Great companies don’t start with what they do or how they do it, they start with why. They lead with purpose. That ‘why’ doesn’t just guide innovation, culture, or leadership, it also guides how they connect with the world around them. And that connection? It lives and breathes in how they engage with their stakeholders.
Before any meaningful stakeholder engagement strategy can be built, there’s one thing that must be deeply understood: where is your organisation or project right now. That means getting clear on your purpose, direction, and the stories your looking to tell tell, both internally and externally.
Step 1: Define your corporate, strategic and project position. Before we talk about stakeholder engagement, we have to talk about alignment. You can’t engage others if you don’t know who you are. Organisations must first define their mission (why they exist), their vision (where they’re going), their values (what they believe in), and their strategic goals (what they’re focused on achieving). You need to ask yourself:
- Why does your organisation exist?
- What change do you want to see in the world?
- What are the values you will never compromise on, even if it costs you?
- What does success look like in five years time?
Lets take Tesla as an example and their mission: ‘to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy’ is a crystal-clear ‘why’. It gives them direction, defines their strategy, and helps them prioritise stakeholder engagement. Whether they’re partnering with governments, suppliers, or environmental groups, the mission guides every move.
Step 2: Understand what you’re saying, conduct a communications audit. Purpose means nothing if people don’t hear it, or worse, if what they hear doesn’t match what you do. This is where a communications audit comes in. It’s not just about counting the number of likes on social media posts or press releases containing a few column inches. It’s about asking: are we telling the truth? And are we telling it consistently?
Take a look at your internal communications. Do your colleagues know your mission? Are they living it? Then look at your external communications. Are stakeholders seeing a company that’s aligned in words and actions?
Coca-Cola, for example, is known for its sustainability messaging. But if their communications don’t consistently reflect that across every platform, from internal briefings to annual reports, they risk losing credibility. An audit brings those gaps into the light.
Step 3: Don’t just look, analyse. Once you’ve audited your communications, it’s time to analyse. Not just what was said, but how it was received. Were stakeholders engaged? Did your message resonate? Or was it noise?
Take Nike. After facing criticism over labor practices, they didn’t just issue statements. They evaluated where their communications were falling short, internally strong, externally weak, and shifted to be more transparent with stakeholders like human rights groups. Analysis is about finding the disconnects and realigning with ‘why’ you do what you do.
Step 4: Look in the mirror, perform a SWOT and TOWS analysis. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all strategy. A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) isn’t just a box-ticking exercise. It’s an honesty test.
- What are you great at? (That’s your fuel.)
- Where are you vulnerable? (That’s your fire alarm.)
- What opportunities are emerging? (That’s your runway.)
- What threats could shake your foundation? (That’s your storm forecast.)
BP, post-Gulf oil spill, had to face hard truths. Technical excellence was a strength. Reputation? A major weakness. By confronting those realities, they had a chance to rebuild trust.
But SWOT insight alone isn’t enough. That’s where a TOWS analysis takes things further. While SWOT helps you understand your internal and external realities, TOWS flips the lens and asks: What will you do about it? It’s the bridge from awareness to action. TOWS explores how you can use your strengths to seize opportunities, how you can leverage those same strengths to guard against threats, how you can minimise weaknesses to take advantage of opportunities, and how you’ll protect against the vulnerabilities that threats could exploit. TOWS takes your SWOT further, turning insight into action. Use your strengths to seize opportunities. Use them to mitigate threats. Fix your weaknesses to open doors. Protect yourself from being blindsided.
Apple did this when it launched the Apple Watch. Netflix did it when it pivoted to original content. Microsoft did it when it fortified Azure’s security. In other words, TOWS is strategy in motion. It transforms your mirror reflection into a roadmap. Instead of just knowing where you stand, you begin charting how to move forward, aligning your capabilities with the realities around you. It’s this translation of insight into deliberate action that turns analysis into advantage.
Step 5: Know who matters, clarify the stakeholder landscape. You can’t serve everyone. Nor should you try. Stakeholder analysis means mapping out who truly matters to your objectives. Ask yourself:
- Who’s impacted by your actions?
- Who has the power to help, or hinder, your mission?
- Who aligns with your values?
Amazon’s stakeholders include customers, suppliers, employees, and regulators. But a shareholders needs look very different from those of a customer. Mapping them with clarity allows Amazon to focus on engagement that moves the mission forward.
Step 6: Don’t get caught off guard, understand the regulatory environment: A great mission still needs to operate in the real world. Laws matter. Industry standards matter. So do shifting social expectations. Strategic engagement means knowing the rules of the game, and choosing to play ethically and proactively.
Just look at Pfizer. Every move they make, from drug development to marketing, is shaped by regulatory engagement. Ignoring that landscape isn’t just risky, it’s irresponsible.
Step 7: Align it all, bring stakeholder engagement into the strategic fold. Far too often, engagement is treated like an add-on. A campaign. A press release. But it’s not decoration, it’s strategic. If stakeholder engagement doesn’t reflect your company’s direction, its growth, innovation, and values, it’s noise.
Thinking about Microsoft. As it pushes into AI, its stakeholder engagement must involve ethicists, regulators, and partners. Not just because it’s strategic, but because it’s responsible.
Step 8: Make it real, develop an engagement strategy. Now, and only now, can you build a strategy. A real one. Not just a calendar of events or a list of tweets, but a purpose-driven, values-aligned, feedback-oriented plan.
Tesla’s engagement isn’t just about PR or media relations. It’s about regulatory cooperation, community building, and building trust with environmental groups. Their strategy is tied directly to their mission.
To build a meaningful, effective stakeholder engagement strategy, organisations must:
- Start with why: Define your mission, vision, values, and goals.
- Audit honestly: Understand how your messages are landing.
- Analyse gaps: Find disconnects and blind spots.
- Assess strategically: Use SWOT and TOWS to shape your path.
- Know your people: Identify, map, and prioritise stakeholders.
- Understand the landscape: Stay ahead of regulation and risk.
- Align with strategy: Make engagement part of your growth, not a side project.
- Engage with purpose: Build trust, tell the truth, and invite participation.
Because in the end, people don’t engage with what you do, they engage with why you do it. And when your stakeholder engagement is rooted in purpose, guided by truth, and aligned with strategy, you don’t just earn buy-in, you earn belief. That’s how movements are built. That’s how trust is earned. That’s how you engage.
Rapport North 