Effective management of social issues is founded on an understanding of the on-the-ground situation that informs the selection of appropriate tools and processes to address the specific circumstances. We provide social assessments and community profiles, including human rights, risk and conflict assessments. We strongly encourage undertaking social due diligence on acquisitions and early assessment of social risks, with an emphasis on preventing conflict and supporting clients in proactive engagement of stakeholders.

OCG carries out due diligence reviews for development and Equator Principles banks, combining human rights expertise with experienced social capacity for due diligence, and also provides strong teams to carry out integrated Environmental and Social Due Diligence (ESDD) reviews as well as ongoing support and/or monitoring of resulting Action Plans.

OCG has developed diagnostic indicators and a semi-quantitative measurement of the quality of the Social License to Operate. The understanding gained from these assessments is then applied to the design of strategic and operational plans optimized to the social,
cultural, economic and environmental circumstances at hand

We are a leader in the application of the UN Guiding Principles and are working with companies to implement human rights due diligence, and the management systems and practices to demonstrate respect for rights at all stages. Critical components include risk assessment of the national and local context, a clear policy commitment, reviewing and strengthening a range of procedures to address internal and external risks to human rights from a project or operation, and training. We pay particular attention to indigenous rights in the national context and have carried out supply chain human rights risk assessments in manufacturing as well as in the extractive industries.

OCG provides specialized advice and assistance to help our clients achieve strong social performance. We support clients to move from compliance towards leadership and innovation, built on a foundation of management systems that support continuous improvement and accountability. The challenge we help companies address is how to optimize implementation of social performance practices to the circumstances of an individual project and innovate to achieve best practice levels of social performance for that site and stage. We do this through grounded field work, in-depth industry knowledge, and the application of strategic thinking and planning in close relationship
with those who have responsibility to implement

Engagement with project and corporate stakeholders is central to the successful management of social issues. On Common Ground has extensive experience in stakeholder mapping and issues analysis and the design and implementation of engagement, consultation and communications strategies with stakeholders at all levels, from local landholding communities to international NGOs. We have analyzed and designed engagement strategies that have included conflict resolution, participative processes, construction of long-term dialogue mechanisms and regional platforms for support participation of indigenous communities and other marginal groups in multi-
stakeholder processe

Metrics and Social Sustainability Reporting 

Accountability, as well as the effectiveness of social performance, requires companies to establish clear metrics, assign responsible for achieving them, set up the systems to collect and use that data, and effectively use it to report out on performance. On Common Ground works with clients to not only set up the indicators and data collection systems, but to ensure that the rights teams are using the information
to analyze and strengthen social performance in a meaningful way.