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

Companies operating in CAHRAs should publicly commit to ongoing stakeholder engagement that takes into account conflicts across their value chain. Because the potential for harm is heightened during conflicts, companies need to strengthen engagement efforts in a manner that ensures that rights holders are not exposed to additional risks. 

This commitment should include consulting rights holders when evaluating whether to remain in or exit a conflict zone, decisions that can directly affect their safety and well-being. As business and human rights standards set the expectation that companies will respect human rights and take steps to avoid causing or contributing to harm—consulting affected stakeholders can play a key role in meeting these responsibilities. 

When operationalizing this commitment and assigning oversight responsibilities, companies should make sure that information from actors aligned with one side of the conflict does not dominate decision-making to avoid blind spots.