A tool developed by researchers at Henley Business School, the University of Reading using principles from social and behavioural psychology is helping organisations to meet their goals, by informing and improving relationships with stakeholders.

Researchers at the Henley Business School developed a tool to help organisations understand the impact of stakeholder engagement on their organisational outcomes. Based on underlying research that combines stakeholder theory with social and behavioural psychology, the RELATE tool allows organisations to use stakeholder insights to inform strategy.

In developing the RELATE tool, the researchers – led by Professor of Organisational Psychology Carola Hillenbrand – explored how individual psychology can influence engagement, including how people’s deeply held beliefs and cultural backgrounds could influence their engagement with organisations.

By using this tool, organisations are now able to measure and strengthen the key drivers of stakeholder relationships, achieving goals such as greater customer retention, more pro-social outcomes and more ambitious sustainability targets. This has allowed businesses to tailor engagement strategies to the psychological make-up and cultural attitudes of the individuals they are engaging with, something that is particularly valuable to global organisations working with stakeholders in different parts of the world.

Find out more
View the full impact case study on the REF 2021 website: Enabling Companies to Improve Organisational Attainment Through Stakeholder Engagement