Local residents, businesses, governments, nature conservation organizations: Groningen Seaports has to take many interests into account. Through strategic stakeholder engagement, the port authority aims to involve stakeholders earlier and better in plans and projects. ‘Together you go further than alone.’

Eric van Vliet is a strategic stakeholder engagement consultant at WesselinkVanZijst, ‘in the somewhat harder corner,’ as he puts it himself. ‘Think of infrastructure, mining, railway routes, and ports.’ For instance, he is involved in the implementation of Strategic Stakeholder Management (SOM) at Groningen Seaports. Bert Roona has been there for two years as stakeholder engagement manager, a position created with his arrival. Together they explain the importance of stakeholder engagement management for the port authority and how stakeholder-oriented working is steadily taking root in the organization.

Our plans, many interests

Groningen Seaports is the manager, commercial operator, and developer of the ports of Delfzijl and Eemshaven, as well as the surrounding industrial areas. ‘We strive for sustainable development and economic growth,’ says Bert. ‘And that is certainly not just an internal matter. Because with the arrival of new companies, the impact of things like light, sound, odor, and traffic on the surrounding area increases. Which raises the question: how can we reconcile our goals and interests with those of the other stakeholders in our working area?’

Important stakeholders of Groningen Seaports are the province of Groningen and the municipalities of Eemsdelta and Het Hogeland – which are both shareholders and licensing authorities –, the companies in the port area, local residents, nature and environmental organizations, and educational organizations (with a view to employment). ‘Diverse parties, therefore, whom we want to involve in our planning and decision-making in a timely and effective manner, because it concerns them too.’ Eric adds: ‘By approaching challenges with the environment in mind, you can create more sustainable impact together and strengthen the relationship with the surrounding community.’

The art of SOM

WesselinkVanZijst and Groningen Seaports are tackling the implementation of SOM as a strategic change process. Eric: ‘We view SOM as an organizational competency. The entire organization must become imbued with it. Not only is everyone trained in it, but all structures, processes, and systems are also adapted to it. So that all employees are optimally supported in environment-oriented working – and they all become a bit of an environment manager.’

Eric outlines the process: ‘First, we mapped out the existing situation. How, where, and when does Groningen Seaports already take the interests of external parties into account, and where is room for improvement? To this end, we spoke with employees, the supervisory board, and external stakeholders, including local residents. In addition, we analyzed the organizational vision and strategy. If it states something like ‘with attention to the surroundings,’ how does that attention take shape in practice? What does that mean concretely?’

Bert discusses one of the insights from that analysis: ‘At Groningen Seaports, we often work on a project basis. For management and execution, that seems optimal. But this means that stakeholders are sometimes confronted with different behaviors across various projects, which can cause irritation or tension.’ Eric: ‘The art of strategic stakeholder management is to transcend the project level and do roughly the same thing organization-wide every time.’

If the vision states ‘with attention to the surroundings’, how does that attention take shape in practice?

Talk a lot with each other

To teach employees the basic principles of SOM, they followed a multi-day training, starting with the executive board and managers. They gained insight into the direct relationship between context-driven working, the strategic assignment, and the choices they need to make for it. ‘Commitment at the highest level is extremely important for embedding SOM in the organization,’ according to Eric.

After the decision-makers, it was the turn of colleagues who work externally a lot, at and with stakeholders. Other teams followed after that. And new employees are also introduced to the SOM methodology soon after joining. But, Bert and Eric emphasize, knowledge is not yet practice. Environment-oriented working really needs to come to life in the organization. ‘For that, it is important to talk to each other a lot about what we want to achieve and why. To share knowledge and experiences with each other, related to the challenges we face. For larger dossiers, we therefore now sit down together sooner. As colleagues and with stakeholders. That exchange gives us more insight into what we do as an organization, which also enables us to present a stronger front to the outside world. Moreover, it increases everyone's awareness that we are never solely responsible, but always together.’

‘Environmental management is 50 percent internal environmental management,’ Eric points out. ‘As an organization, you have to pay structural and mutual attention to it to become proficient in it.’

When handling larger files, we sit down together more often; this increases the awareness that we are jointly responsible

Important habit

One of the tools Bert uses to provide information and inspiration for environment-oriented work is the livability policy. ‘You can view that as a knowledge compilation on our intranet and our website. In it, we present very clearly what we as an organization are doing to strengthen livability around the ports, how we do that, and what the impact of that is on the surrounding area.’

To make SOM increasingly an important habit, Bert also developed a checklist. That is a short questionnaire that employees must fill out before they start a project. The questions concern, among other things, the number and type of stakeholders involved, their potential interests, and the financial impact of the project on the organization and environment. The total of the answers makes clear whether SOM is necessary for this—with small, simple projects that is not always required. Bert: ‘The checklist helps colleagues think at an early stage about the nature of their assignment.’

Managers also have a role in stimulating this awareness. For example, by asking for an environmental analysis when starting new projects. Has one been made? What were the results? And what opportunities do you see in it to align our own goals and interests with those of the community? Bert: ‘If we don't do that, the community will eventually turn against us.’ ‘And yes,’ Eric anticipates the question, ‘involving external parties often makes a process more time-consuming and expensive. But a project that gets delayed or stalls costs even more.’

Yes, involving external parties makes a process more intensive – but a project that stalls costs even more

Continuing together

Staying engaged and in conversation with your stakeholders is an important part of stakeholder-oriented working. Bert illustrates this with an example. He talks about a new quay that Groningen Seaports is going to build – a process in which Eric is involved as a process facilitator. ‘Recently, I read an article about it in the newspaper in which a representative of an NGO was also quoted. They said they were glad that Groningen Seaports involved the local community at an early stage. Such a statement from a single stakeholder certainly doesn't say everything, but it still felt good to me. It was also great to be able to share this article with my colleagues as a small success of our SOM efforts.’

Eric concludes: ‘You can make a lot of strategic plans, but the flywheel will only start turning once what you do also becomes visible from the outside. When the organization and stakeholders notice that together you truly progress further than on your own.’

Photograph: Ronnie Zeemering