Transcript Stakeholder Engagement

Thinking about Engagement
Geoff Pearman
November 2008
Overview
• Effective engagement – what
does it look like
• Principles underlying effective
engagement
• Becoming engaged - developing
good practice
Exercise
Group 1 Organisational
engagement
It is some time in the future –
doesn’t matter when – but you as
a stakeholder in tertiary education
are experiencing what you would
describe as a highly effective
relationship with tertiary
education providers
Discuss the relationship and list
what the characterises of that
relationship are
• What are people doing?
• What are the attitudes that
underpin the relationship?
• What are some of the results
of that relationship?
Group 2 Learner engagement
It is some time in the future –
doesn’t matter when – but you as
a learner are experiencing what
you would describe as a highly
effective relationship with your
educational provider
Discuss the relationship and list
what the characterises of that
relationship are
• What are people doing?
• What are the attitudes that
underpin the relationship?
• What are some of the results
of that relationship?
The Tertiary Education Reforms – Engagement
Intent
Stakeholders
• A system that enables stakeholders
• Those who have a stake in the
to communicate their expectations
and needs and to develop an
appreciation of the constraints
• A tertiary education sector that
delivers against government
priorities and the national, regional
and local needs of stakeholders
• Increased public confidence in the
tertiary education sector
outcomes of tertiary education
• Learners and their communities,
businesses, industries, trade
unions, interest groups, economic
development agencies,
professional associations, cultural
groups etc
“This is a whole new funding system. It
is a whole change in the way
institutions think about what they
offer, how they plan, how they budget
and how they contribute overall.” Hon
Pete Hodgson 2007
Thinking about Engagement
Public Engagement
Focus:TEC
Values/behaviours
Respect
Trust
Reciprocity
Dialogue
Mutual benefits
Community Engagement
Focus:TEO’s
Stakeholder Engagement
Focus:Stakeholders
An Engaged Tertiary Education System
Thinking about Engagement
Community Engagement
Focus: TEI
Values/behaviours
Respect
Trust
Reciprocity
Dialogue
Mutual benefits
Learner Engagement
Focus: Educator
Stakeholder Engagement
Focus: Industry, community
An Engaged Tertiary Learning System
Engagement
Community Engagement - Definition
•
•
•
•
Trust
Reciprocity
Dialogue
Shared ownership and responsibility for
issues, resources and outcomes
“If you can’t build in reciprocity you won’t have
a sustainable relationship.” Business Leader 2008
Embedded
Stakeholder Engagement Foundations
Needs
Priorities
Gaps
Quest
for
Relevance
Social and
Economic
Development
Reciprocal
Teaching
Research
Service
Transforms
“Engagement is a sustained, embedded and
reciprocal exchange between a tertiary
institution and its communities that
transforms the teaching, research and
service mission of the institution and
contributes to social and economic
development.” Pearman 2005
Sustained
Engagement
“Engagement is characterised by an emphasis on mutual benefits, knowledge
exchange and an expectation of partnerships that create reciprocity between
participants” Holland 2008
Simple
Many
Complex
Fewer
High
Intensity
of relationship
Engagement
Low
Briefing Disclosure Representation Consultation
Mode of relationship
Dialogue Collaboration Partnership
Foundations for Engagement - Trust
Benefits of trust
• Once established it stabilises
relationships and eases interorganisational conflicts
Inter-organisational trust is of
outstanding importance in building
and maintaining effective network
relations.” Sydow 1998:56
• More effective than hierarchical power
or control
• Efficient allocation of resources and
significantly reduces transaction costs
• Sharing of intellectual capital
• Able to form collective strategies to
“..We should refrain from direct
management of trust…[rather we]
should act in a trust-sensitive way
when building and sustaining interorganisational relations and
networks.” Sydow 1998
better respond to need
• Provides a means to cope with risk
and uncertainty
• Enhanced system stability
Inter-organisational trust is the
outcome of social practices.” Sydow
1998:54
Foundations for Engagement - Trust
Building and sustaining trust
• Trust begins where knowledge
ends – it always implies
confidence in the face of risk
• Acceptance of vulnerability – it
could go pear shaped, but…
• Doesn’t have to be global – it can
be in relation to a specific area or
activity
• Most likely to be mutual but
doesn’t have to be
• Power can be hidden behind the
façade of trust and the rhetoric of
collaboration. Large organisations
tend to be more trusting and
smaller ones less confident of the
trustworthiness of exchange
partners
• Takes work to build, but easy to
fracture and difficult to rebuild
• Begins with a policy of small
steps
Foundations for Engagement - Trust
Building trust through
• Identifying trustworthy individuals
and organisations
• Sharing assumptions at the
beginning
• Balancing autonomy and
dependence
• The building and sustaining of
trust requires time and effort from
people in boundary spanning
roles
• Communicating frequently–
developing mutual understanding
• Having trust enhancing
communication
• Multiple of communication –
variety of reasons and different
content
• Recognising the open endedness
of the relationship
“Inter-organisational trust is the
outcome of social practices.”
Sydow 1998:54
Foundations for Engagement - Reciprocity
• Reciprocity is a two-way street
• Reciprocity occurs when action
by one party promotes and
engenders action by the other
side
• In all ongoing, lasting and
mutually beneficial and satisfying
relationships we find reciprocity
• Underpinning reciprocity are the
values of exchange, trust and
mutuality
• Reciprocity is often described as
a feeling. Note the intensity of
feeling when we experience a
lack of reciprocity.
“Engagement is transformative, it is
not engagement unless there is
learning resulting from the exchange
and each is different as a result.”
Ramaley 2008
Towards best practice
Exercise
In small groups discuss
1.
What would enhance engagement between your organisation and its
stakeholders
2.
What practices would build engagement between you as an educator
and
(i) business, community etc
(ii) Learners
References
• Australian Universities Community Engagement Alliance
http://aucea.med.monash.edu.au:8080/traction
• Ako Aotearoa – Cooperative/ Work Integrated Learning Community of Practice
http://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/communities
• Universities and Their Communities 2005 G Pearman
http://www.uco.canterbury.ac.nz/staffpublications.shtml
• Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement
http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/ojs/index.php/ijcre
• Creating a Supportive Environment for Community-University Engagement:
Conceptual Frameworks. Holland and Rammely HERDSA Conference 2008
http://www.herdsa.org.au/wpcontent/uploads/conference/2008/media/Holland%20&%20Ramaley.pdf