This article helps you get started with your stakeholder surveys, which are part of the research phase of the double materiality assessment (DMA). For more information on conducting the DMA - and what role stakeholder engagement plays - please read our academy article and download our double materiality assessment guide.
What are stakeholder surveys?
In order to understand the full effect your company has on its value chain, you need to hear from the stakeholders that are involved in it. This is where stakeholder surveys come in: these are extensive questionnaires that ask questions across the ESG (environmental, social, governance) spectrum, in order to help companies see the full picture.
Note: stakeholder surveys are not the only way to reach out to stakeholders, you can also conduct interviews or workshops.
How does Coolset set up these surveys?
According to the EFRAG - the organization that set up the CSRD legislation - there is no prescribed way to reach out to stakeholders. At Coolset, we have gathered insights from industry experts, customers and auditors to set up a structure that will help you as well as respondents get the most out of the surveys.
We have developed five surveys, one for each major stakeholder group:
Employees
Investors
Customers
Suppliers
Local communities
Every survey has 37 open-ended questions - one per sub-topic. Here is an example question within ESRS E2 Pollution, sub-topic Pollution of air, as part of the employee stakeholder survey:
How have you observed our company's actions affecting air pollution, and what impact do you think this has?
On top of that, every open-ended question is supported with a quantitative question, that asks the respondent how impactful they think their answer is on a scale of 1-5. This helps reporting companies quickly assess what answers to focus on when evaluating the surveys.
Every question is optional, so that respondents only answer to questions they have opinions on.
Your 5-step plan to use these surveys
Request the five Google Survey templates from us, by sending an email to your customer success manager.
Open your survey and add an email address in section 1, see [ENTER EMAIL ADRES HERE].
Check the survey settings so it's aligned to your company standards.
Share the surveys with the relevant stakeholders via the appropriate channels.
Link your survey to sheets or download the responses to assess the answers. Connect important insights to the relevant ESRS sub-topics.
Execute the DMA implementation phase (determining materiality).
Want to know more? Feel free to contact us.