Embed in management systems

1. Embedded commitment: The company has a policy commitment to ongoing stakeholder engagement, and embeds it in its governance, culture, and management strategy.​

Create a Tailored Engagement Plan​

2. Inclusiveness: The company listens to a full range of rights-holders across the value chain and has a process to identify legitimate representatives.
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3. A Focus on Those Most at Risk​:  The company prioritizes engaging with the rightsholders who are most likely to be harmed by its operations​, and therefore where early engagement is critical.​​

Conduct appropriate  activities

​​4. Informed Participation: The company establishes ongoing, two-way communication with affected rights holders that provides affected stakeholders with relevant critical information well in advance of key decision points.

5. Trust and Accountability: The company establishes procedures, tailored to the context, to build rights holder trust and accountability for its actions.​

Ensure follow through

6. Stakeholder-informed Action Plan: The company analyzes information obtained through affected stakeholder engagement and collaborates with rights holders to formulate an action plan.

7. Monitoring, Transparency, and Continuous Improvement​: The company establishes and maintains a transparent and stakeholder-informed monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system.​

effectiveness criterion 2

our approach

financial materiality

Stakeholder Engagement Main Page > Four Stages > ​Effectiveness Criterion 1

1. Embedded commitment​​​

The company has a policy commitment to ongoing stakeholder engagement, and embeds it in its governance, culture, and management strategy.

what this means

questions for portfolio companies

What to look for

For workers

High risk situations

• Do you have a specific policy detailing engagement with people affected by your operations?
  • If so, have you designated someone responsible for overseeing your company’s commitment to stakeholder engagement? Does the person who engages directly with rights holders have decision making authority? 
  • Is there board oversight? If so, how frequently does the responsible staff report to the CEO and board or directors? What KPIs do you report? 
• How does your company ensure its commitment to effective stakeholder engagement across the value chain is integrated into your management systems and business partner, including supplier relationships? [1]
• Does your company have a budget line, whether managed centrally or allocated per site, for affected stakeholder engagement for planned and current projects? 
• Does your policy apply to your direct and indirect suppliers? Is it included in supplier contracts and other binding agreements with business partners?​​

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[1]  Balancing Your Materiality Assessment” (Deloitte Netherlands, December 2022), 9, https://www.deloitte.com/nl/en/services/risk-advisory/perspectives/balancing-your-materiality-assessment.html; Benn Hogan, “Effective Downstream Human Rights Due Diligence: Key Questions for Companies” (GBI, February 2023), 15, https://gbihr.org/updates/Effective_downstream_HRDD_Key_questions_for_companies; “Signals of Seriousness’ for Human Rights Due Diligence,” Shift (blog), February 2021, 3 https://shiftproject.org/resource/signals-draft1/.