Types of Stakeholders and Their Roles: A Quick Reference Guide

Ever wonder why some organisations thrive while others struggle to make progress? Often, it comes down to how well they understand and engage with stakeholders.

From the employees who bring visions to life to the local communities that business activities impact, stakeholders shape how organisations operate and evolve. By understanding who your stakeholders are and what they bring to the table, you can make smarter decisions, foster collaboration, and build relationships that drive real, lasting impact.

Let’s explore the types of stakeholders and their roles.

Understanding Stakeholders

Stakeholders are the people, groups, or entities who have an interest in a business and/or project outcomes. Some of the most common stakeholders include employees, customers, investors, and community groups. 

Stakeholders generally fall into two main categories: primary and secondary. 

• Primary stakeholders are those who experience a direct impact of a project or initiative. 
• Secondary stakeholders have indirect involvement, often through social investments in an organisation or through business relationships.

Stakeholders can also be internal or external.

• Internal stakeholders are people within your organisation directly involved in your business processes and outcomes — company executives, for example.
• External stakeholders interact with your organisation from the outside. They’re interested in your company’s performance but aren’t involved in day-to-day operations. This stakeholder group may include people who oppose or support your work. 

Types of Stakeholders: Examples and Definitions

Both internal and external stakeholders can be primary or secondary depending on their level of engagement and influence.

Here are some examples:

Primary Internal Stakeholders

• Investors: Investors provide your organisation’s financial resources to grow and innovate. While they don’t make day-to-day decisions, they do have a stake in the company’s profitability, stability, and growth. Keeping investors informed on performance, risk management, and future goals builds their confidence and supports long-term collaboration.
• Owners: Owners are often the founders and visionaries behind an organisation. Their influence on decision-making can vary, but their interest in the organisation’s success is foundational.
• Boards of directors: The board oversees strategic decisions and ensures that the organisation adheres to its mission and long-term goals. They set policy and governance standards, influencing the organisation at a high level.
• Company leadership: Managers and executives implement strategy and set the tone for organisational culture. Their leadership affects everything from team morale to customer satisfaction.
• Employees: Employees are at the heart of your organisation’s day-to-day operations. They bring your projects to life, help execute your strategy, and rely on the organisation for their livelihood. They also directly impact productivity, customer experience, and innovation. Because they both affect outcomes and feel the impact of outcomes, it’s important to engage with employees to boost morale and build trust. 

Primary External Stakeholders

• Local communities: Your business can have an economic, social, and environmental impact on your local community. Keeping local communities in the loop on company initiatives — especially when projects — impact the environment or public welfare — strengthens relationships and builds goodwill.
• First Nations Groups: For organisations operating on or near lands or waterways with cultural significance, First Nations groups have a stake in projects and the right to be involved. Engaging these groups with respect and understanding is crucial to honouring their rights and heritage. Open communication and transparent practices demonstrate a commitment to mutual respect and help your organisation operate responsibly within shared spaces.
• Lenders: Lenders provide essential project funding and expect that your organisation will be able to repay its loans. They have a stake in your financial security and your ability to manage risks. Transparent financial reporting and maintaining open lines of communication is a good way to nurture engagement with lenders.
• Regulators and governmental bodies: Regulatory agencies and governmental bodies help create a fair, ethical, and safe environment for business operations. They monitor compliance with legal standards, environmental regulations, and safety protocols. When these groups are among your stakeholders, you may need to review your processes for maintaining and demonstrating compliance through effective reporting.

Secondary External Stakeholders 

• Customers: While they don’t participate directly in your internal processes, customers play a pivotal role by creating demand for your products or services. They seek quality, value, and reliability, and their satisfaction can impact your reputation. Asking for their feedback (and responding to it) can help foster loyalty and support business growth. 

• Suppliers and vendors: These are the companies or individuals that provide the goods and services you need to operate. Although not part of your internal processes, suppliers benefit from your success and stability, which can lead to more business for them. A reliable partnership with suppliers can help streamline your operations, while any disruptions on their end can affect your ability to meet customer needs.
• Media groups: The media serves as a bridge between your organisation and the public, shaping opinions and conveying information about your activities, achievements, and challenges. Positive media coverage can enhance public perception, while negative reports may lead to reputational risks. Maintaining open, transparent communication with media groups can help foster a balanced view of your organisation.
• Trade unions and industry bodies: Especially relevant in industries with strong labour practices, trade unions advocate for employees’ rights and working conditions. They play a watchdog role, ensuring fair practices within your organisation and industry. Engaging with trade unions can support positive relationships with your workforce, as they help address labour issues that affect employee satisfaction and productivity.
• Interest groups: Local and international Non Profit groups that have a particular focus or interest such as in the environment, Human Rights, mental health play an advisory as well as an oversight role to ensure your work is compliant with regulations and expectations.

Stakeholders vs. Shareholders

Shareholders are a specific type of stakeholder. They own shares in a company and have a vested interest in the financial side of its success, like stock value and return on investment (ROI). Their main focus is on the company’s profitability because that directly impacts their earnings.

Stakeholders in business, however, represent a much broader group. They include anyone interested in the company’s performance, success, or impact. Beyond shareholders, this group can include employees, customers, suppliers, local communities, and even the environment. 

While shareholders may be mainly concerned with profits, stakeholders have broader interests. For instance, employees care about job security and working conditions, customers look for quality and reliability, and communities focus on the organisation’s environmental impact.

Successful organisations often balance the needs of both groups. They meet their shareholders’ financial expectations while addressing the broader impacts on stakeholders. This approach not only boosts reputation but fosters stronger, long-lasting relationships with everyone invested in the organisation’s journey.

Why Understanding Stakeholders Matters

Knowing your stakeholders and what they care about makes all the difference when planning and carrying out successful projects. By conducting a stakeholder analysis, you can prioritise, communicate, and make better decisions that will help you build strong relationships and maintain momentum.

• Prioritisation: A stakeholder analysis helps you identify which stakeholders have the most interest, influence, or are the most impacted, allowing you to prioritise their needs and concerns. This ensures that you allocate resources and focus on areas that drive the most value and mitigate potential roadblocks early.
• Communication: By understanding their unique interests and influence, you can tailor communication strategies that resonate with each stakeholder group. This approach keeps everyone engaged and informed, through the channels or media each group prefers.
• Understanding influence: Analysing stakeholder positioning helps you understand direction of influence — that is, how stakeholders influence each other. For example, a company executive has downward influence over employee productivity and upward influence over investor satisfaction. 

When stakeholders feel that their input is valued, they are more likely to support the project actively through resources, advocacy, or direct involvement. This buy-in creates a collaborative environment that enhances project momentum, increases commitment, and ultimately leads to smoother project execution and long-term success.

How to Identify Types of Stakeholders and Their Roles

The stakeholder identification process involves four steps:

1. Identify all stakeholders: Make a comprehensive list of all parties who influence or could be impacted by outcomes.
2. Determine criteria: Prioritise stakeholders by identifying factors such as influence, interest, and impact.
3. Analyse stakeholders: Rate each stakeholder based on chosen criteria to assess their engagement needs.
4. Categorise and rank: Rank stakeholders in order of priority to allocate resources effectively.

Once you’ve gone through these steps, you can visually organise your stakeholders using stakeholder software to map stakeholder qualities and relationships. 

Stakeholder mapping is a valuable tool for categorising stakeholders based on influence, interest, and impact. It lets you quickly identify which groups require more frequent engagement or monitoring. Simply Stakeholders’ mapping tools streamline this process, helping organisations allocate resources to the most critical relationships and ensure that all relevant voices are heard.

Streamline Your Stakeholder Management With Simply Stakeholders

Keeping track of stakeholder roles and relationships can be a full-time job. With the right tools, you can easily identify the types of stakeholders and their roles, track stakeholder engagement, and build lasting, meaningful connections. 

Simply Stakeholders brings complete visibility into managing stakeholder relationships. Book a demo — and experience a better way to engage with stakeholders.