Management Functions

Increasingly, good practice points to incorporating stakeholder
engagement activities into a company’s environmental and social
management system. In practice this means making its management
systematic by integrating it with core business activities. To
achieve this, managers will need to identify critical points in the
life of the project where stakeholder engagement will be needed,
and determine who will deliver these actions and how they can be
integrated with core business functions. This involves trying to
work out how best to deliver and integrate a number of different
aspects of engagement discussed in the previous sections, including:

■ ongoing stakeholder analysis and the assessment of stakeholder
concerns from a “risk” perspective
■ the hiring and training of community liaison officers
■ consultation processes designed to meet the company’s own
policies and/or compliance requirements of lenders and regulators
■ input and suggestions received from stakeholders on project
design and proposed mitigation measures
■ grievance mechanisms that capture and respond to stakeholder
concerns
■ the involvement of local stakeholders in project monitoring
■ reporting information to stakeholders
(Part Two of this handbook identifies some of the key management
tasks for each phase of the project cycle.)
Most importantly, stakeholder engagement should be managed
as one would manage any other business function — with clearly
defined objectives and targets, professional, dedicated staff,
established timelines and budget, and senior management
responsibility and oversight. Some good practice principles for
managing stakeholder engagement processes are given below.
✔Coordinate activities and assign overall responsibility
Over the life of the project, affected communities and other interested
parties will likely interact with a variety of representatives from
within the project company. It is essential that this diverse set of
engagement activities be coordinated. Consistency of information
Consistency of information conveyed to
stakeholders by different teams or business
units within the company is im
conveyed to stakeholders by different teams or business units within
the company is important, as is keeping track of such activities in
order to reduce inefficiencies, confusion, and conflicting messages
or commitments. This is usually best achieved by giving a senior
manager overall responsibility for stakeholder engagement. This
high-level oversight not only helps to underscore the importance
of the function, but is needed in order to effectively implement the
strategy and coordinate the various activities across the company.
✔Hire, train, and deploy the right personnel
Initial stakeholder analysis will provide you with a sense of the type
of stakeholder groups the project will need to engage during different
phases of the project cycle. Engaging different types of
stakeholders requires different skills and staffing considerations.
For example, engaging with local communities might require one
or more field-based community liaison officers, whereas engagement
with government officials or local, national, and international
organizations will likely require different skill sets and more direct
involvement of senior managers. For projects where the stakeholder
engagement process is likely to be complex or sensitive, consider
bringing in social advisors or other expert staff to help design and
facilitate the process and assist with participatory methodologies
and other specialized techniques.
When hiring community liaison staff, consider people who will be
able to develop and maintain good working relationships with the
When hiring community liaison staff,
consider people who will be able to
develop and maintain good working
relationships with the local communities.

local communities. Since their job will involve listening and responding
to local concerns and suggestions, qualities to look for include:
■ good people and communication skills
■ a good understanding of the local language and
community/cultural dynamics
■ open-mindedness and respect for the views of others
■ a solution-oriented approach
■ a high integrity/degree of trustworthiness
■ a genuine commitment to the position and its goals
✔Create clear reporting lines between the community
liaison function and senior management
In order to be effective, community liaison officers need to have the
authority to negotiate on behalf of the company. This requires a
clear reporting structure and clarification as to which decisions they
can take unilaterally, and which are to be passed on to higher levels
within the company. Direct reporting lines also enable senior managers
to more effectively control risks by being kept informed of this
type of field-level information in a timely manner. The more likely it is
that the concerns of local stakeholders might pose a risk or reputa