Why and How to Implement a Stakeholder Verification Process
Date: April 21, 2021
Required Access: Superusers
Last month we introduced a new function to help you keep your stakeholder information verified and up to date.
In this month’s Borealis Deep Dive, we’ll take a detailed look at when and how to perform stakeholder validation, using a concrete example.
Why implement a verification process?
Sometimes, outdated or unvalidated information can pose a risk. For example, government relations teams need to have the most recent information about a stakeholder before meeting with them in order to avoid missteps and errors.
Example
A company decides to categorize their government stakeholders in tiers based on their importance and influence:
- First level stakeholders will include highly ranked officials like Ministers, Members of Parliament, Governors, Senators, and Members of Congress. The company will verify their data, positions, and assessments on a monthly basis to be sure that everything is accurate and up to date.
- Secondary stakeholders like local elected officials will need to be validated for the same purpose, but not as often. The company will verify their information bi-annually.
- And finally, third level stakeholders such as directors of community organisations and committee leaders will be reviewed annually.
To start the process, the company selected all the first-tier stakeholders, verified them a first time, and assigned them a monthly verification frequency. (This article offers more information about verification. Take note that it can also be done in batch.)
Next, the company set up notifications so that each relationship manager would be notified when their stakeholders’ verifications were due. (Learn how to create and configure notifications here.)
When a verification is required, the relationship manager can use a widget to view the stakeholder record, make sure all information is correct (or make appropriate changes as necessary), and then click “verify”.
Benefits
Regular stakeholder validation allows government relations teams to understand an official’s precise position with respect to specific issues. By monitoring any changes to the stakeholder’s position over time and accounting for any new developments, teams are able to engage in much more strategic discussions.
Important steps to implement a verification process:
- Decide which stakeholders need to be verified and why.
- Determine a frequency for each group.
- Identify which data need to be verified and inform appropriate staff members.
- Create a notification.
Tip
You can create a related report showing all fields that need to be checked and include it in the individual’s record. This will simplify the verification process by allowing the staff responsible for validation to quickly access the relevant information.
If you would like to learn more about how to create this related report, or if you have any questions about stakeholder verification, please contact us.