whg Stakeholder Engagement

CLIENT

• whg

CLIENT INDUSTRY

• Social Housing

SERVICES PROVIDED

• Sustainability strategy
• Stakeholder engagement workshop

LOCATIONS

• Walsall, Birmingham

DATE

• August 2022

CHALLENGE
whg commissioned Savills Sustainability to help deliver their sustainability strategy. In order to investigate elements of Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) with the greatest significance to stakeholders, Savills Sustainability carried out a materiality assessment. This required working with stakeholders to understand which elements of ESG were material and relevant to them.

whg’s identified in particular that their social housing customers were a key stakeholder group and it was essential that their views were incorporated into the materiality assessment process.

SOLUTION
Savills worked with whg to plan carefully a stakeholder engagement workshop that would include strong participation and attendance, whilst also ensuring that the session would also be informative for attendees.

Ensuring accessibility was a priority as we had been made aware that some attendees may not be able to read or write. Language barriers were also a possibility as attendees first language may not have been English. It was therefore vital that the team worked with whg to plan and lead the workshop in a way that drew meaningful results, whilst being accessible and engaging for all, regardless of personal background or prior sustainability knowledge.

It was agreed that the traditional online assessment would not yield the most accurate responses amongst residents. Traditional online workshops, delivered to other stakeholders, were instead transcribed into an interactive workshop, delivered in a focus group setting.

Recognising the high-level complexity of some of the ESG indicators in the materiality assessment, indicators were presented on posters, with the use of pictures and keywords, making them relatable and accessible to the group. Pictures were selected by considering what each issue meant at the global and local level, providing relatable scenarios for the group.

Each sustainability topic was discussed in small groups, with the Savills group facilitator taking a step-back once they explained the concept. After discussions ended, each attendee decided which three indicators, under each pillar of ESG, was of the greatest concern to them. Attendees were given three coloured stickers per ESG pillar and placed their stickers on the relevant indicator posters provided.

RESULTS
Overall, there was strong participation in the workshop and all attendees showed a strong interest in sustainability. Understanding and knowledge of principles varied amongst participants, but overall customers had a stronger than expected understanding of specific ESG indicators and discussions were insightful, aided by the relatable photographs provided as the talking points for each group.

The customer engagement workshop facilitated a safe space for attendees to share how the materiality indicators presented to them, the issues they faced and their hopes for change. All participants contributed to discussions and formulated their own priorities, after hearing the opinions of other customers. Representatives from whg were able to sit in on the workshop and gain in-depth insights into the priorities of customers in relation to sustainability and ESG. Attendees came away from the session feeling positive, many felt they had learnt something new and felt that the session had been engaging and interesting.

For the client, the workshop revealed new key trends and priorities which had not previously been considered. One trend we were able to identify was the relationship between environmentally conscious decision making amongst users and its relationship with cost savings. ESG indicators such as ‘benchmarks and building certifications’, ‘sustainable finance,’ and ‘local skills and employment’ were identified as priorities for the group. This information enabled Savills Sustainability to draw strong conclusions in their sustainability strategy advice and ultimately informed whg’s overall strategy, giving vital agency and weighting to end-users of whg, whilst also improving whg’s customer engagement experiences.