What do you do if your stakeholder relationships in a CSR role are strained?

Identify the CSR drivers. This could cover several areas. Common drivers include economic growth and operations, collaboration with key communities that reflect the employee and consumer base, empowering employees, social just & reform and environmental sustainability. These are all critical areas to consider when deciding what to prioritize for CSR. Social just and reform is a relatively new driver for many organizations. However, in the recent years of the Me Too Movement and Black Lives Matter, many employees have demanded to see their companies take action.

Get clear on the company’s purpose. This goes beyond turning a profit. In fact, from the same Wave X report, 93% of employees believe companies must lead with purpose. Who is the company helping and why does it matter? What community does the consumer live in and how is that reflected in the employee base? Once the company is clear on the bigger picture impact it wants to make, then you can start building out a strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy.

When stakeholder relationships in a CSR role become strained, prioritize open dialogue. Initiate candid conversations with stakeholders to understand their concerns, expectations, and grievances. Actively listen, acknowledge their perspectives, and seek common ground. Transparency and empathy are essential. By fostering open communication, you can address issues, rebuild trust, and collaboratively work toward sustainable solutions.

Embed the CSR policy into an engagement strategy. Once the strategy and policies are in place, it’s critical for employees, consumers and shareholders to know what it is, why the particular goals were chosen and how they stand to benefit, as well as what opportunities do they have to join in and help support these efforts.

Define the CSR vision and goals. Getting clear on what positive impact would look like will help everyone understand why the company may choose to commit to an effort and why it may pass on other quality and meaningful opportunities. In the end, no company can do everything and fight for every cause. After all, if the company is not strategic about where it puts its resources, there may not be a company at all. But when it gets clear about what impact in each of the driver areas benefits all stakeholders the most, it is easier for employees and consumers to understand why some efforts don’t get the same or any attention as others.