- While there are several guidelines that advise how to undertake stakeholder engagement, it is important that a practitioner and/or company remain flexible in their approach, by implementing alternative methods or approaches if/when needed. Engagement
should always be context specific, particularly if it is to be meaningful, and therefore may require an element of ‘thinking outside the box’ to achieve positive outcomes. - Developing in-depth and fruitful relationships with stakeholders requires an investment of time and resources. The frequency at which a practitioner or company engages with a community – even when engagement is not linked to a specific project/activity – will help to build relationships, and in-turn, allow for more meaningful engagement.
Project background/scenario
An oil and gas company has been operating a large-scale liquified natural gas operation for over a decade in a country with diverse cultural and language groups, a clan- based socio-political environment, and with a low literacy rate amongst the affected population.
To address these challenges, the company sought to design a system for stakeholder engagement that would allow them to achieve their goals - (1) a high level of project/activity understanding amongst affected communities and (2) delivering positive outcomes for community members. One of the key components of the successful approach developed by the company was to employ ‘Village Liaison Officers’ (VLOs).
VLOs comprise members of the various clan groups living within the villages and communities surrounding the operation. VLOs act as an extension of the company and have helped to build and maintain relationships with the various clan/tribal groups. VLOs are invaluable to company operations as they provide an additional option for community members to provide feedback on potential issues and/or grievances, provide insight into community customs and how to present critical operational/activity information in a culturally appropriate manner, and provide crucial insight into local networks and community decision-making processes.
VLOs have also been effective in supporting data collection that informs KPIs associated with stakeholder engagements, and more broadly social performance. VLOs report into the company’s Community Affairs Officers (located externally to a village) twice a day and provide updates as to the stakeholders engaged, the feedback received, the issues/grievances discussed, and the community perceptions of the company and recent operations/activities conducted.
In areas where there are low literacy rates, the use of VLOs has helped to avoid the potential for miscommunication. In communities that rely on oral and pictorial communication, traditional Community Perception Surveys (or similar) are a less feasible method to capture community issues and/or perceptions. VLOs therefore, provide the company with an understanding of community sentiment in a way that respects the local context.
How engagement was made meaningful
In this case study, engagement was made meaningful through the following:
- Principle 2 – the company developed an understanding of stakeholders relevant to their operations, in particular, the most culturally appropriate means to conduct engagement.
- Principle 4 – the company sought to undertake stakeholder engagement in a way that was unique to the circumstances, as well as, suitable for the context and stakeholders identified. The use of VLOs to support the building/maintenance of stakeholder relationships seeks to achieve an outcome that is beneficial for both the company and the local communities. This was
also evident in the approach taken by the company in relation to informing KPIs with VLOs used in place of more common data collection methods.