The Stakeholder Communications Gap And Why It Is A Leadership Risk
I have heard of organisations spending months developing strategy, only to start again because the people who mattered most were not consulted until it was too late.
It is more common than most leaders would like to admit. In complex, regulated sectors such as aged care, health care and health research, the cost is not simply wasted time. It is damaged relationships, lost trust and strategies that do not hold up when they meet reality.
Organisations can become inward looking
The pressures of business as usual are real. Leaders and their teams are busy managing operations, meeting compliance obligations and navigating reform. In that environment, it is easy to become focused on a particular pathway without pausing to look outward.
The result is that high-stakes decisions get made in an information-poor environment. Leadership teams draw on internal assumptions about what stakeholders want, need and expect, without actually asking them.
A useful example. I have worked with organisations developing a new website where a genuine debate emerged about who the content is actually written for. Is it written for regulators, carefully worded and compliance conscious? Or is it written for the person at home, searching at night, trying to understand whether your service is right for their parent? Or is it for the employee you want to attract? The answer may seem obvious. But depending on where someone sits in the organisation, perspectives can vary significantly. That is a stakeholder question, not a content question, and it is one that benefits from an independent and well-rounded view.
The sectors that approach this well
Some sectors have developed stakeholder engagement more intuitively because long-term relationship building is central to how they operate. Health research is a strong example. Researchers are increasingly required to incorporate consumer and patient voices as a genuine input into the design and direction of their work, not as an afterthought. That shift has meaningfully changed how strategies are formed.
Aged care has undergone a similar transition. The move to a rights-based framework means that the voice of older Australians is no longer optional. Providers who treat stakeholder engagement as foundational rather than compliance-driven are better positioned for what comes next.
Consult well, not simply more broadly
There is an important nuance here. Broad consultation without clear thinking carries its own risk. I have also seen organisations where the impulse to be inclusive leads to engagement that does not add significant value. Time and resources are spent gathering input that does not meaningfully shape the outcome, and strategy becomes diluted as a result.
The answer is not to consult less. It is to consult strategically. That means understanding the hierarchy of your stakeholder map, identifying which groups carry the most weight for a particular decision and where genuine two-way dialogue will have the greatest impact on outcomes.
In complex environments with multiple service lines, funding bodies, referral partners, regulators and community groups, this is rarely straightforward. Developing a structured process to identify, categorise and prioritise stakeholders is one of the most valuable investments a leadership team can make before embarking on strategy development.
Stakeholder engagement is also business development
There is another dimension that often goes unrecognised. Stakeholder engagement done well is not simply input gathering. It is relationship building. The act of consulting key groups, listening genuinely and demonstrating responsiveness strengthens the very partnerships that underpin growth and sustainability.
In sectors where trust is foundational, and in aged care and health it absolutely is, that matters enormously.
What this means for your organisation
If your organisation is navigating change, pursuing growth or developing strategy in a complex and regulated environment, it is worth asking honestly whether you have the senior communications and stakeholder insight capability to do this well.
Many organisations do not. Not because they lack commitment, but because this kind of strategic capability is difficult to maintain inhouse. External support from strategic communications experts in health care, particularly in developing stakeholder insight and shaping communications strategy, can make a significant difference in whether a plan holds or needs to be redeveloped.
Because the cost of getting it wrong is not just time. It is the trust that is difficult to rebuild.
Edmonds Marketing works with health, aged care, and research organisations to develop stakeholder insight and strategic communications that support confident decision-making.
You can learn more about our work supporting aged care and health care organisations to navigate change with a clear strategic direction – here.
If you would like to explore how this applies to your organisation, I welcome a conversation.
Get in touch to explore what’s possible.
