Tools

Stakeholder engagement performance assessment

The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has launched their Tool for "Assessing External Outreach Performance" as part of Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM). The tool helps member companies assess their stakeholder engagement (or external outreach) practices and identify areas for improvement.

Areas for which performance indicators have been developed include tailings management, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions management, external outreach and crisis management planning. All of these areas fall under the key focus areas of TSM and each area has a corresponding tool similar to the tool discussed here.

According to MAC, this tool "enables key performance indicators to be segregated and performance improvements for each indicator tracked year to year. The use of this protocol also enhances the consistency of assessments conducted across companies. In addition, this tool has been designed to enable external verification of company performance, consistent with the TSM verification system and the initiative’s commitment to transparency and accountability ... The assessment protocol sets out the general expectations of MAC for external outreach by its member companies in support of the TSM initiative."

How the tool works:

The tool is broken down by performance indicators, including:

1. stakeholder  identification  (MAC uses the term communities of interest, rather than stakeholders)
2. effective stakeholder engagement and dialogue
3. stakeholder response mechanism
4. reporting

Five levels of performance are identified for each indicator.

PERFORMANCE RATING - Level Criteria

Level 1. No systems in place; activities tend to be reactive; procedures may exist but they are not integrated into policies and management systems.

Level 2. Actions are not fully consistent or documented; systems/processes planned and being developed.

Level 3. Systems/processes are developed and implemented.

Level 4. Integration into management decisions and business functions.

Level 5. Excellence and leadership.

Criteria for each performance indicator are provided in subsequent tables, which enable the assessor to  determine an appropriate level of performance (Levels 1–5). When conducting the assessment, assessors should note that the four indicators complement one another. As such, performance improvements in one indicator may depend and/or coincide with performance improvements in another. For example, improved performance in stakeholder engagement and dialogue (Indicator 2) is unlikely to occur unless stakeholder identification has also improved.

The assessor is required to select the level that most clearly represents the status of the operation. Only “one” level can be selected for each indicator. Where a performance element or indicator is not relevant, then an assessment of N/A should be assigned.

The goal of each MAC member is to achieve, at a minimum, a consistent “3” ranking on the TSM external outreach assessment and to work towards continuous improvement.

The tool in its entirety is available from the MAC website.