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 4

our approach

financial materiality

Stakeholder Engagement Main Page > Four Pillars > ​Effectiveness Criterion 3

3. A Focus on Those Most at Risk​​​

The company prioritizes engagement with the rights holders who are most likely to be harmed by its operations, and therefore where early engagement is critical.

what this means

questions for portfolio companies

What to look for

Issue & SEctor considerations

for workers

High risk situations

Companies must prioritize engagement and allocate resources to engagement with the stakeholders most impacted by their operations. In high risk situations, where second and third tier suppliers or business partners are involved, direct engagement of those partners’ affected stakeholders may be necessary. Conducting a saliency assessment—evaluating potential harms by their scope, scale, and irremediability—helps identify which rights‑holders to engage first.[1] Companies should also identify and address any barriers these groups face to meaningful participation.

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[1] Shift and Mazars, “Introduction to Salient Human Rights Issues,” Shift (blog), accessed May 25, 2025, https://shiftproject.org/resource/salient-humanrights/.