Guiding principles

The purpose of stakeholder engagement is to build mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with those who are affected by, or who can affect, a site or Anglo American more broadly. The more effectively sites engage, the more able and likely they are to address issues important to stakeholders. This leads to higher levels of trust and acceptance.

Under the Social Way, stakeholder engagement is underpinned by a set of guiding principles. It should be:

• Dialogue-based - Stakeholder engagement should create opportunities for a two-way discussion and for stakeholders to input into company decisions that affect their lives. This dynamic is the cornerstone of all aspects of social performance, from discovery through to closure.

• Strategic - Engagement should be outcomes based. A site’s potential impacts, risks and long-term objectives should inform engagement priorities and be informed by stakeholder perspectives.

• Proactive - Activities should be pre-planned as far as possible. Early and regular communication is critical, allowing space for stakeholders to express any concerns and for the site to adjust its approach accordingly. Communication should provide stakeholders with the necessary information to meaningfully inform their position on issues and policies that affect them and our sites.

• Clear and direct - Information relevant to stakeholders should be communicated in ways that the audience will understand, based on their language, education, literacy level, interests and concerns. Engagement should be underpinned by openness and honesty about any potential adverse impacts and include explanations of who may be affected, when and how.

• Inclusive - It is important to engage with all affected stakeholders, including vulnerable groups, by using tailored engagement approaches. Engagement approaches should be designed to avoid creating or exacerbating any intra or inter community conflicts or power imbalances in communities.

• Ongoing - Engagement is a continuous, regular and iterative process. Reporting back to stakeholders is vital to explain how their feedback and views were considered.

• Shared and understood internally - Social Performance teams must be able to translate what they hear ‘outside the fence’ in a manner that resonates with internal management so that engagement results in action.

Key functions of stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder engagement fulfils several important functions. Sites should consider the areas depicted in Figure 3A.1 when planning their engagement activities.

Figure 3A.1 Functions of stakeholder engagement

Multi-disciplinary approach

Successful stakeholder engagement is a site-wide responsibility. While the Social Performance team will have lead responsibility for most local external relationships, some will be held by other departments. Clarity about the primary ‘relationship-holder’ and co-ordination between teams requires ongoing collaboration. Table 3A.1 provides examples of what this might look like in practice.