Measuring stakeholder engagement using the standard AA1000-a Briefing from Article 13

In a Briefing released today, Article13, the leading corporate social responsibility experts, examine measuring stakeholder engagement.

Stakeholder engagement seems to have become the watchword of corporate social reporting. But how do you identify and measure the quality of the engagement process itself and ultimately verify and benchmark this process from one organisation to another? The briefing paper outlines how you can measure, verify and audit this process using the standard AA1000, summarising an article that appeared in Accountability Quarterly, December 2002. Article 13 are currently conducting research into a new suite of measures, the results of which will be available on this website in late spring.

The full article, and more information on the subject, can be found at Article 13's website- www.article13.com.

What is it?
AA1000 is a standard that focuses on the way a report is put together as 'proof of whether it depicts an accurate and complete picture of an organisations activities. As such it has stakeholder engagement at its heart, but how can such a 'human process be measured and verified? Accountability, the standard holder of AA1000, recently published a consultation paper (results due out in April 2003) proposing that measuring stakeholder engagement should focus on three aspects of 'quality.

How Does It Work?
Thats the theory -- but what does it feel like? Article 13 has put together some practical examples of the questions you can ask at the end of a workshop to gain perceptual measurement of these three aspects.

Implications for business
As our expert view bears out, reporting against a standard is generally a big step for companies and using the AA1000 process standard is no exception. Real engagement goes way beyond the way things have always been done in an organisation to discover what really matters to all the stakeholders and to get them involved in identifying the way things can be changed. You must be prepared to deliver evidence of learning from, and responsiveness to, this engagement.

Opportunities for business
Article 13s clients have found that this process of stakeholder engagement can drive continuous improvement throughout the organisation.

This is a brief synopsis of the Briefing. The full article, and more information on the subject, can be found at Article 13's website www.article13.com.

Ends

Article 13 work in the area of corporate responsibility and corporate governance for global businesses right across industry, UK and EU Government and the voluntary sector to deliver a new way of doing business. Areas of expertise include scenarios, business planning, supply chain management, culture change, performance measurement and management, web consultancy services, dialogue and communication. Article 13 approaches business responsibility from the mainstream business angle and works through dialogue to unlock the opportunities of business responsibility to deliver innovation and competitive edge.

Article 13's co-directors, Neela Bettridge and Jane Fiona Cumming, have extensive experience in a number of critical fields: commerce and communications, social and environmental arenas, legal and business strategy. Article 13 also draws on the wisdom of distinguished advisors: Dr Paul Toyne, Professor Chris Baines, Chris Hoare, Professor Colin Gilligan, Susan Clayton, Neill Irwin, Professor Dave Owen and Andrew Acland. This panel, in turn, is complemented by a network of specialists drawn from the social, environmental, economic, ethical and business worlds.