Representing the stakeholder voice in the making and practice of corporate sustainability strategy through the sustainability assignment

Question

Task: How should the stakeholder voice be represented in the making and practice of corporate sustainability strategy? Discuss through a sustainability assignment report.

Answer

Executive summary
The aim of this sustainability assignmentis to discuss the process of using Stakeholder’s voice in implementing CSR initiatives within the workplace. When organizational leaders design, evaluate, implement and monitor few actions in order to engage stakeholders in a certain project it is known as stakeholder engagement. Stakeholders can be engaged in a project with the help of triangulation method, an effective stakeholder engagement process and by resolving existing conflicts among stakeholders. SSEN is an organization is one the energy companies based in UK and has been listed in the London Stock Exchange. The organization considered in this sustainability assignmentis known for distributing electricity across various parts of London. The firm is also known for implementation of CSR strategies that has further helped the firm to gain goodwill and reputation from different parts of the world. This has only been possible because the firm leaders have made sure to engage stakeholders in the project and remain transparent to them. The firm leaders have adopted techniques like stakeholder mapping, stakeholder engagement template, data triangulation method to group stakeholders on the basis of their impact and interest and leverage their voice further to make the project successful. Thus, these techniques have also been recommended in this sustainability assignmentto other firm leaders who are deciding to adopt CSR strategies.

Introduction to the sustainability assignment
Stakeholders are important part of a business. Stakeholder is a party who have monetary and non-monetary interests on a company. Organizations tend to design actions and focus on implementation of such actions to engage stakeholders in their business activities. This process of designing, analyzing the need of the stakeholder and implementation of these actions for engaging stakeholders is known as stakeholder engagement. Stakeholder engagement is generally practiced by firms to provide value to stakeholders coming from diverse backgrounds (Lehtinen and Aaltonen, 2020). The sustainability assignmentaims at discussing the importance of stakeholder engagement in implementing CSR strategies within the core business activities of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN).

Key terms required for engaging stakeholders
The primary term that has been identified in this sustainability assignmentduring the learning session is accountability. AccountAbility's AA1000 are a series of standards that are generally used by industry leaders and governing bodies to demonstrate their performance in sustainability, accountability and responsibility (AccountAbility, 2022). SSEN has set an international standard for accountability. In terms of accountability the organization considered in this sustainability assignment has scored 82%. This means SSEN have developed relevant strategies that has helped the firm to remain responsible and accountable to their stakeholders, communities in general and also to the environment.

The next important term that has been discussed in this sustainability assignmentduring the learning session is stakeholder mapping and profiling. Industry leaders tend to map stakeholders on the basis of their power and interest on a certain project. Stakeholders in stakeholder mapping are generally chosen on the basis of their obstruction or association with the project (Khan, 2020). Effective identification of stakeholder through stakeholder mapping is positively correlated with the success of a project. Moreover, stakeholder mapping is important for organizational leaders who are going to implement CSR strategies. There are a large number of stakeholders as per the sustainability assignmentwho tends to create a barrier for the managers and employees to volunteer actions that can have positive impact on the environment. Prevention from stakeholders often come because they think that implementation of CSR strategies might have an impact on the profit optimization of the firm.
The next key term is “Triangulation” in thesustainability assignment. Stakeholders often voice out their opinions when they are engaged in a project. The opinions are based on the human behaviour of the stakeholders. When certain behaviour of a stakeholder is analysed widely and from different perceptions it is known as Triangulation (Wang, Aenis and Hofmann-Souki, 2018). Thus, it can be said that Triangulation approach is dynamic in nature. The next important term in the sustainability assignmentthat has been identified from the learning session is corporate sustainability. When business leaders aim at gaining competitive advantage and enhance profitability with the help of sustained business practices and by ensuring co-creation practices with the organization’s stakeholders it is known as corporate sustainability. CSR initiatives have gained spotlight in recent times because it is having a positive influence on the environment as well as communities residing in different parts of the world. As per the sustainability assignmentCSR initiatives can only be undertaken with the help of CSR strategies. CSR strategies are generally implemented with the help of employee engagement, external pressure, feedbacks from stakeholders and many other factors.

Recommendations
Ensuring a stakeholder engagement processin thesustainability assignment
Primarily, it is recommended in thesustainability assignmentto the organizational leaders across the world to leverage the voice of stakeholders for implementation of CSR strategies with the help of stakeholder engagement. When a firm has the ability to build a collaborative relationship with a large number of stakeholders it is known as stakeholder engagement. Stakeholders can be engaged within the core activities or decision-making of an organization through a well-developed process and through a set of well-constructed activities (Stocker, 2022). It is recommended in thesustainability assignmentto other organizational members to adopt the strategy that has been undertaken bythe corporate leaders of SSEN in order to engage stakeholders in the firm’s CSR activities. The organizational leaders have adopted a structured stakeholder engagement process that involves 4 steps.

The first step of this process is identifying stakeholders whose voice can be actually used for initiating CSR activities within the workplace. The strategic leaders of SSEN considered in the sustainability assignmenthave used stakeholder mapping to identify stakeholders who can have high impact on organization’s CSR activities and who have high interest in CSR strategies. In the following part of the report a stakeholder mapping is illustrated that can help readers get an insightful information about the concept of stakeholder mapping.

Fig 1 – Illustrating Stakeholder mapping

From the above image pasted in the sustainability assignmentit is clear that there are a wide range of stakeholders of an organization. If the above stakeholder mapping image is looked at it can be seen that media can play a major role in helping a firm undertake CSR initiatives. Media can help firms to develop green marketing strategies but they tend to have low interest in these CSR strategies. On the other hand, management team have average power and high interest in developing CSR strategies. This is how on the basis of the behaviour and perceptions; these stakeholders have been mapped in thesustainability assignment. Thus, as per the above image, organizational leaders are highly recommended to primarily engage managers, investors and employees in developing CSR activities. This is how stakeholder mapping can help organizational leaders to identify stakeholders and analyse their potential. Once, stakeholders are identified in thesustainability assignmentit is highly recommended to the managerial team of the organization to develop a stakeholder engagement planning template just like the leaders of SSEN. The stakeholder engagement planning template comprises of 5 elements. The objective of the template is to focus on aligning each element with the selected stakeholder. Thus, it can be said that the primary objective of this template is to plan engagement activities in a constructive manner (Gesell, 2020). The following template in the sustainability assignmentgive a brief overview in which stakeholder engagement is done.

Fig 2: Stakeholder Engagement Template

Source: Author made

Thus, from the above template mentioned in thesustainability assignmentit is clear that media are unaware of the organization’s intent towards CSR initiatives. Investors resist the situation because they fear that it might have an impact on the profitability of the firm. Employees are neutral. Customers and government are supportive about CSR initiatives because in the current times both customers and government are worried about the constant environmental degradation and exploitation of several communities by business leaders. Thus, from the above template mentioned in the sustainability assignmentit is highly recommended to primarily choose investors, managers, and employees in order to develop CSR strategies.

The final stage is feedback in thesustainability assignment. The managerial team of SSEN works with stakeholders in several initiatives by associating the stakeholder feedback report (SSEN, 2022a). The objective of this feedback report is to rate stakeholders on the basis of their engagement in the workplace.Thus, it is highly recommended in thesustainability assignmentto the organizational leaders to focus on the intention, behaviour and initiatives undertaken by the stakeholders in the firm’s CSR activities. This can help these leaders engage the correct set of stakeholders.

Adopting trade-offs and triangulation method in the sustainability assignment

The objective of triangulation method as per the sustainability assignmentis to increase the credibility and validity of the findings of the research. The CSR initiatives of SSEN have gained popularity in recent times because the organization has focused on analysing the perceptions of the stakeholders towards their CSR initiatives after receiving their feedback.Moreover, SSEN has also adopted data triangulation technique. When data is collected from a wide range of people in different time and contexts it is known as data triangulation. Thus, it can be said that data triangulation includes periods of space, people and time (Noble and Heale, 2019). It is recommended to the organizational leaders of companies who are working on CSR projects to adopt data triangulation method. This method as per the sustainability assignmentis suggested because trade-offs and triangulation have a positive impact on any kind of research. It reduces bias as same information is collected from a wide range of people and in different time and contexts.It also increases the validity of the survey because different tools are used for collecting relevant information. Finally, this method of triangulation provides high credibility to the managerial team of the firm because it gives a clear overview of the perceptions of different stakeholders on the project.

Furthermore, it is also recommended in the sustainability assignmentto the managerial team of firms who are deciding to engage stakeholders in CSR initiatives to change the perceptions of the stakeholders. As per the strategic decisions undertaken by SSEN, the perceptions of the stakeholders can be changed by identifying the expectations of the stakeholders and delivering quality engagement ideas.Expectations of stakeholders are built on the basis of project goals, their responsibilities and their roles (Boudes, et.al., 2018). For example, when SSEN tried to adopt sustainability strategies 82% of the stakeholders felt that they can be proactive in this project. This increased the rate of stakeholder engagement significantly in the sustainability assignment. Thus, it is the core responsibility of the organizational leaders to empower stakeholders so that they can feel valued within the project. Their need in the project and the impact of their contribution should be transparently communicated. This is how the engagement level of stakeholders might increase.

In addition to this, it is also recommended in the sustainability assignment to the organizational leaders of companies across the world to build trust with the stakeholders. Once there is a solid trust between the organizational members and stakeholders then these stakeholders can easily voice their opinions regarding CSR initiatives. Building trust among stakeholders within the workplace is considered as the key strategy in engaging stakeholders (Bayne, et.al., 2020). As per the organizational members of SSEN mentioned in the sustainability assignment, trust grows over time and it is earned from the stakeholders with the help of various tools and techniques. SSEN members also think that trust can be emotional and rational at the same time. The local members who were the stakeholders of the infrastructure projects were given a drive by the employees of SSEN members. This drive was given to them so that they can see what initiatives are undertaken by the company. This is how SSEN members have used transparency as the main tool to develop trust among stakeholders. Thus, it is recommended to the other company leaders to emphasize on employee training and development. Employees should be trained in such a way so that they can understand what CSR goals the company has established. Moreover, customers or other external stakeholders along with governing bodies must know each and every initiative of the project. These initiatives can be communicated to the external stakeholders by releasing a stakeholder report after every quarter. Thus, organizational leaders who are in-charge of the CSR projects must ensure that each and every decision undertaken on behalf of the organization are discussed and informed to the involved stakeholder. Stakeholder empowerment in the sustainability assignmentcan only lead to effective engagement of stakeholder. Moreover, trust will not only help stakeholders voice out their opinions but it will also help in enhancing stakeholder orientation.

Overcoming stakeholder conflict
It is essential for organizations to focus on developing positive relationships with different stakeholder groups for overcoming any potential conflicts with them. In this regard, developing a deep understanding of the stakeholders is necessary for creating effective plans for meeting their needs and wants (Eskerodand Jepsen, 2016). This can help in better alignment of the business goals with their needs. For this sustainability assignment, organizations can undertake specific strategies for overcoming stakeholder conflict. The first strategy can be identifying stakeholders and watching them closely for understanding their needs and preferences. Here, firms can divide stakeholders into three main categories of primary stakeholders, secondary stakeholders and key stakeholders (Eskerodand Jepsen, 2016). The second strategy in the sustainability assignmentwould be to carefully listening what they say for comprehending their motivation and goals. Efforts should be made for understanding their point of view to avoid potential conflicts. The third strategy would be to meet them one-on-one basis for taking the pressure off and making them feel more comfortable (Eskerodand Jepsen, 2016). This helps in clear and calm conversations with them. The third strategy is to determine their motivation that enables the firms to understand their reasons for worry, resistance and doubts. It is beneficial to address the motivation underlying their resistance for avoiding any conflicts. The fourth strategy in the sustainability assignmentwould be to listening to the stakeholders and striving to meet their needs for ensuring to make them feel valued, appreciated and heard (Eskerodand Jepsen, 2016).

Like SSEN, organizations had focused on achieving ambitious targets to ensure the benefits of their stakeholders. They emphasized on stakeholder engagement in various plans and actions by making sure that strategic priorities are being aligned with the needs and expectations of the stakeholders. Furthermore, companies as per the sustainability assignmentcan include various solutions for overcoming stakeholder conflicts. For example, they should encourage complaints from customers to evaluate their own customer service. This helps in recognizing that things might go wrong and customers can contact companies in such case for expressing their grievances. Organizations should further make sure that each stakeholder group can connect with them. In this regard, SSEN has committed to upgrade and reinforce network for enhancing its role, which can be used by various companies across the world (SSEN, 2022b). Besides, organizations should also encourage feedback from local communities and keep people informed about their activities. As per the sustainability assignmentit helps in gaining their trust and confidence in organizational activities to acquire their viewpoints on various plans or actions. This is another way conflicts and grievances among stakeholders can be reduced. Moreover, organizations can also conduct surveys for better understanding their needs, preferences and viewpoints for overcoming their conflicts (SSEN, 2022c). Thus, these strategies mentioned in the sustainability assignmentcan be beneficial for organizations to ensure no conflicts are generated with their stakeholder groups during initiation of a CSR project.

In addition to this, it is suggested to the organizational leaders to emphasize on active listening. Active listening as per the sustainability assignmentcan be marked as a unified framework that further helps in synthesizing as well as recognising speech (Friston, et.al., 2021). The firm leaders of SSEN have focused on leveraging empathy and active listening. The opinions and viewpoints of stakeholders have been listened effectively. This method has been recommended to other organizational leaders because once managerial team emphasized on listening to the stakeholders, then they can understand whether there are any grievances among these stakeholders. Active listening on behalf of the members of the organization or initiators of the project as per the sustainability assignmentnot only help in gathering opinions of the stakeholders but it also helps in encouraging stakeholders to come out with their issues. Thus, it can be said that active listening to the problems and grievances among stakeholders not only help firms to reduce stakeholder conflicts but it also helps firms to engage stakeholders within the project. This is how SSEN have been successful in involving highly powerful stakeholders within their CSR projects.

Conclusion
The main aim of this sustainability assignmentwas to discuss the process in which stakeholder’s voice can be used for accomplishment of CSR goals within the firm. From the findings of the sustainability assignment, it is clear that stakeholder’s voice can only be used properly within a project if they are engaged in the project and empowered by the organizational leaders. The objective of the entire sustainability assignmentwas to discuss various methods of stakeholder engagement and its impact on CSR projects of an organization. Few terms that are associated with stakeholder engagement has been discussed in this report. The terms include accountability of firm leaders in front of their stakeholders, triangulation and trade-off, stakeholder conflicts and many more. Apart from that the sustainability assignmentalso aimed at recommending certain actions to each and every organizational member across the world who have decided to implement CSR activities within their firm. The findings of the sustainability
assignmentsuggest that organizational leaders must primarily leverage a well-constructed stakeholder engagement process that has 4 different steps. The stakeholder engagement process involves grouping stakeholders on the basis of their impact on the project and interest. This can be done with the help of stakeholder mapping. Once, they are grouped then formation of a stakeholder engagement template has been recommended that aims at identifying whether selected stakeholders are aware, unaware, resistant or neutral of the initiatives that the company has decided to undertake. From the next recommendation section, it can be concluded that data triangulation method can be adopted by organizational leaders because this method help them to gather information and stakeholder feedback from different sources and at different situations and contexts. Furthermore, organizational leaders who are focused on engaging stakeholders in their projects must reduce stakeholder conflicts. This can be done by ensuring trust and transparency among stakeholders. Finally, from the sustainability assignmentit can be found out that each and every recommendation has been provided by leveraging examples of strategic actions undertaken by a renowned firm named SSEN. This firm is known for implementing CSR initiatives in the most effective way and have gained appreciation from both internal and external stakeholders from different parts of the world.

Reference List
AccountAbility, 2022. Standards. [online]. Available at https://www.accountability.org/standards/#:~:text=AccountAbility's%20AA1000%20Series%20of%20Stan dards,accountability%2C%20responsibility%2C%20and%20sustainability. (Accessed 31 July 2022).
Bayne, A.I., Dullabh, P., Skillman, M., Ubri, P., Rotondo, C., Zainulbhai, S., Frosch, D.L. and Devers, K.J., 2020.
Engaging patients and stakeholders in preresearchsustainability assignment: findings from the Pipeline to Proposal Awards Initiative. Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research, 9(10), pp.721-736.
Boudes, M., Robinson, P., Bertelsen, N., Brooke, N., Hoos, A., Boutin, M., Geissler, J. and Sargeant, I., 2018. What do stakeholders expect from patient engagement: Are these expectations being met. Health Expectations, 21(6), pp.1035-1045.

Eskerod, P. and Jepsen, A.L., 2016. Project stakeholder management in sustainability assignment. Routledge.
Friston, K.J., Sajid, N., Quiroga-Martinez, D.R., Parr, T., Price, C.J. and Holmes, E., 2021. Active listening. Hearing research, 399, p.107998.
Gesell, S.B., Halladay, J.R., Mettam, L.H., Sissine, M.E., Staplefoote-Boynton, B.L. and Duncan, P.W., 2020. Using REDCap to track stakeholder engagement: A time-saving tool for PCORI-funded studies. Journal of clinical and translational science, 4(2), pp.108-114.
Khan, S.B., 2020. Translation of the shortened dental arch research into clinical practice: a stakeholder mapping approach. BDJ open, 6(1), pp.1-8.
Lehtinen, J. and Aaltonen, K., 2020. Organizing external stakeholder engagement in inter-organizational projects: Opening the black boxsustainability assignment. International Journal of Project Management, 38(2), pp.85-98.
Noble, H. and Heale, R., 2019. Triangulation in research, with examples. Evidence-based nursing, 22(3), pp.67-68. SSEN, 2022a. Recent Stakeholder Publications. [online]. Available at https://www.ssen-transmission.co.uk/our-stakeholder-engagement/recent-stakeholder-publications/ (Accessed 31 July 2022).
SSEN, 2022b. Network connections. [online]. Available at https://www.ssen-transmission.co.uk/information-centre/network-connections/(Accessed 31 July 2022).
SSEN, 2022c. Talk to us. [online]. Available at https://www.ssen-transmission.co.uk/talk-to-us/(Accessed 31 July 2022). Stocker, F., de Arruda, M.P., de Mascena, K.M. and Boaventura, J.M., 2020. Stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting: a classification modelsustainability assignment. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(5), pp.2071-2080.
Wang, J., Aenis, T. and Hofmann-Souki, S., 2018. Triangulation in participation: Dynamic approaches for science-practice interaction in land-use decision making in rural China. Land use policy, 72, pp.364-371.