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.
​
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 3

our approach

financial materiality

Stakeholder Engagement Main Page > Four Pillars > ​Effectiveness Criterion 2

2. Inclusiveness​​​

The company listens to a full range of rights holders and has a process to identify legitimate representatives.

what this means

questions for portfolio companies

What to look for

Issue & SEctor considerations

for workers

High risk situations

 Questions for Portfolio Companies

• Do you include legally recognized trade unions and other legitimate worker representatives in your regular engagements?
  ​​

What to look for

• Identify appropriate partners to reach vulnerable subgroups
  Workers, particularly seasonal and migrant laborers, often face risks such as low or unpaid wages, hazardous working conditions, and limited legal protections.[1] In the mining sector, artisanal and small-scale miners need to be engaged, particularly in regions where informal mining activity plays a significant role in local livelihoods and mineral supply chains (OECD 2017, 45).
  
  All workers in a factory or warehouse setting—including part-time, temporary, contract, apprentice, and migrant workers—are affected stakeholders. Contract workers and other precarious workers can be harder to reach through standard engagement processes. Partnering with local worker rights organizations, trade unions that have organized or are working to organize factory workers, women’s associations, and multi-stakeholder initiatives can help in identifying all affected stakeholders.

---

[1] Verité, “Coffee Project: Guidance on Stakeholder Engagement” (Verité, n.d.), 9, http://verite.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/coffee-project-tool9-guidance-stakeholder-engagement.pdf.