Posted on: 19 February, 2010
Held on 14 January 2010 in Madrid, Spain, the AA1000SES Consultation Workshop was sponsored by Foro Reputación Corporativa and MAS Business, and hosted by Telefónica.
The 20+ participants represented a range of industries including utilities, telecommunications, tourism, business and assurance providers.
The objective of the first session was to understand the role of stakeholder engagement and the aims of the standard.
The second session sought to identify and debate issues which should be addressed during the revision process and to develop recommendations, both for the 2nd edition of the standard and for the future role of stakeholder engagement.
The general conclusion from the first session was that the purpose of stakeholder engagement is to know the stakeholders’ values, needs and expectations in order for management to consider them. For large organisations formal procedures are required, and it was felt that stakeholder engagement needs to be directed by one of the parties effectively and with quality. Communicating results of stakeholder engagement was considered key, and it was generally agreed that there was only a need for one standard to cover different contexts of stakeholder engagement.
The outcome of the second session, which specifically addressed recommendations for the new standard, was that the focus should be wide and global in such a way that it can be integrated throughout an organisation. However, it was felt that a general short and simple standard was needed, focusing on the fundamentals of ‘the what’’ and ‘the how’ of stakeholder engagement.
Asked what the the balance should be between requirements and guidance, participants responded that the standard should have both minimum requirements and recommendations. The participants suggested placing minimum requirements in the standard, with the recommendations published in a separate guide. There was general consensus that the current draft is very clear simple and goes to the point, and this is should be maintained in the final version.
Read the full recommendations here:
Annex_1_AA1000SES_Madrid_consultation_January_2010.pdf
AA1000SES_Madrid_consultation_conclusions.pdf
