…Ask what you can do for your stakeholders.
Stakeholder capitalism and stakeholder engagement are terms on the lips of many board directors around the world. The problem they face is achieving those aims successfully in a landscape that some find as familiar and welcoming as one of the moons of Saturn.
The latest column by our CEO, Helle Bank Jorgensen, for CEO Today provides some answers for senior business leaders to steer them through this environment. Climate change, supply chains, human-rights issues, board corruption, executive pay, diversity, equity and inclusion plus cybersecurity are all on the table.
“Stakeholder engagement should be a key tool in management and the board’s toolbox,” argues Helle. “Boards should ask for insight from stakeholder groups that the company finds are most material to its strategic success, as well as from those that believe that the company is falling short, even if senior management doesn’t see the groups as material. To do that successfully, boards must be lock-step with management on every stakeholder group and every topic so that all questions about short- and long-term impact are addressed.”
It’s so much easier than 10 years ago to hear your stakeholders: AI, digital tools and the surfeit of social media platforms are just some of the ways. People are making their voices heard. Boards just now have to listen; and with intent.
Read the full article on CEO Today: Make stakeholder concerns your concerns. All of them.
Mathew Loup is Competent Boards’ Director, Marketing & Communications. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
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