stakeholder comm

8/16/2019 Stakeholder Comm

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/stakeholder-comm 1/12

stakeholder

communications

t h e t o o l k i t



Stakeholder engagement plans cannot work without stakeholdercommunications. Every time you engage or communicate with stakeholders,

there are implications for investor perception and share price – so being

prepared is crucial.

Effective stakeholder communications often involves reaching a wide range of

stakeholders. This involves disseminating the right messages and addressing

the right issues for the best results.

There are three principles I find most helpful when

communicating – keep it simple, clear and timely

Chng Lay ChewCFO, Singapore Exchange

Some basic questions a CFO should consider in developing a stakeholder

communications plan include:

• Why – what are our key objectives in communicating?

• Who – who are our stakeholders and influencers? Who do we need to

persuade?

• What – what do we plan to do to achieve our objectives?

• Where – which platforms and channels are available to us?



getting it rightWho are a CFO’s major stakeholders? According to Arthur Lang, Group CFO of property

developer CapitaLand, “stakeholders are anyone who takes an interest in the long-term

well-being, sustainability and success of the company.”

An effective approach to stakeholder communications will often form part of a broader

stakeholder engagement process. A typical stakeholder engagement process involves

three stages:

The Stakeholder Engagement Process Source: KPMG Singapore

R E S P O N D

I N G &

M E A S U R I N

G T H

I N K

I N G

&

P L A N N

I N G

E N GAG I N G

P

R E P AR I N G &

Monitoring and measuring your

stakeholder engagement process

Identifying your stakeholders and

relative levels of influence

Assessing your success in

meeting your objectives

Identifying your messages and any

material issues to be addressed

Tweaking your plan to

improve engagement

Stating your objectives for

stakeholder communications

Building or strengthening capabilities

and feedback mechanismPutting your plan into action

Defining the scope and

planning your engagement

Defining actionable stakeholder

engagement and communication plans

getting

it right


framework


checklist


process



Before planning your communications, start by

understanding the current perceptions of stakeholders

and assessing current communications methods.

You would also need to understand the strengths and

limitations of existing communications infrastructure

before making and executing your plans.



stakeholder communications frameworkA Stakeholder Communications Framework can help you think through how

to approach your organisation’s stakeholder communications needs.

The Stakeholder Communications Framework Source: KPMG Singapore

Stakeholders

• Identifying

and

segmenting

your

stakeholders

• Understanding

your

stakeholder

operating environment

• Analysing and understanding your stakeholders

• Identifying priorities for your stakeholder

engagement

Channels

• Identification of channels

and vehicles to reach definedaudiences

• Understanding the operating

context and planning theoutreach

• Socialising

outcomes

with

key

stakeholders

Plan

• Conceptualising your engagement plan

• Planning

your

communications

strategy

• Dening the key components of your communications plan

• Planning your key messages

• Planning

your

outreach

• Timing

the

communications

• Planning your communications channels

• Planning

your

communications

method

ABOUT

THE ORGANISATION

who

whatwhere

why

Objectives

• Identifying

and

engaging

your

stakeholders

• Generating trust

• Protecting

and

enhancing

your

corporate reputation

• Managing the media agenda

• Developing

an

open

and

transparent culture

• Enabling

consistent

messaging

getting

it right


framework


checklist


process



Authenticity and fluency must be the underlying

philosophy to your communications.

Authenticity is a sense of realness. As a CFO, this

means conveying your company’s financial storyand situation in an honest and transparent manner,

based on facts and data. Attempts at exaggerating or

distorting the real story will often backfire after the

truth is uncovered.

Fluency refers to the fact that your company’s

key storytellers, its various spokespeople must be

conversant with the facts and positions your company

has taken.



stakeholder communications checklistIn telling your company’s financial story, you must also align your key

messages with your company’s mission, vision and core strategy. Answering

this checklist can be helpful.

The Stakeholder communications checklist Source: KPMG Singapore

Before developing your stakeholder communications framework and

its process, you should fully understand your organisation. Ask these

questions:

What do we do?

How and where do we operate?What is our mission and vision for the future?

What is our business model?

What is our business strategy?

What is the governance structure?

What are our core values?

How do we stand in terms of Corporate Responsibility?

What are the sustainability and environmental policies?

What are some of our recent achievements and issues faced?

getting stakeholder communications stakeholder communications stakeholder communications

it right framework checklist process



A full understanding of your organisation is key

to developing your stakeholder communications

framework.



stakeholder communications process

I. Stakeholder analysis

Analysing your stakeholders’ positions

and how they are reached should be

undertaken early in your communications

programme and updated regularly. This

involves methodically mapping your key

influencers and stakeholder groups and

assessing their positions on issues which

affect the reputation of your company.

Both internal and external stakeholder

groups are important. Ensure that externalpositions are congruent with your internal

positions.

Internal stakeholders

Internal stakeholders often include the

Board of Directors, senior management

and employees.

Ideally, your internal stakeholders should

have agreed on all key positions before the

implementation of any plans.

In extremely large or diverse companies,

developing a parallel Leadership Action

Plan can be useful. This plan involves

mapping, then forging a common position

with key dissenting internal stakeholders.

1

2

3

4

Stakeholder analysis: Understanding

your stakeholder groups better.

Communications assessment:

Understanding your current positions

and identifying your audiences and

influencers.

Communications planning:

Specifying the communications

objectives, planning strategy and

developing messages as well as risk

mitigation options.

Stakeholder monitoring and feedback:

Assessing the effectiveness of your

communications.

Are we getting our message across?

Feedback loop - course correction

getting

it right


framework


checklist


process



External stakeholders

External stakeholders can be broadlycategorised into primary and secondary

stakeholders.

Primary stakeholders have an impact on

the success of your communications

plans. These include both institutional

and retail investors, banks, customers,regulators, analysts and the media.

As a CFO, your primary external

stakeholders require information

concerning your company’s financial

performance.

Secondary stakeholders are individuals

or organisations only indirectly affected.

These include non-government

organisations and advocacy groups,

company alumni, vendors and customers.

They generally require less sensitive

information such as how the company

intends to operate within society.

II. Communications assessment

Assess the current state of yourcommunications. Steps involved include:

1) Understanding the environment

and culture of your industry and

stakeholders and the effectiveness of

current communications initiatives.

2) Taking stock of your corporateculture, and whether your

management and staff are ‘walking

the talk’ in relation to your company’s

espoused mission, values and goals. It

also helps to identify potential risks to

your corporate reputation.

3) Assessing current communicationschannels and seeking feedback

from your stakeholders if existing

communications methods are useful

for converying information about your

organisation.

III. Communications planning

Next, work out your communications goals

and messages. These messages should



also be aligned with your company’s core

strategy and your financial story.

Develop simple, direct key messages that:

• Communicate “need-to-know” rather

than “nice-to-know” information

• Map how each message and

communication objective is relevant to

each stakeholder group• Consider what sort of stakeholder

response you want to trigger

Plan a communications strategy clearly,

describing plans to support the key

messages.

In a nutshell, lay out the why and how you

plan to influence each stakeholder group

by considering:

• Who are the stakeholders you plan to

communicate with and the outcomes

you seek

• What are the ‘touch-points’ you should

leverage to communicate

• Who are the influencers in this process

and the roles of your spokespeople

• What information will be

communicated and its timing

Next, plan the tactics and activities you

plan to undertake and what channels you

will use to deliver your messages. Where

possible, think beyond broadcasting to

how to engage your audience. The leanest

options to the most media-rich are:• Print communications are useful for

delivering consistent information to a

wide audience and in supporting face-

to-face communications. Examples

include newsletters, briefing packs,

brochures and reports.

• Web and online communications was

listed in our study as an increasingly

preferred way to share information.

They can be useful for distributing

immediate and personable messages

but may lack suitable response

mechanisms. Examples include

e-mails, internet websites and online

forums.



• Social media and audio-visual

communications are usefulfor broadcasting a message to

stakeholders across locations and

time zones. They can also promote

stakeholder engagement. Examples

include webinars, blogs and social

media channels such as Facebook,

YouTube and Twitter.• Face-to-face communication is

useful in strengthening relationships,

gathering and exchanging information

or solving problems. Examples include

presentations, road shows, briefings,

seminars and meetings.

IV. Stakeholder monitoring and feedback

Monitoring how perceptions among

stakeholders are changing can determine

the effectiveness of your communications

initiatives. It will allow you to:

• Learn about evolving stakeholder

expectations

• Adjust

your

stakeholder

management

and engagement plans as perceptions

change

• Identify potential issues earlier

• Escalate

issues

for

pre-emptive

action.

While planning your communications, it

is also useful to consider what feedback

channels you plan to have in place.

Your stakeholders may use these channels

to provide feedback, seek clarification,

provide reactions or ask for moreinformation.

Make sure that your feedback channels are

easy to access, facilitate a timely response,

and are confidential and anonymous when

appropriate. Many companies are already

also using Facebook, Twitter and other

online forums as platforms for clients and

other stakeholders to interact with them.

A point that cannot be over-emphasised

is that you should anticipate and plan for

problems. Identify several possible crisis

scenarios and develop a crisis management

plan to manage communications with

stakeholders in these unexpected

situations.

stakeholder comm

Documents