Frequently asked questions

In a stakeholder dialogue, companies engage with all those who (may) be affected by the company’s activities (= stakeholders). The goal is to exchange insights, identify and balance mutual interests, set common goals, and/or strengthen the relationship. The dialogue outcomes are used to improve business decisions and processes.

A dialogue becomes meaningful when it is well-prepared and carefully implemented. This means communicating transparently, being clear about who is or isn’t involved, and staying open to new perspectives. The SER offers a range of publicly available tools to support companies in this process.

Watch this animated video for an impression of the subject.

As a company, you can actually take every opportunity to engage in dialogue with your stakeholders about responsible business conduct. For instance, when you are a buyer purchasing a new collection and want to know what options are available for organic cotton. Or when, as a supply chain manager, you ask questions about the sustainability performance of various transport options when concluding a new contract. Key opportunities to engage in stakeholder dialogue include:

• Formulating or communicating your policy, strategy, or goals
• Drafting and aligning new (procurement) contracts
• Sourcing new products or services
• Expanding or phasing out business activities
• Buying from high-risk countries (regarding human rights or environmental risks)
• Identifying, addressing, and preventing risks in the supply chain
• Existing periodic progress or performance meetings
• Handling grievances or addressing abuses (which are ideally prevented through dialogue)
• And, of course, whenever a stakeholder wants to engage with you!

Meaningful stakeholder dialogue is part of all six stages of the due diligence process:

1. Embed responsible business conduct into policies and management systems

   Enter into dialogue with stakeholders to shape your policy, to verify its feasibility and to make sure they understand its content. Stakeholder dialogue should also be included in the policy.




2. Identify and assess adverse impacts in operations, supply chains and business relationships 

   Engage in dialogue with (affected) stakeholders, their representatives or other experts to identify and assess adverse impacts.




3. Cease, prevent or mitigate adverse impacts

   Engage in dialogue with your stakeholders on an approach to cease, prevent or mitigate adverse impacts. This should not be a top-down exercise.




4. Track implementation and results

   Enter into dialogue with your (affected) stakeholders to assess whether your approach leads to the desired goal and where you should make adjustments.




5. Communicate how impacts are addressed

   Transparency about policy, approach and effectiveness can help build trust between your company and your stakeholders. This offers starting points for (further) dialogue.




6. Provide for or cooperate in remediation when appropriate

   If adverse impacts have occurred, stakeholder dialogue will help identify and develop appropriate remedial measures. By listening to your stakeholder in the recovery and redress process, your company can ensure a just and desirable response to any damage.

See step 4 of the tool ‘Identifying your stakeholders’ for additional examples.

There are some differences between stakeholder dialogue and social dialogue. These differences can mainly be found in:

• Parties involved: social dialogue takes place between employees, employers and - in the case of a tripartite dialogue - governments, while a stakeholder dialogue is not limited to these parties. Stakeholder dialogue involves engaging with all stakeholders who may be positively or negatively affected by the company’s activities, although it is crucial to prioritise engaging with representatives of rightsholders such as trade unions.
• Focus and goal: social dialogue addresses socio-economic issues and aims to reach consensus on issues such as terms of employment and occupational health and safety. Stakeholder dialogue is broader and aims to conduct an open and constructive dialogue with various stakeholders on all themes that are important to the parties. The goal is to gain insight into each other's situation, needs, expectations and concerns.

Social dialogue cannot be replaced with stakeholder dialogue, but social dialogue can provide insights for your due diligence process and feed the stakeholder dialogue. Companies are expected to actively encourage social dialogue in their supply chain, including by promoting the right to freedom of association. When workers are able to organise and represent themselves freely, this contributes to the legitimacy and credibility of the stakeholder dialogue.

See the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for more information on social dialogue, collective bargaining and related conventions.

As a company, you may wonder if you have made sufficient effort to meaningfully engage your stakeholders. The best way to answer this, is by asking your stakeholders themselves. If they perceive their interactions with your company as meaningful, it is a good indication that your approach is effective. In any case, genuine interest and context sensitivity are essential; no dialogue or stakeholder are the same.

To prepare for a meaningful stakeholder dialogue, you can use the Compass for Meaningful Stakeholder Dialogue. By utilizing this tool, you can create an approach that aligns as closely as possible with your stakeholders' expectations. Keep in mind that stakeholder dialogue is a continuous and flexible process in which you learn and adapt constantly. Moreover, it is a means to an end, not the goal itself. Your company must integrate the insights and outcomes of these dialogues into its policies and actions.

There are also legal requirements that mandate stakeholder engagement, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). While meeting these requirements may represent the minimum effort, it is important to let stakeholder engagement become more than a mere tick-the-box exercise for compliance. For more information on the legal obligations, visit the webpage on ‘Stakeholder engagement in guidelines and legislation’.

Sometimes, you may want to engage in a dialogue with a stakeholder but face challenges in doing so. These obstacles could include language barriers, limited capacity or time, the need to reach a large group of stakeholders, or even reluctance from the stakeholders themselves. In such cases, it may be necessary – and sometimes even more sensible – to maintain contact through email or by gathering information via questionnaires.

Of course, forms of stakeholder engagement beyond direct dialogue can still be meaningful, as long as they are guided by the same elements that apply to a meaningful dialogue. These include transparency, commitment, and inclusion. Always consider the position of your stakeholder: do they have enough opportunity to provide input, even when the topic is complex or sensitive? Is the communication clear and understandable, or does the method create unnecessary barriers?

If safety allows, it is wise to follow up on digital communication or completed questionnaires with a (physical) dialogue over time. This can provide more context to the feedback you receive and allow for a deeper exploration of mutual interests, expectations, and challenges. Additionally, it helps foster personal relationships.

As a company aiming to meaningfully engage your stakeholders, you cannot assume that they will automatically respond to your invitation for dialogue. For stakeholders, the dialogue might not seem as urgent or important as it is for your company, or they may lack trust in your company's intentions. Additionally, some stakeholders may be unfamiliar with engaging in dialogue with a company and may need to be convinced of the purpose and value of the conversation.

Since dialogue is a two-way process, your company must consider the capacity and willingness of the other party. You will need to actively foster and promote their participation. Try to view the situation from the stakeholder's perspective, rather than your own: what might be the reasons they are not responding to your request for dialogue? The tool ‘Promoting stakeholder commitment’ can assist you in addressing this challenge.

It is also possible that stakeholders are willing to enter into a dialogue, but are not able to do so. Dialogue might come with risks for their own safety. Also physical distance, language of communication or available time may play a role. You can find more information on these barriers and how to overcome them in step 6 of the tool ‘Identifying your stakeholders’.

Limited leverage can make it harder to engage in dialogue with stakeholders. Firstly, assess and understand your leverage by using tool 1 of the STITCH Technical Guidance (pages 20-22). Your purchasing volume, contractual arrangements and duration of the relationship can determine how seriously a supplier takes the conversation. Then when it comes to suppliers, increase your leverage through larger orders or more favourable conditions. Generally, it is advisable to keep your supplier base as small as possible and focus on establishing stable, long-term relationships with parties who are then more likely to engage in IRBC.

You can also collaborate with others to increase your leverage, such as other buying brands. Check Open Supply Hub to see which companies source from the same production locations, join a sectoral agreement, or approach your trade association to bring companies together.

Besides dialogue, there are various ways to engage stakeholders. In some cases, these are more sensible. There are several situations in which dialogue may not be the most appropriate method for engaging stakeholders:

Lack of commitment

If your company is unwilling to act on the outcomes of the dialogue, initiating one without genuine intent, can mislead stakeholders. Before inviting stakeholders to engage, ensure there is internal commitment to follow through. The tool ‘Internal alignment for successful dialogue’ dialogue' provides guidance on how to assess this.

Unsafe conditions

In environments where stakeholders cannot safely express their opinions—such as regions with authoritarian regimes or places where intimidation or repression is prevalent—dialogue may be impractical or even dangerous. In such cases, remote dialogue can also be challenging. During crises, immediate action may be necessary to ensure stakeholders' safety, making dialogue less appropriate.

Stakeholder preferences

If stakeholders express a preference for a method other than dialogue—such as a questionnaire or open forum—respect this choice and facilitate their engagement in the manner they prefer. You can try to follow-up with dialogue later on.

Human or labour rights violation in the supply chain

In cases of severe or ongoing violations where your company has limited influence, dialogue may not be enough. It may be more appropriate to take alternative actions, such as involving a third party to mediate the conflict or implementing commercial measures like reducing orders or planning a responsible exit strategy.

Lack of representation

If the participants in the dialogue do not sufficiently represent all relevant stakeholders, the insights gathered may be skewed and fail to capture broader concerns. Partner with NGOs, trade unions, or local organisations to assess how representative your dialogue partners are. If adequate representation cannot be achieved, consider alternative methods to reach your target group.

Scalability

When you need to gather input from a large number of stakeholders and dialogue is not feasible, you can opt for scalable methods like digital surveys. However, it is still valuable to conduct dialogues with at least some stakeholders to gain more in-depth insights and context around the results from surveys or reports, and to discuss next steps.

Consult chapter 2 “List of engagement tools – benefits and limitations” in this tool for more information about alternatives for dialogue.

It is important to note that you do not have to engage in dialogue with every stakeholder. In fact, this can be counterproductive and may cause frustration, especially if stakeholders are repeatedly approached by different companies for similar conversations. Instead, focus on engaging with the right stakeholders at the right time. You may also explore the potential benefits of collaborating with other companies or organising sector-wide dialogues collectively. The tool ‘Identifying your stakeholders’ guides you through this process step by step.

Entering into dialogue with your stakeholders does require time, resources, and sometimes financial investment. However, this is necessary to ensure that the dialogue is meaningful and effective. The tool ‘Internal alignment for successful dialogue’ provides more information on why it is crucial for your company to understand these efforts and allocate the necessary internal resources.

Meaningfully engaging your stakeholders is a key part of the due diligence process, even when local capacity is limited. Start by developing a stakeholder dialogue strategy to identify challenges and assess what is feasible within your company. Explore opportunities to collaborate externally, such as partnering with other companies, business networks, NGOs, or trade unions. This can help you gain access to local stakeholders and scale your efforts. Collective approaches, like multi-stakeholder initiatives or complaint mechanisms, can benefit both your company and the stakeholders involved. You can find more information in the tool "Who to partner up with?".