The Global Benefits of Stakeholder Engagement

Aug 20, 2015 10:00 AM ET

The Global Benefits of Stakeholder Engagement

Effective corporate citizenship programs look not only at the social issues they seek to address, but also at the root causes of those issues, assessing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues both at the macro and micro levels simultaneously.

Great citizenship programs look at the big picture—the global threat of climate change, the sweeping ramifications of disease and hunger—while also remembering that at the end of these issues are individual people with individual needs: the mother that needs a vaccine for her child, the little girl that dreams of more schooling to expand her horizons and make a sustainable life possible, the unemployed service worker who may need additional training to participate fully in our global knowledge economy.   Talking to these stakeholders is a critical part of understanding how they can be served best.

Are there bad corporate citizenship programs?  Aesop said that no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.  Whether your company is in the very beginning stages of corporate giving, or you have developed a sophisticated corporate citizenship program with integrated ESG impact metrics —every investment is an opportunity to start a virtuous cycle.  The question is, “is your investment yielding the most it could for your company and your cause?”

>>Click here to read the full blog post