The Stakeholder Engagement Manual – Volume 2: The Practitioner’s Handbook on Stakeholder Engagement

ORGANIZATION:
AccountAbility, the United Nations Environment Programme, and Stakeholder Research Associates,

Year: 2005

This handbook provides practical guidance, advice and signposts for further information to those interested in how to make stakeholder engagement more effective and beneficial for the organisation and its stakeholders. Whilst Volume 1, “The Guide to Practitioners’ Perspectives”, provides engagement practitioners with an overview of the perspective of various stakeholders on stakeholder engagement, this Practitioner’s Handbook ­ Volume 2 of the manual ­ is aimed primarily at corporate practitioners. In addition, large portions of this Handbook may also be of use to practitioners from any other type (i.e. non-business) of organisation. The hope is that a wide spectrum of users can take it up and adapt its recommendations to their own circumstances.

Contents

WELCOME | Introduction
Opening note
Why engage
What is in this handbook
How to use the handbook
Principles and standards for stakeholder engagement
Process summary
STAGE 1 | Think strategically about engagement
P1: Mapping your stakeholders
P2: Setting strategic objectives for engagement
P3: Identifying issues
P4: Prioritising stakeholders and issues
STAGE 2 | Take time to analyse and plan the engagement
P5: Reviewing your progress
P6: Learning from others and identifying potential partners
P7: Assessing your current engagements and drafting stakeholder specific objectives
P8: Understanding and learning about stakeholders and their representatives
P9: Checking for resource commitments and defi ning “margins of movement”
P10: Creating an issue focused plan for stakeholder engagement
STAGE 3 | Maintain and strengthen the capacities needed to engage effectively
P11: Strengthening your company’s ability to respond
P12: Developing the internal skills and characteristics needed for stakeholder engagement
P13: Consider your stakeholders’ requirements for engagement
STAGE 4 | Engage with your stakeholders in ways that work
P14: Identifying the most effective engagement methods
Common Stakeholder Engagement Approaches
P15: Designing the engagement process
STAGE 6 | Take action and review the engagement
P16: Creating a plan for action
P17: Reporting back and giving assurance to your stakeholders
P18: Reviewing the engagement process
ANNEX
Jargon buster
Further resources
Bibliography
Further acknowledements