An understanding of all the different stakeholder groups and how they serve your organisation as an executive is crucial to how you approach the structuring and execution of your business objectives. Much like the fluidity of communication in today’s business landscape, effective stakeholder management has the potential to exert a transformative influence on business outcomes.
Peter Drucker, who is fondly referred to as the father of modern business management stated that “ The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer” however, we believe that this sentiment extends beyond customers and encompasses the array of your business stakeholders including customers, employees, investors, communities, and any group who holds a vested interest in your company’s actions, decisions and success. Let’s dive into this concept by analysing practical ways your business can benefit from strategic stakeholder engagements.
Stakeholder Management begins at addressing and recognising the stakeholders’ needs, concerns and their expectations. Doing this exceptionally can yield remarkable dividends. But stakeholder management goes beyond communication, it should be diversified to include active community participation. Building a relationship with your stakeholders where they can also benefit from pursuing a long term relationship with your organisation is ideal and can be achieved by benign active members of stakeholder communities. A part of what public relations aims to achieve is identifying active stakeholder communities and forging a symbiotic relationship that benefits the organisation in the long run.
As an organisation, Mosron has since its inception been committed to active stakeholder engagements. We are custodians of the art of public relations and show this by exploring avenues through which public relations can serve our business objectives. As a public relations consulting firm, practicing in Nigeria, we have been active participants of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations NIPR’s activities, contributing knowledge and advocating for the recognition of the profession in Nigeria. In the Last Annual General Meeting of the Association, Mosron was an active participant in the publicity of the event and was present at the meeting as well.
By participation in the activities of the governing bodies in the field we practise, we are building a solid reputation which is the cornerstone of business success. Prioritising stakeholder communities, will build trust, credibility and positive perceptions to a broader audience i.e the general public.
In addition to providing an extra layer of credibility, industry communities provide your company with access to seasoned professionals that can be engaged and ultimately hired to apply their skills to achieve organisational goals. In the journey of building the right perception for your audience, hiring professionals with vetted experience and are legally practising is advised as it reduces the organisation’s exposure to potential crisis situations which may arise due to existing laws and regulations. Vendors and business partners are not left out of these, they should be thoroughly vetted using existing laws to ensure that they are legally practising in the country that your organisation does business in. Industry communities have often done this vetting and have a pool of legally practising vendors that can be engaged to drive business goals. Attentive stakeholder management allows businesses to identify potential risks and concerns before they take root, enabling proactive communication strategies to combat potential crisis.
These communities are often a cesspool of information which can sometimes be exclusive. Your organisation can incorporate the information that has been provided to drive innovation and develop services that resonate with its target audience. The members of these organisations organise events that are targeted at driving innovation, combating problems and driving development within the industry. Positioning your organisation as a thought leader in these communities by driving innovation can help to build perception for your organisation and its executive and expose the organisation to expansive opportunities.
On a final note, these communities are a platform to forge partnerships. Organisations with similar objectives or target audience can be partnered with in deals that will further drive your business goals. These partnerships can be tailored to fit business demands and in the long run ensure that operational expenses for the business is reduced. Businesses that can recognize the intricate interplay of interest of their stakeholders enough to weave these interests into their operational fabric can navigate challenges, seize opportunities and foster sustainable growth in today’s business landscape.
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