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 Pillars > ​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

 Questions for Portfolio Companies

• Is respect for freedom of association, collective bargaining, and workplace safety explicit in policy commitments? 
• Does this commitment extend to migrant workers?
• Does this commitment cover value chain workers, and is it reflected in supplier contracts or agreements?
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What to look for

• A commitment to freedom of association, collective bargaining, and worker safety.
  Respecting worker rights—backed by non‑retaliation guarantees and accessible grievance mechanisms (see Effectiveness Criterion  5)—drives higher productivity, reduces conflicts and disputes, and boosts job satisfaction, all of which strengthen operational decision‑making.[1] Business partners should be aware of this commitment, and relevant clauses of the policy should be integrated into binding contracts and agreements to ensure that workers in supply chains have equal protections to a company’s direct workforce.[2]

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[1] “Industrial Relations Toolkit,” ITCILO, accessed May 25, 2025, https://www.itcilo.org/courses/industrial-relations-toolkit.
[2] See Responsible Contracting Project and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) and Responsible Contracting Project, “Responsible Contracting,” Investor HREDD Precision Tools, March 2024, https://www.investorhreddtools.org/responsible-contracting.html.