Stakeholder Engagement
Whether it’s targeted to a specific project, or simply part of business-as-usual activities, effective stakeholder engagement will help to positively position your organisation with influencers and decision-makers in your industry.
Strong stakeholder relationships are critical to help you leverage opportunities and minimise the potential impacts of challenges.
SEC Newgate’s broad network across government, business and media means we can help you identify, understand and effectively engage your most important stakeholders.
SEC Newgate understands how to develop the strategies, tactics and messages that work for government, business, community and media stakeholders.
Our unique insights enable us to anticipate your issues and adapt strategies in response to changing circumstances.
Stakeholder Mapping
Before you can develop an effective stakeholder engagement strategy, you must first identify and understand your stakeholder universe.
SEC Newgate’s unparalleled experience and impeccable networks ensure we are well positioned to assist you in mapping the stakeholders most relevant and important to your organisation.
We will help you to understand any key issues or areas of focus and concern, as well as any opportunities to leverage their support.
Key elements of the stakeholder mapping process include:
- Stakeholder identification;
- Stakeholder prioritisation;
- Organisational Network Analysis to identify who within your organisation owns the relationship with each stakeholder;
- Issues analysis;
- Strengths and opportunities analysis; and
- Database establishment and ongoing management;
Social Network Analysis
With all major issues in Australia now playing out in the online world, clients require a deep and up-to-date understanding of the stakeholders involved, and guidance on how to engage them effectively.
SEC Newgate is unique in offering Social Network Analysis, a powerful mapping technique which provides our clients with a comprehensive understanding of their digital environment in terms of:
- Who is talking to who;
- What they are talking about; and
- Their connection and proximity toother players involved in the online conversation.
Social Network Analysis allows you to discern which stakeholders are genuinely influential, and which are merely noisy, using visual maps that present an unbiased visualisation of your friends and foes in the online arena.
This capability – to be able to accurately measure who is truly influential and why – has been, up until now, the missing link for clients trying to understand who is influential in the online space.
This insight helps you to determine where you should focus the attention of your stakeholder engagement and communication strategies.
When repeated over time, Social Network Analysis will also enable you to track performance and assess:
- Where you’re having an impact;
- How the online environment is changing; and
- How to adapt your communications strategy in response.
Key Messages
Developing a suite of key messages will help to ensure your communications program achieves maximum impact.
SEC Newgate can help you tailor your key messages for different audiences.
Our experienced team of former journalists, staffers and advisers are experts at crafting key messages that cut-through for different audiences.
We also use tools such SEC Newgate MessageLab, our proprietary approach to identifying:
- The messages that will be most effective in shifting opinion among different audiences;
- The delivery methods that will work with each audience; and
- How best to frame your overall campaign.
Perceptions Audit
Understanding stakeholders’ perceptions of your organisation will help you to better tailor your stakeholder engagement approach.
SEC Newgate regularly undertakes key stakeholder perceptions audits for our clients before they embark on any stakeholder engagement program.
A robust, independently conducted stakeholder audit will assist you in understanding perceptions and expectations of your organisation among your key stakeholders.
It also provides an opportunity to identify the key issues and opportunities relevant for your sector, and will help to inform the most effective way to engage and influence your key stakeholders.
Key elements of SEC Newgate’s stakeholder audits include:
- In-depth interviews with stakeholders;
- Supplementary online and telephone surveys; and
- Provision of a consolidated report, including findings and strategic recommendations.
These findings will help you to determine how your organisation is progressing against its strategic goals in the eyes of stakeholders, which will in future decision-making and positioning.