engagement of stakeholders

Stakeholders are individuals or organizations that have a stake in a company's policy and activities. Shareholders, employees, clients, and the broader population are all stakeholders (Papadakis et al., 2008). Non-human organizations that can influence or be impacted by an organization's life and activities are also considered stakeholders. In the context of an organization, there exist bi-directional relationships among stakeholders. Various stakeholder groups have different expectations and claims on the company. Notable is that organizations should consider the impact of the organization’s risk on all stakeholders. The main aspect that generates stakeholder interest is the organization's ethical behavior. As such, organizations should make it a priority to engage all interested parties in the company’s objectives, mission, and general strategy. This paper will examine the importance of stakeholder engagement. It also examines the gold fields company and how it promotes sustainability through a critical evaluation of its integrated annual report.

Section A: Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder engagement

In a corporate setting, stakeholder engagement is the process whereby a company involves people and groups who may be impacted by the decisions it makes or direct the implementation of its business decisions. Stakeholders may support or oppose some of the decisions. They may be influential in the company or within the local community. Also, they may hold significant positions in the organization or be affected in the long run.

Importance of stakeholder engagement

Direct engagement with stakeholders, especially customers may have a great impact on the team. A personal and straightforward engagement through social media helps not only in enhancing public relations and marketing but also in creating a channel for receiving feedback on the organization’s performance and customers’ perceptions of products and services.

Recent studies show that organizations can have real and tangible benefits as a result of proper stakeholder engagement. Effective engagement with employees results in desirable operating margins, productivity, and retention. Employees are twice as likely to remain in a company with appropriate stakeholder. Also, Employees are attracted to organizations that have active employee engagement programs. Organizations with high sustainability commitment do better than those with low engagement strategies due to their enhanced brand loyalty.

In procurement, stakeholder engagement is critical in all aspects. Managers apply it to gain information and concepts from significant individuals in the organization. Cooperation with the right stakeholders within the company can guarantee a clear understanding of strategic aspects like a value add, cost-saving goals, compliance, and organizational input. Noteworthy is that procurement departments should listen to the stakeholders and sell back ideas generated from those conversations.

Taking stakeholders’ concerns into consideration helps in improving business relationships (Cote & Osborne, 2017, p.45). This makes it easy for the organization to operate. It also promotes the generation of ideas that will improve the quality of products and services according to the stakeholders' needs. Stakeholder engagement also helps the organization to maximize value.

Guideline to effective stakeholder engagement

Integrated reporting and sustainability requires stakeholder engagement to identify the right stakeholders. An activist group offers valuable ideas on various social, economic and environmental issues. It also needs the organization’s executives to determine real opportunities and risks for the company’s priorities and activities. It requires the organization to provide feedback on progress towards a sustainable future (Lee & Yeo, 2016). There is also need to identify qualified stakeholders who would offer real insights into various sustainability aspects. Further, engagement should happen regularly to ensure that different ideas, knowledge, and opinions are put into consideration.

Organizations that seek to achieve sustainability should work on improving their communication with stakeholders. Communication should be concise and clear. Excellent communication translates to high-value output. It also makes various groups interested in the organization’s business. Good communication makes stakeholders feel that they are part of the organization’s decision-making process. Research further shows that a company that needs to grow towards sustainability should be able to establish the best compromise across the stakeholders’ priorities. Reaching an agreement enables various players to offer their contribution despite the differences (Greenwood, 2007, p.317).

Noteworthy is that an organization should employ different engagement strategies to cater for both rural and urban stakeholder groups. Various strategies also address different gender, language and literacy challenges. Examples of these strategies include connecting to the larger world and focusing on solutions (Owen, Swift, & Hunt, 2001, p.680).

An organization’s audit committee should review the sustainability of an integrated report. The report should be reliable and with no conflict with financial records. Adequate and explicit information on the organization’s sustainability and financial performance should be available. There should also be an elaborate commentary on the outcomes and plans to improve on the positives and address the drawbacks. Noteworthy is that an organization should release an integrated report annually. The report should emphasize on substance over form, making governance, strategy, and sustainability inseparable (Rinaldi, Unerman & Tilt, 2014, P. 90).

Section B: a case study of Goldfields Ltd.

Gold Fields Limited is a gold mining company in South Africa. It is one of Africa’s promising firms. It is listed on both the local stock exchange and the New York stock exchange. Gold field’s vision is to be a leader in sustainable mining. In this regards, the company aims to satisfy stakeholders who include employees, investors, and the general community. Sustainability also refers to conducting mining across the globe and operating profitably by creating value for all. Noteworthy is that the multi-billion dollar company is making steady steps towards the realization of the vision. The company’s integrated report of 2016 emphasizes the need to enhance its stakeholder engagement (“Gold Fields 2016”, 2017 p.33). The organization’s chief executive promises that the firm will endeavor to strengthen its acceptance by promoting transparency and building mutually beneficial relationships. The company has signed several development agreements with several governments. Such commitments have been fruitful in South Africa, Ghana, and Peru.

Gold Field identified its opportunities in the vast southern African region. It aims to use its financial muscle in the continent to conquer the global gold mining industry. Within this ambitious endeavor, there are high environmental risks. The company is committed to establishing an integrated carbon and energy management in its operations. Further, the company undertakes to provide timely updates on its progress towards achieving sustainability through a comprehensive annual integrated report (Hesselbarth, & Schaltegger, 2014). Noteworthy also is that the company protects its integrity by revealing its financial records like annual profits, losses, employee salary scales, and projections.

Achieving sustainability

Gold Field can accelerate its transition to sustainability by creating more aggressive, integrated public policies on environmental matters. Such systems would enable the firm to invest in new technologies for sustainability. Also, the company should actually communicate its vision of sustainability (Montiel & Delgado-Ceballos, 2014, p.130). Every stakeholder regardless of their role should understand and promote the idea. The organization should also do more in mitigating its impact on climate change. Despite numerous efforts to reduce carbon emission, environmental incidences like oil spills undermine sustainability.

Conclusion

The paper discusses the importance of stakeholder engagement in promoting sustainability. From the discussion, it is clear that Gold Fields Company needs to do more stakeholder engagement in its bid to attain sustainability.



























References

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