Engaging Stakeholders
Stakeholder Engagement
SEC actively cultivates robust relationships with numerous stakeholders such as employees, customers, communities, suppliers, and investors. A dedicated department – Institutional and Partners Communication Department is accountable to ensure that all stakeholder communication and engagement is aligned with SEC’s strategic objectives.
SEC proactively identifies and engages with stakeholder groups to create shared value and foster enduring relationships. This continuous interaction guides the company in establishing priorities and sustainable business plans, which are informed by the stakeholders’ assessment of SEC’s impact on the environment, community, and business.
Interaction with Stakeholders
Stakeholder
Means Of Communication
Key Interests
Communities
Public relations & communications, charity events, community programs, public consultation
Economic development, health and safety, infrastructure
Customers
Digital touchpoints such as application, portal, live chat, virtual offices and chatbot. Contact channels such as service offices, call center, e-mail, and social media
Provide support, answer inquiries, measure satisfaction, and enhance experience
Employees
Consultation meetings, talent development programs, appraisals, engagement survey
Career opportunities, training and development, equality, wellbeing, human rights
Business Partners, Financial Institutions and Investors
General assemblies, press releases, public reports, company website
Energy mix, regulatory compliance, economic performance, alignment with national & international agenda
Suppliers
Supplier relations & communications, tendering process, code of conduct, company website
Procurement governance, health and safety performance, localization
Materiality
SEC defines material topics as significant sustainability topics that are assessed and prioritized based on their importance, relevance, and significance to both the company and its stakeholders. The materiality assessment is refreshed every 2-3 years and follows the principle of double materiality, considering not only the impact of SEC’s operations on the environment & people (inside-out) but also the impact of sustainability topics on SEC’s business (outside-in). This comprehensive process ensures that the company aligns its strategy as per sustainability topics of interest to key internal & external stakeholders, and ensures adequate disclosure of future strategies and initiatives. It reflects a proactive approach to aligning SEC’s reporting with the concerns that matter most to the company’s stakeholders.
In 2023, SEC enhanced its materiality assessment of the sustainability topics most critical to its business by engaging with additional stakeholders and in alignment with the latest GRI 2021 guidelines on management of material topics.
In 2023, SEC enhanced its materiality by conducting a survey with additional stakeholders as part of continuously improving its materiality assessment. The company sought input from more than 25 stakeholders, including regulatory bodies, employees, suppliers, NGOs, and customers, that are affected or could be affected by its business activities.
Materiality Assessment Approach
SEC conducted a materiality assessment in 2022 to identify a long-list of sustainability topics significantly impacting its business and stakeholders. The company engaged with more than 50 key stakeholders in order to identify material sustainability topics – ranging from the company leadership team to ESG subject-matter experts, investors, and financial institutions. The materiality assessment approach comprised 4 key steps.
In 2023, SEC enhanced its materiality by conducting a survey with additional stakeholders as part of continuously improving its materiality assessment. The company sought input from more than 25 stakeholders, including regulatory bodies, employees, suppliers, NGOs, and customers, that are affected or could be affected by its business activities.
Materiality Assessment Results
After identifying and ranking material topics based on their significant impact, the next step involved assessing their overall significance. This was done by assigning relevance to each participating stakeholder group and weighting their rankings, taking into account leadership guidance and importance of stakeholders to SEC.
A final prioritized list of material topics was then developed for both external and internal stakeholders. Subsequently, these topics were mapped onto a materiality matrix, illustrating their impact on external stakeholders along the vertical axis and on business value creation for SEC along the horizontal axis. Following leadership guidance, the resultant matrix was categorized into ‘most material,’ ‘more material,’ and ‘material.’
This year’s materiality enhancement exercise led to the inclusion of two additional topics – Operational Energy Efficiency and Responsible Customer Relations – in the ‘most material’ category compared to last year’s matrix. The results of the materiality assessment were endorsed by the senior management and the most significant topics in terms of their importance to stakeholders and potential size of impact are:
GHG Emissions, Health and Safety, Corporate Governance, Human Capital, Renewable Energy, Operational Energy Efficiency, and Responsible Customer Relations.
Refer to the specific sections of this report for a detailed account of SEC’s approach and initiatives taken throughout 2023 for managing these material topics.
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