TOPIC 2.1: Stakeholder Engagement

Assuming we’ve decided to engage with a range of stakeholders to resolve a problem, we need to identify and manage both rational and non-rational elements of change. The rational elements include the systems, processes and structures of the change. The non-rational elements (identity, relationships and information sharing) of change provide ways of identifying and mapping stakeholder relationships; a soft systems approach.

Moore (1995) comments that interest groups (stakeholders with shared interests) can be understood as the institutionalised link between government and society. They serve four systemic functions:

1. They facilitate communication between members and the state.
2. They provide legitimation of the demands that their members put on the state and the public policies they support.
3. They regulate their members.
4. They sometimes assist the state in administration of policies and programs.

Moore refers to ‘co-producers’ with whom public managers need to work to achieve results or to deliver ‘public value’. Co-producers may be non -government organisations, private providers, other agencies, groups or individuals with whom government collaborates to achieve results.

The federal government and some State and Territory jurisdictions have developed Engagement Frameworks: Guides to the right engagement. You may wish to check on your jurisdiction’s approach to engagement. Here is a link to the Commonwealth’s Engagement framework: