Page 47 - MiNDSPACE Issue 1 2022 - Old Mutual Corporate

workSPACE responsible business
Faced with greater social demands and increased digitisation, which includes being outed on social media, boards are juggling more challenges – and stakeholders – than ever before. Where do employees fit in?
By Natalie Greve
ʹThose days are over,’ says Deloitte Touche Africa Financial Services Industry Leader Nina le Riche
about the 1980s trend of outright shareholder
capitalism.
In South Africa, the 2016 release of the King IV Report on
Corporate Governance represented a key shift away from this trend towards stakeholder engagement and inclusive corporate governance.
Stakeholder inclusivity, as advocated in the report, requires boards to take account of the legitimate and reasonable needs, interests and expectations of all material stakeholders as they execute their duties in the best interests of the organisation.
‘The report brought guidance on how businesses can
find a balance between profit, people, the environment and ethics, and how they could better manage corporate risk by understanding the wider view of stakeholders,’ says Le Riche.
A DELICATE BALANCING ACT
The Institute of Directors South Africa Executive for Governance and Corporate Services, Vikeshni Vandayar, believes that the key to effective inclusive governance
is identifying the material stakeholders in a business
Natalie Greve is a specialist financial writer whose CV includes senior roles at Finweek, Fin24, Media24,The Citizen and Creamer Media.
and using this to develop a stakeholder-relationship- management policy.
Material stakeholders are those groups or individuals that are significantly affected by an organisation’s business activities, outputs or outcomes, or whose actions could significantly affect an organisation’s ability to create value.
‘This approach requires a balancing of interests, thereby ensuring decisions are made that are not only in the best
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