Abstract
The importance of stakeholder engagement for organisational survival is widely recognised and supported. The interactive, polyphonic organisational context has placed added emphasis on stakeholder engagement. Strategic communication professionals are increasingly becoming responsible for creating connection among diverse voices which necessitates their involvement in the stakeholder engagement process. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of the strategic communication professional in the stakeholder engagement process in contemporary, polyphonic (multivoiced) strategic communication. This was done by determining the pragmatic relevance of two approaches to stakeholder engagement, namely deliberate-emergent and radical-emergent. A quantitative research design was employed using a web-based survey, which was distributed to communication professionals in academia and practice. An exploratory factor analysis highlighted two approaches to stakeholder engagement that recognises the importance of stakeholder conversations and inputs, while honouring conventional planning as a key activity for successful stakeholder engagement. The results of this study provide guidance to organisational management on engaging stakeholders in line with the current polyphonic organisational context. The study also affirms the indispensable role of the communication professional in the stakeholder engagement process, either to provide stakeholder guidance or to contribute to stakeholder enablement and empowerment.