1. Long-Term Community Engagement through
Employee-Driven Community Relations
Ken Schmaltz
Corporate Marketing Manager
The Stream-Flo Group of Companies

2. Our future depends on public opinion
• Hydraulic fracturing bans
• Opposition to pipelines
• Opposition to LNG facilities
• Climate change blame
“The energy industry has never faced so many
questions about what its future will look like.”
Daniel Yergin, Chairman, IHS
Why Community Engagement?

3. 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer
• Energy ranks 2nd from the bottom in public trust at 52%
• Down from 55% in 2013
• Technology highest at 72%
• Energy CEOs are trusted least among CEOs in all industries
Without increased trust, public opinion will
remain neutral at best, hostile at worst
Are we trusted?

4. Lack of authenticity on our part
• Corporate-driven community engagement
• Business-oriented vs values-oriented engagement
A general lack of trust on the community’s part
• 36% of Canadian & U.S. employees don’t trust their employers
• Search engines trusted more (63%) than traditional media (58%)
• Oil trusted by 43%
• Natural gas trusted by 59%
Why the lack of trust in the industry?

5. Employees are our best spokespeople
• Employees are trusted as spokespeople by 53%
• CEOs are trusted by 37%
We trust each other
• “A person like myself” is trusted by 56%
• Only academic experts (65%) and technical experts (63%) are
higher
Who do people trust?

6. Support the organizations that employees support
• Turns employees and their families into advocates
• Companies are seen as members of the
community
• Communities receive the types of support they
need and value
• Local residents and customers talk about it
Employee-Driven Community Engagement

7. 1. Grassroots is more effective than top-down
2. The people in communities know what they
need and value better than we do
3. The values of the company, employees and
communities have to be aligned for it to work
Principles

8. • Fall of 2015: Food banks in oil & gas
communities were in crisis
• Employees already supported food banks
• Volunteer, donate food, organize annual company food
bank drives, etc.
• Many had neighbors who were affected
• Instead of door prizes at Christmas parties,
money was donated to 12 Canadian & 8 U.S.
food banks
Example: Local Food Banks

9. Employees delivered
checks to food banks
• Deep employee
engagement
• Demonstrated
commitment to the
community
• Local news coverage
• Recognition by customers
• Ongoing employee
involvement with food
banks and long-term
community engagement
Example: Local Food Banks

10. • Two employees in
Edmonton began raising
funds for the Stollery
Children’s Hospital
• Other employees joined in
• Month-long campaign
• Company supported efforts
with 3-for-1 matching funds
• Locations in Alberta, B.C.
and Saskatchewan joined in
Example: Regional Children’s Hospital

11. • Unprecedented level of collaboration across
departments, locations & companies
• Deep employee engagement
• Increased employee trust in company
• Employees became advocates
• Customer recognition in communities served by the
Stollery
• $64,682.50 + $194,047.50 (Company) = $258,730
Example: Regional Children’s Hospital

12. Increasing engagement and trust of communities
begins with increasing engagement and trust of
employees:
• Align community engagement with employee
values
• Engage communities by supporting employee-
driven involvement in them
• Turn employees into advocates and trust them to
carry our message
The Takeaway