Page 3 - AtmosFlipbook_Demo

TAKING INITIATIVE
ecause it’s becoming increasingly crucial to tell the story of our employees’ compassion for the communities we serve, communicating the benefits of natural gas and the vital role it plays in our nation’s clean energy future, the company has launched a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy. This plan of action engages stakeholders like government and regulatory entities, peer utilities and associations, suppliers, investors, customers, and the community, with consistent messaging about important topics to the company and our industry. The messaging focuses on financial strength, reliability, affordability, the environment, consumer choice, economic growth, community engagement, and safety.
“To accomplish these goals and effectively tell our story, we need to have a consistent message and intentionally engage with stakeholders who care about the same things we do,” says Strategic Planning Vice President Conrad Gruber. “To ensure we are all on the same page, we created a new role, Director of Stakeholder Strategy, with a familiar face, Bill Greer.”
“We have a great story to tell, which we are highlighting through our enhanced Stakeholder Engagement Strategy,”
says Greer, a 34-year employee. “Our story includes decades
of operating the safest natural gas system in the United States, continuous improvement through innovative technologies, and a commitment to reducing greenhouse emission across the many states served by Atmos Energy. We developed core messaging around each of our top priorities with data to support those messages. With our enhanced stakeholder strategy, we are taking that plan to the next level.”
Salesforce
A new technology tool, Salesforce, will maintain all stakeholder engagement plans, measure progress, assemble feedback, and identify opportunities for greater success. A primary goal of the Stakeholder Engagement Strategy is to amplify our voice in the communities and track those important conversations, says Public Affairs Vice President Jennifer Altieri.
“With the help of Salesforce, we have created a platform to do just that,” she said. “It’s a user-friendly program that allows us to house all communication materials. Salesforce will help us measure progress, gain feedback, and then track all of this information when we are having conversations in the community.”
Stakeholder Relationship Owners
Key employee participants include members of Public and Governmental Affairs, Rates and Regulatory Affairs, Marketing, Investor Relations, Gas Supply, Supply Chain, and Corporate Communications. They will create and execute plans for high- priority stakeholders, track engagement activities, and document feedback on Salesforce. Employees are building a database of stakeholders, collecting a repository of relevant marketing materials, and creating a more robust and consistent method of tracking interactions across the divisions.
This Microsoft Teams Together mode screen capture shows an online Stakeholder Engagement Strategy town hall meeting with some team members from throughout the company, including Stakeholder Strategy Director Bill Greer (second row center).
“This team has worked really hard in determining our key priorities, and one of those is economic growth,” said Marketing Vice President Danny Bertotti. “We know that when our communities are thriving, we are all thriving. We are going to work with our partners to share the good natural gas does for our customers.”
Stakeholder Engagement Group
The Stakeholder Engagement Group is supported by Business Process Change Management, as well as others. The Stakeholder Engagement Group will measure overall stakeholder strategy performances against defined metrics and communicate those results.
All stakeholders are prioritized based on degree of impact to the business and potential alignment with our position. Stakeholder engagement plans will be created and updated regularly.
“I am excited about our Stakeholder Engagement Strategy,” concluded Senior Utility Operations Vice President David Park. “This initiative will more effectively communicate, intentionally engage, and strengthen alignment with influential and high- interest stakeholders. Taking these steps will not only help us tell our story but will get our external stakeholders on board to shareit on our behalf.”
“By sharing our story with legislators, city council members, community residents, investors, and so many more, we educate stakeholders about key issues important to each of us,” added Senior Vice President and CFO Chris Forsythe. “And because it matters to them and their constituents, they become engaged in helping support and achieve important outcomes.”
Stakeholder Engagement Strategy Ramping Up
Photo by Jennifer Altieri