A Community Relationships Primer for Exploration
Community Engagement | 10 January 2024
Why Building Strong Relationships Matters.
Going into a new area to explore and ultimately build and operate a mine you start with high and positive expectations that you can work constructively with the local communities. Then it goes off the rails. Most often, with good intentions and a focus on an immediate issue, individuals in the company or in the community will take actions or make decisions (or fail to take actions or make decisions) that over time, cumulatively and progressively add up to major problems and consequences that are for the most part predictable – difficulties, costly delays and if it really goes badly, loss of the project. The good news is that taking some simple actions will give you far more control than you might think.
01. Only make promises you can keep.
We all see the world differently and it is easy for intentions to be misunderstood. A common cause, some say it is the most common cause, of breakdowns between companies and communities is the failure of one or the other or both to deliver on commitments that have been made or that are perceived to have been made. Unfortunately, it is very easy for intentions to be misunderstood. Phrases like ‘I will think about it’, ‘I will discuss that with my boss’ or ‘I’m sure you will benefit from us being here’ can easily be taken out of context and considered to be a promise. These tips are tried and tested:
- Avoid putting yourself in situations that require impulsive answers
- Think about the words you'll use before you open your mouth
- Only give answers you are certain about; and
- Always check you have been understood by the other person.
02. Actively build relations with the locals.
Maintaining open, regular, and ongoing contact with communities signals your respect for people’s ideas, trust that communities will constructively engage with you in problem solving and concern for how your company’s actions affect local people’s lives. This does not mean that you must accept every idea the community puts forward, rather it is about having an open, vigorous, and honest exchange and each party following through on commitments made.
03. Respond to questions and concerns.
Companies which answer all questions promptly and politely, either in meetings or in letters are seen to be respectful and interested. Structured systems through which communities have easy access to ask questions and receive responses signal good intent and show that you believe that you can engage with local communities around difficult issues in a non-confrontational manner.
Establishing a grievance procedure demonstrates to local communities that you respects their right to hold you accountable for your behaviour and your impacts. A grievance procedure is one of the most effective tools for dealing with local concerns in a non-violent manner.
04. Participate in Community Life.
Communities in most places say that one aspect of establishing good relations with a company has to do with seeing real people. When managers and company staff are seen around town, are at ease walking through villages and along streets, drop into the local drinking spot and have a chat or stop to talk and ask about how things are going, their actions are translated as being neighbourly, respectful and trusting and community members view them favourably.
05. Learn and follow local protocols.
One simple but under-used way to work out how the company and company staff should behave in a new culture is by asking local people what is important to them. A discussion about appropriate behaviour sends the signal that you are making an effort to respect local mores, rules, and systems. When your employees and contractors are seen to be honouring local customs on a regular basis the signal of respect is reinforced. Some companies train their international and national staff (who often come from different parts of the country where customs may be different) in local context awareness, including cross-cultural communication, as part of their orientation. Some companies use local elders to provide such training. When word gets around that you are serious about learning this kind of knowledge local people feel that this shows respect.
06. Ask for Permission (Don’t Take, Don’t Assume).
This one is a no-brainer. How would you feel if someone turned up in your garden and started digging a hole in your veggie patch? Or filled up a jerry can from your water tap? Somewhere between not happy and incandescent with rage? Ensuring farms and other community lands are not entered without permission from the landowner(s) or/and land-user(s) and asking to use - and offering to pay for - communal resources such as water is the least that a reasonable person should do.
07. Compensate Before Damage.
For a farmer, his fields are the most important thing he has in his life. It is essential that you try and avoid damage to crops and disruption of farming activities. During exploration, be prepared to tweak the location of roads, survey lines and drill holes. Schedule activities for the non-growing season if you can. Having done everything that you reasonably can to avoid damage, you need to pay a fair rate of compensation and ensure the payment is made before you start work on the ground. Long term acquisition takes this to another level requiring negotiation of package(s) that commonly include a cash component, land replacement, housing, livelihood replacement and training.
08. Pay Your Bills on Time.
In many places local suppliers are small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) operating hand-to-mouth in a cash economy. One significant change for local businesses that become company suppliers is the method of the payment for services moves from being a cash-based system to one where payment for goods and services is made days, weeks and months after the cost is incurred. They need to borrow money for day to day running and to fund the growth opportunities your business presents to them. The cost of additional working capital – the interest rate they are charged on short-term borrowings – is often high and potentially ruinous. Late payment of invoices makes an already difficult situation much worse.
09. Hire Locally whenever Locals can do the Work.
Local jobs provide an important opportunity for local people to directly benefit from company activities. Jobs are one of the biggest contributions any company makes to the local economy and can help to solidify the relationship with host communities. However, perceptions of unfairness, opaque recruitment practices and disparity of expectations often lead to jobs becoming one of the biggest sources of community complaints. Something else to keep in mind is that you add to the pressure when you place too much attention on the company as the provider of jobs and not enough on the company as creator of employability opportunities.
10. No Free Services (Without an Exit Plan).
Communities appreciate a company that assists them in ways that go beyond the direct self-interest of the company. When people say, “the company did not have to do this but chose to,” you are on the way to having the type of relationship with your local communities that you need. A counter to this is a small gesture opening the door to unlimited requests from communities. This tends to occur when the company doesn’t set any parameters and doesn’t actively try to manage expectations. Open discussion with communities on issues such as budget, selection and assessment criteria, and cost-sharing can help facilitate decision-making on priorities and agreement on how to make the best use of available resources. Another red flag is the findings of a multi-year study of over sixty international companies operating on five continents. It concluded that there is no correlation between the amount of money a company spends on community projects and the quality of their relationship with the community. The challenge is how to make a positive contribution in the short-term in a way that does not create a long-term liability for the company.
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