Every business depends on the goodwill, health and resilience of the communities in which it operates, and must ensure its presence does nothing to undermine their wellbeing.
Future-Fit companies take all steps possible to ensure their presence does not negatively impact surrounding communities. The emphasis here is on putting in place appropriate mechanisms to pre-empt, identify, assess and manage community concerns, so that potentially serious issues and legitimate grievances do not go unaddressed.
To be Future-Fit, a company must do three things:
- It must seek to anticipate and avoid concerns from communities potentially affected by its activities;
- It must impartially assess any concerns that do arise; and
- It must ensure it effectively and transparently manages those concerns.