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

In CAHRAs, two-way communication strategies should be informed by ongoing conflict analysis and tailored to local conditions, including considering the following: 
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• Setting: Engagement should take place in neutral, non-militarized locations 
• Frequency: Establish a regular cadence for dialogue, while remaining flexible to shifts in the security and political environment.
• Security: Rights holders involved in consultations face elevated risks. Sharing views or vulnerabilities may expose them to retaliation if information is mishandled. Engagements should therefore prioritize safety by using secure, off-site venues, anonymizing feedback, minimizing record keeping when appropriate, and ensuring data is stored securely—ideally outside the conflict zone.
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Stakeholder perspectives in CAHRAs can shift rapidly. Lessons learned from conflict-affected and fragile settings indicate that such environments warrant a highly localized approach, joint feedback mechanisms, capacity building for frontline staff, and a reciprocal (versus extractive) approach.

Additionally, companies must be prepared to share with rights holders as much information related to remaining or exiting a conflict zone as they can. Rights holders need access to timely and clear information to assess potential risks, understand the company's reasoning, and prepare for possible consequences of the company's presence or withdrawal.