Best Practices in Stakeholder Engagement and Reporting
by Future 500
End Conflict and Build Common Ground Between Corporations and Activist Stakeholders
Case Studies from
* Coors and Activist Investors
* Ford and Safety and Environmental Advocates
* Mitsubishi and Rainforest Activists
* Nike and Anti-Globalization Activists
* Procter & Gamble and Regulators and others
Every major company can expect to engage with stakeholders over environmental, accountability, consumer, human rights, labor, or other volatile issues. Most will make costly strategic errors that place their companies at risk of litigation, legislation, and damage to their brands. They learn their lessons the hard way, through experience. Put that experience to work for you.
In keynote or workshop format, Best Practices in Stakeholder Engagement and Reporting is not for those casually intrigued by Stakeholder Engagement. It is an engaging experience for professionals – people whose responsibility it is to secure excellent relationships with media, NGOs, activists, community leaders, lawmakers and others that influence the health and reputation of their company.
You will learn of established Best Practices in the field, and explore the components of the Future 500 System of Stakeholder Engagement, a four-step system developed over fifteen years of active stakeholder engagements with the world’s largest companies and most valuable brand names. We will delve into the Best Practices and Biggest Mistakes in:
Shareholder Resolutions – the best cases and biggest mistakes in managing the explosion of resolutions from the SRI community;
Boycotts and Protests – best cases and biggest mistakes when responding to direct action campaigns that may be regarded as unfair or ineffective;
Market Campaigns – best and least effective ways companies respond when activists target your retailers and customers;
Stakeholder Analysis and Mapping – ivory tower exercises versus maps that go somewhere;
Modes and Metrics of Engagement – lessons in when to monitor, consult, partner, or depart; how to measure performance versus perception;
Stakeholder Reporting – annual reports and bulletins, how they can lead to “headline headache” and litigation, and how to stay out of the headlines and the courtroom;
Surveys and Questionnaires – biggest mistakes and best ways to respond to “survey fatigue;”
Reacting to a Crisis – how to dig a deeper hole, or a foundation of trust;
Building a Team – best cases and biggest mistakes in the fundamentals;
The keynote format will focus on key knowledge and illuminating stories that help professionals recognize and manage common challenges and opportunities in stakeholder engagement. It will touch on the topics you specify as of priority interest to your audience, such as:
The activist organizations that focus on corporate targets.
The methods and dynamics that make anti-corporate campaigns begin and grow.
The business impacts on risk, litigation, sales, market share, reputation, and investment.
When to isolate, and when to engage with activist stakeholders
How to avoid ineffective but popular non-solutions that cost money but do little good.
The workshop format includes all the above, and also enables structured learning based on the comprehensive four-step Future 500 System of stakeholder engagement, a foundation for excellence that enables you to:
Step One: Build the Best Team – how to choose, train, and prepare your director and team.
Step Two: Create a Stakeholder Map and Analysis – a powerful tool to inventory, categorize, and plan your engagement strategy for every stakeholder.
Step Three: Develop a Strategic Plan – set goals and timelines, select engagement modes and methods, and itemize a deployment process.
Step Four: Engage Your Stakeholders – when to start, when to stop, how to engage, predictable bumps, difficult decisions, insights based on experience.
At least as valuable as the formal training may be the experiences, insights, and lessons from you and your peers. For that reason, the workshop format combines training by seasoned professionals with a global success record, with carefully selected real-world case studies and stories that bring the lessons to life. That combination will set this experience apart from any other you have ever had in the field.
Best Practices in Stakeholder Engagement and Reporting is the deepest source of knowledge you will find in any one room, anywhere, on how to meet tangible business objectives and achieve real breakthrough success in the field of Stakeholder Engagement. If stakeholder engagement is a part of your job, it can be one of the most important learning experiences of your professional life.
BENEFITS
Participants will enhance their ability to:
* Apply best practices in stakeholder engagement
* Avoid the mistakes companies often make
* Follow the four steps to effective stakeholder engagement
* Understand and leverage the complex dynamics of stakeholder groups
* Plan and carry out a strategic response
* Unify the corporate team – communications, operations, and executives
* Overcome litigation, regulation, boycotts, protests, and bad publicity
* Save time and money, enhance reputation, and build stakeholder capital
WHO SHOULD BE THERE
Communications and Public Relations leaders, staff and consultants
Environmental and Community Affairs leaders, staff and consultants
Public Affairs and Government Relations
Legal Counsel
Marketing
Operations
VP, COO, CEO and Team
To read some of our sample speeches, click here.
