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 5

our approach

financial materiality

Stakeholder Engagement Main Page > Four Pillars > ​Effectiveness Criterion 4

4. Informed Participation

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

what this means

questions for portfolio companies

What to look for

For workers

High risk situations

 Questions for Portfolio Companies

• Describe how you negotiate with recognized trade unions or other worker representatives. Is this practice consistent throughout your operations?
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What to look for

• ​A process for engaging in good faith negotiations with workers and their representatives.
  Good-faith negotiations begin with transparent and reliable information sharing. During negotiations, the credibility of information is key to a productive conversation and resolving conflicting points of view. As such, it’s imperative that all actors involved in the negotiation agree on who is responsible for collecting and reporting data so that all parties trust it. Then the information must be presented in a format and language that foster mutual understanding of the issues and complexities at hand.[1]

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[1] “Industrial Relations Toolkit,” ITCILO, accessed May 25, 2025, https://www.itcilo.org/courses/industrial-relations-toolkit.