following features:
1. Store contact details, communication channels, and histories
2. Conduct stakeholder analysis for a deeper understanding.
3. Understand and track sentiments, issues, and levels of stakeholder engagement.
4. Develop reports on key stakeholder metrics.
Conclusion
An effective stakeholder engagement strategy is definitely not something you can come up with within a few short hours. It is a careful process that requires much consideration for relationship building, stakeholder collaboration, smoother business activities and other goals.
The insightful stakeholder engagement examples discussed above are proof of how you can boost your engagement levels in creative ways and innovative solutions.
Always note that successful engagement is a continuous process of nurturing partnerships founded on a solid foundation of communication and respect.
FAQs
What is an example of a stakeholder?
A stakeholder is anyone interested in an organization and its actions. Examples include employees, customers, and shareholders.
How to measure the success of stakeholder engagement?
The best way to measure stakeholder engagement is to gain stakeholder feedback on various aspects of business operations, such as clarity of communication, responsiveness of project management, and perceived value of business outcomes. Taking inspiration from stakeholder engagement examples from other reputed organizations also offers numerous ideas to boost your engagement.
What is an example of stakeholder collaboration?
There are numerous instances of collaboration with stakeholders. Examples include community collaboration, internal collaboration, or partnerships with organizations or groups.
