When a company develops effective stakeholder engagement strategies, then learning
and adapting within the company will, in almost all cases, be an integral part of
the process. Staff will need to understand why such engagement is being sought and
what the risks and benefits can be. They will need to learn how to communicate with
external stakeholders. They will also need to understand that not all stakeholder
engagements are open and accessible to all.
Corporate Governance, for example, is developing from merely protecting shareholder
rights vis-à -vis a dominating management, to transparency for a variety
of stakeholders. At its core, it is about the "Who?" (e.g. decision-making), and
the "What?" (e.g. responsibility) in large organisations. And yet there is limited
access to such information, due to factors such as protecting economic competitive
advantage or intellectual property.
Our possible contribution to the organisational adaptation process may include the
following components:
- developing communication and training programmes,
- teaching and training, with a trainthe- trainer approach,
- monitoring critical stages and outcomes,
- coaching trainers and decision makers,
- providing benchmarks.
|
|
|
|
|
A systematic, strategic approach to organisational adaptation in this context will
ensure that skills development and organisational cultural change keep pace with
the stakeholder engagement process. Potential added value for the company includes:
|
|
Function
|
Value added
|
|
for the board of directors:
|
successfully demonstrating to investors the ability and willingness to engage with
stakeholders; enforcing good corporate governance; reducing risk of legal action
against board members (hiding information; unjustifiable preferences in information
access; etc.)
|
|
for top management:
|
demonstrating responsible foresight action vis-à-vis future challenges towards
investors, clients, personnel, business partners
|
|
for line management:
|
managing internal stakeholders and their effective engagement with stakeholders
|
|
for specialist functions staff:
|
knowledge about specialised stakeholders; increased personal engagement; capacity
to anticipate related risks and opportunities
|
|
for staff in general:
|
greater staff understanding of, and identification with, the organisation and a
greater sense of trust within the organisation, leading to a greater capacity to
innovate
|
Organisational Adaptation Support
|
Areas of Work
|
For Whom: Process Levels
|
Resulting in
|
Leading to Organisational Adaptation, e.g. in ...
|
|
Stakeholder universe & developments/drivers
|
Board of Directors
|
Resilience to stakeholder effects, trust, brand value
|
Strategy development, corporate governance, lobbying
|
|
Operational risks and opportunities
|
Board of Management
|
Dialogue & partnering, priorities, organisational change
|
Management culture & system, controlling & external communication
|
|
Consequences for units & regions, practical solutions
|
Line management & specialist functions
|
Reduced risks financial results & business targets
|
Reporting & internal communication, R&D, marketing, sales, procurement, legal,
IR, PR
|
|
Knowledge & behaviour
|
Staff in general
|
Change of paradigm; conflict resolution
|
Internal communication & education, empowerment, transparency
|
OUTPUTS OF STEP 4:
Organisational Adaptation
cultural development and operational changes within the organisation based on a
strategic approach to adaptation
Capacity
skills development supported by training, coaching and monitoring
|
