RESOURCE PEOPLE Issue 001 | Winter 2012 by AREEA

Issue 001 | Winter 2012

Minara boss Peter Johnston

Talks mining tax, policy and the Glencore-Xstrata merger

Wizard of OZ

Q&A with OZ Minerals chief Terry Burgess

Fair Work Act under scrutiny Xstrataâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recruitment secrets Rio Tinto goes robotic PLUS migration myths, diversity and the evolution of FIFO villages

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CONTENTS

Published by Third Sector Services, Great Southern Press Pty Ltd. +61 3 9248 5100 gs-press.com.au

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

CONTENTS

46 | Navy lesson with Captain Norris TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT 48 | Up-skilling to conquer shortage

FINANCE 50 | Resourcing your retirement 51 | Top mining trends

Issue 001 | Winter 2012

Minara boss Peter Johnston

Talks mining tax, policy and the Glencore-Xstrata merger

Wizard of OZ

Q&A with OZ Minerals chief Terry Burgess

Fair Work Act under scrutiny Xstrataâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recruitment secrets Rio Tinto goes robotic PLUS migration myths, diversity and the evolution of FIFO villages

Editor | Tom Reid Tom.Reid@amma.org.au Advertising | Tara Diamond Tara.Diamond@amma.org.au AMMA Contacts 1800 627 771 | membership@amma.org.au migration@amma.org.au miningoilandgasjobs@amma.org.au training@amma.org.au

42 | Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

REGULARS

From the Editor THE GROWTH IN Australian resources activity has thrust our national industry into the sphere of public, political and media commentary, but it is often the human element of this dynamic and diverse industry that goes unnoticed. Welcome to the first edition of Resource People, a magazine that focuses on the human side of Australian resources – whether it be from the boardrooms of our largest mining and hydrocarbons companies or the most remote worksites in the country. It’s the people within our resource industry that are constantly innovating, tackling new challenges front-on and evolving the industry to the point in which it will lead the nation’s economic strength for decades to come. Every quarter we’ll bring you profiles on our top leaders, explore the pressing workforce issues and provide in-depth case studies with middle management. And where better to begin than with our cover subject this quarter – Minara Resources CEO, AMMA vice-president and MCA chairman Peter Johnston. In this rare interview, the mining veteran talks about his role with Minara, including the Glencore takeover, and shares his leadership and industry

insight – built from decades in the mining sector. OZ Minerals boss Terry Burgess also participates in an exclusive Q&A, where he details the company’s workplace culture, latest recruitment campaign and focus on engaging more Indigenous and female workers. Speaking on topics including recruitment, innovation, migration, training, finance, diversity and OHS & wellbeing; this edition is packed with talent from the likes of Rio Tinto, Caltex, Morris Corp, MMG, Xstrata, GBF, Sodexo, Saxon, ESS, Norton Rose and much more. To policy and as the Fair Work Review Panel wraps up this month, employment lawyer Henry Skene, our own Steve Knott and academic Paul Gollan all weigh into the debate. Look out for the full wrap of the review in the next edition. But for now, please enjoy the diversity of stories, talent and subject matter found in Resource People. These are the stories that, like the economic and employment benefits of our industry, transcend state borders, sector barriers, and age and cultural demographics. We look forward to bringing you many more of these as our industry continues to excel. Tom Reid Editor

yt: www.amma.org.au/youtube R E S O U R C E I N D U S T RY E M P L O Y E R G R O U P

www.amma.org.au |Winter 2012 |

REGULARS

Chief Executive’s Message AS THE CHIEF executive of national resource industry employer group AMMA, I am proud to present the launch edition of Resource People – the first magazine dedicated to all the ‘people stories’ found within Australia’s wider resource industry. Given the ongoing strength of our industry, it is only appropriate that the underlying tone of this pilot edition is that of leadership. The national resource industry has led the Australian economy through one of the most difficult financial environments experienced for many years. In doing so, our employers are creating a legacy of record commodity exports, unprecedented international investment, vast employment opportunities and widespread community benefits. While AMMA is well known for its workplace relations lobbying and wider industry advocacy work, in recent times our association has expanded and evolved in line with the great opportunities within the sector. Most of these new initiatives and activities have focused on the ‘people’ related challenges as we all work towards solving the by-product of our industry’s phenomenal growth – the widespread skills and labour shortages. A strong sense of community responsibility combined with a desire to attract, train and retain skilled workers has led to resource employers implementing wide engagement programs for employment. These include providing direct employment pathways into the industry, and proactive efforts in transitioning workers from declining sectors into our own. Often working alongside direct company training programs, AMMA’s RTO division has ramped up its delivery of specialist leadership training programs that are successfully up-skilling current workers into supervisors and managers – an integral strategy to sustaining the industry’s growth. Workforce diversity has also become a major focus in the resource industry as employers seek to widen the recruitment talent pool and attract a diverse range of skilled people. AMMA’s commitment to the Australian Employment Covenant, a national initiative which is closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, is mirrored by the excellent work our employers are already undertaking in this area.

Through our partnership with the Commonwealth in driving the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA) project, AMMA is leading the charge for the greater attraction and retention of women in our industry. As you’ll read in our Q&A with OZ Minerals’ Terry Burgess, many resource employers have made this diversity movement a very high priority. At a community level, the resource industry has made huge impacts on both metro and regional areas, the latter seen personally with school buildings, football fields, other community facilities, and above all else, employment opportunities provided by resource employers in regions that otherwise are too small to register on the political agenda. The improvement of health services to these regional areas is another area that many of our employers are heavily involved in. AMMA’s work with the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and the Royal Flying Doctor Service is highlighted in our OHS & Wellbeing section – ongoing partnerships forged for the best interest of Australian communities. With all these strong initiatives and great opportunities come great challenges however. The current level of skilled workers in Australia has shown it cannot match the insatiable demand from new projects. While AMMA’s Migration Services has been greatly assisting employers to meet their short-term requirements, sustainable solutions must be found. Australia’s workplace legislation is in need of an overhaul, with the Fair Work Act proving to have removed the capacity for employers to achieve commercial and fair outcomes directly with their workforces. The increased power granted to trade unions has seen an unsustainable surge in wages and conditions, while the escalating cost curve of employing people and our workforces’ flat-lining productivity performance must similarly be rectified. At the highest level, there have also been policy developments that could potentially dent the confidence of international corporations looking to invest in our domestic operations. The government’s focus on distributing the benefits of our growth across Australia has unfortunately led to the taxation of our industry to a point where industry leaders, such as our cover subject Peter Johnston, have raised concerns about its future competitiveness. The increased red tape and regulatory burden around getting major projects approved is also a major concern. Rather than allow our industry to become known as a ‘grab for cash’, our government needs to implement effective policies to address the skills demand and foster a culture where people enter the resource industry for long and fulfilling careers. Coming back to the key concept of leadership; this edition of Resource People will explore some of the challenges and opportunities I’ve highlighted in this column. More importantly however, this magazine is about celebrating the true achievements of our national resource industry, and highlighting the great stories and significant contributions made by resource employers every day. These are the stories that are most often left untold. Steve Knott AMMA Chief Executive

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

ECONOMY

Mining for

Australia’s future

Australia is facing one of the greatest economic opportunities in its history – but according to economist Angus Taylor both business and government need to work together to capitalise on its potential. ANGUS TAYLOR’S ECONOMIC forecasts in the ANZ Insight series have made headlines with predictions of widespread employment opportunities from the resource industry. If good policy making means Australia continues to secure large-scale projects, Taylor believes the strength of the resource sector has the potential to more than double 2010’s employment figures, from 700,000 workers to approximately 1.5 million workers by 2030. But while detailing the great opportunity open to Australia, the director of economic consulting firm Port Jackson Partners says there are misconceptions about Australia’s positioning in the global economy. “There’s a widespread belief that Australia is unique in its position in the world, being close to Asia, and unique in its access to high-quality mineral resources. That’s not true,” says Taylor. “There’s no shortage of mineral resources around the world, so the competition here is over who can get the projects into place at speed. Most people don’t realise we’re in a race and we’ve probably missed the starting gun. “The good news is that we’ve done lots of training and we’re pretty good at picking up the pace. However, I think we have still missed the starting gun to some extent in getting the right policies in place to make sure that we make the most of this [opportunity]. “It’s really going to be up to us over the next ten years as to whether we pull it off.” Australia’s ‘good starting position’ can be attributed to the country’s stable institutional frameworks, good planning regimes, exchange rate and labour cost structure. Taylor says this framework has historically made Australia competitive in a global environment, but the economic commentator believes these factors are not as certain as they once were. Warning employment prospects in the resource sector will be much lower if the country does not secure projects, he says the policy makers can no longer afford to be ‘complacent’ about Australia’s position in the world. “What can we do to make sure we are competitive? We can’t keep changing tax rates, we have to do things to take pressure off our cost structures and our exchange rate, and, most importantly, that means making sure we have the right macroeconomic policies,” says Taylor. “We should also be ensuring we have the capacity to put the people and capital in place to get these projects up. If, for

instance, we have shortages of geologists, drillers, engineers, etc. to build these projects – which we do at the moment – then we need to address that very quickly. So there’s a lot the government can do to make sure we’re competitive and that we have the frameworks in place to make sure these projects get into place quickly and effectively. “But you’ve got to remember that this is not a situation where the government can just come up with the answers on its own and settle them. What’s so striking about our competition in chasing these opportunities is that they have strong alignment between government and business. Government and business are working closely together to solve these fundamental problems, and it’s not clear to me that we have that alignment in this country at the moment.” Taylor points out that all levels of government – federal, state as well as local – are involved in influencing Australia’s competitive standing, whether it be through controlling tax rates or establishing local infrastructure to support fast-growing regions. Thrown into this convoluted mix of influential factors are all the associated businesses – from large mining companies to small fabrication shops. While Australia has made a sluggish start in this commodity race, it does have a few advantages. If we can tap into these advantages, and if government and business can co-operate, there is no telling what potential lies ahead for the growing resource sector. To read more of Taylor’s economic insight Google Earth, Fire, Wind and Water: Economic Opportunities and the Australian Commodities Cycle.

ANGUS TAYLOR DIRECTOR PORT JACKSON PARTNERS.

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Push to restore confidence in

industrial regulator By the time you’re reading this pilot edition of Resource People, the Fair Work Act Review Panel may have handed its much-anticipated findings to Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten. A few weeks out from the expected deadline of May 31, we discussed the key points with employment lawyer Henry Skene. THE FAIR WORK Act Review will take into consideration submissions from more than 200 stakeholders, including proposals from AMMA that would have far-reaching positive effects on workplaces within the wider resource industry. From the perspective of workplace relations specialist Henry Skene, the review presents an opportunity for many aspects of the Act to be overhauled. “There is more workplace litigation occurring now than in any other time for over ten years,” says Skene, a partner with law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler. “The review is a critical undertaking. In the two years since the Act became fully operational, three things have emerged. “Firstly, the legislation, as it has been interpreted by the courts and the tribunal, is not operating consistently with the Federal Government’s stated policy objectives in many important respects. “Secondly, there is a strong case to be made that the legislation does not provide an effective framework for the needs of modern workplaces. The present legislation is inadequate to deal with difficult disputes, exorbitant claims or to deliver productivity gains or certainty. “And the third major issue is that certain provisions are uncertain or ambiguous and require clarification. The review presents an opportunity for these things to be corrected.”

Australia is not isolated from global competition and our legislative framework must reflect the industrial freedoms of an advanced economy. STEVE KNOTT. Restoring the ability for employers to engage and negotiate directly with their workforce has underpinned the key recommendations in AMMA’s submission to the Australian

Government’s Fair Work Act Review Panel. AMMA’s submission examined how the Fair Work Act has failed on its key objectives and puts forth specific reforms that would see a return to mutually-rewarding employment relationships in Australian workplaces. AMMA’s chief executive Steve Knott agrees with Skene, saying that the Act does not align with pre-election promises made by the current government in relation to workplace laws. “The Fair Work Act intended to provide a balanced framework for co-operative and productive workplace relations that promoted national economic prosperity,” says Knott. “However, instead of advancing Australia’s workplace culture, the Fair Work Act is facilitating a return to workplace restrictions, union disputes, wage blow-outs, lower productivity and excessive transaction costs to employers. “Australia is not isolated from global competition and our legislative framework must reflect the industrial freedoms of an advanced economy while protecting the lower paid. “Our workplace laws should provide for and facilitate employee engagement and productive, competitive workplaces.” Drawing on empirical evidence from RMIT University’s Workplace Relations Research Project into AMMA members undertaken over a two year period, AMMA’s submission is founded on the direct experiences of employers operating in one of the fastest growing and most globally competitive sectors of the Australian economy. Knott says the Federal Government needs to turn Australia’s hostile industrial environment around, starting by restoring faith in the legislative framework. Skene agrees, saying the Fair Work Act should be amended to reflect the ongoing concerns of employers. “In my view, this would have substantial benefits,” says Skene. “It would provide greater certainty for Australian employers and employees. It would also reduce the current time and cost that employers bear in litigating in order to test and clarify particular aspects of the laws.”

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Rubbish ruling in JJ Richards case THE FEDERAL COURT ruling in the JJ Richards case highlights a major inconsistency between stated government policy on workplace bargaining and the written legislation, according to AMMA and other industry bodies. AMMA and waste disposal provider JJ Richards were last month unsuccessful in their attempts to overturn an initial Fair Work Australia decision that sets a precedent allowing unions to take strike action without the majority support of workers.

AMMA’s involvement in JJ Richards was never about restricting the rights of the transport workers involved – the initial decision, which has now been upheld by the Federal Court, has much broader economic and industrial ramifications. STEVE KNOTT.

Responding to the ruling that there was no need for bargaining to have commenced before taking industrial action, AMMA’s Chief Executive Steve Knott says the decision ‘makes a mockery of the government’s past stance on this issue’. “The key problem here is that the legislation does not reflect the previously stated position of the government on the issue of unions taking strike action in circumstances where they can’t muster the majority support of workers for such action,” he says. “AMMA’s involvement in JJ Richards was never about restricting the rights of the transport workers involved – the initial decision, which has now been upheld by the Federal Court, has much broader economic and industrial ramifications. “The threat of strike action and strike action itself is a serious issue for the capital-intensive resources industry. The government must amend obvious shortcomings in the workplace laws that left unchanged will facilitate widespread union strike action occurring in workplaces across Australia.” AMMA also sent a letter to Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten last month, suggesting a minor legislative amendment that will give certainty to all Australian employers, reflect the government’s pre-election commitment and facilitate a more harmonious industrial environment in all workplaces.

www.amma.org.au |Winter 2012 |

Is Fair Work fair

Workplace relations academic Paul Gollan believes the Fair Work Act has the foundation for a decent piece of legislation, but with ‘plenty of tension in the air’ he says there is ample room for improvement.

DESCRIBING THE CURRENT industrial relations environment, Macquarie University’s Paul Gollan says there is ‘a lot of tension in the air’. As professor of management and associate dean (research) in the university’s Faculty of Business, Gollan PAUL GOLLAN is recognised as one of Australia’s pre-eminent industrial relations commentators. With trade unions pressing the boundaries of the Fair Work Act to test their newfound scope of power, he describes the polarising shifts in industrial legislation over the last 10–15 years as a ‘swinging pendulum’. “For many people, especially employers, that pendulum has moved too far to the left in support of trade unions,” says Gollan. “There is a strong argument being made that trade unions have gained a considerable degree of influence and power in the workplace, which is undesirable for the future productivity and future industrial relations human resources climate. “Issues to do with content of agreement, for instance, were traditionally considered to be managerial prerogative – part of business strategy. Increasingly, we’re seeing trade unions wanting influence in those sorts of decisions, which is quite new. “We’ve seen that, in some industries, trade unions have started to create quite a lot of activity in workplaces that have traditionally been non-unionised. And where they have had a presence, it’s become a much more aggressive presence than they have had in the past 10–15 years.” According to Gollan, the circumstances surrounding the 2011 Qantas industrial action was a very public example of the increasing aggression of trade unions. He says it raised issues surrounding the current enterprise bargaining process, issues which are currently being discussed in a review of the Fair Work Act. “The problem with the current process and legislation are the good faith bargaining provisions, and there are also issues around when Fair Work Australia or the government need to intervene,” he says. “With Qantas, both parties in the dispute were saying that there wasn’t any ‘true’ bargaining taking place with the expectation of a resolution. “This resulted in Qantas stopping its planes from flying, which triggered the government’s intervention and forced the

WORKPLACE RELATIONS

trade unions to stop striking, as there is a provision in the Act that allows the Minister of Fair Work Australia to intervene when it is causing harm to the Australian community or economy. “So we need to rethink the issues around that and look at the different ways to solve disputes that seem intractable.” Gollan says this also ties into a debate that is currently taking place surrounding dispute handling. “In current legislation, it’s very much the parties’ responsibility to resolve disputes, unless they’ve caused significant harm to the community or the economy,” he says. “I think that has now been questioned somewhat. Some union leaders are calling for greater capacities to arbitrate disputes, which basically means Fair Work Australia would be making a determination.” Traditionally, both government and employers have been very reluctant to go down the arbitration route, but as an issue which has been raised during the current debate and within the Act’s review, Gollan says it is now open to discussion as a possible option for future. “The reason for the reluctance is because it doesn’t educate the parties themselves to get along with each other,” he says. “To draw an analogy, it’s like having a personal relationship, and every time you have a fight, you get a lawyer to come in and resolve the issue. It’s not exactly getting on with each other. “By having arbitration, it takes that education process out of the workplace and that’s often considered not to be desirable. The longer disputes continue, the less likely a positive workplace culture will result.” It is this idea of a positive workplace that Gollan believes to be the key to increasing workplace productivity. “The whole point is to change an adversarial, non-productive workplace culture into something that is far more conducive in informing and engaging employees, not only as a means to increase productivity but also to provide the fairness and wellbeing that employees should duly expect from their employers,” he says. “The endgame here is to build and provide a positive workplace culture so that those things can be achieved. It might be that the current Act may be insufficient in itself to provide that. Maybe what we need to strengthen this is more guidance, research and best practice principles through Fair Work Australia. “There currently exists something very similar in the United Kingdom – the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS). ACAS provides a great deal of support for employers, trade unions and other employee representation bodies through support, research, guidance, as well as a series of mediation and conciliation provisions, so that when workplace issues and conflicts arise they are resolved as smoothly as possible. Gollan stresses the point of the Act is to ‘show guidance’ and ‘to lead the disputing parties so that they won’t cause harm to themselves or the community’. “And possibly even to enhance the workplace through the ability to eradicate those industrial activities that would reduce productivity,” he says. “It is hoped that the Act itself could provide a foundation to increase productivity – especially when it comes to issues such as collaboration and co-operation – and develop a positive workplace culture.”

AMMA’s top 8 Fair Work proposals

With the Fair Work Act Review Panel’s findings just around the corner, Resource People re-caps AMMA’s top eight proposals for improved industrial harmony. 1. Productivity improvements When lodging enterprise agreements for approval with Fair Work Australia, parties must be required to demonstrate how they have considered productivity improvements as part of the final agreement. 2. Internal regulation High income earners, above the $118,100 unfair dismissal limit, should have the ability to elect to enter into direct employment arrangements with their employer. Workplaces should also have the option of voting for an internal regulation model of industrial relations. 3. Agreement making Agreement content should be restricted to matters pertaining only to the employment relationship between employers and employees. Fair Work Australia should have the power to make a greenfield determination agreement for resource projects. 4. Right of entry Unions should only have right of entry to a worksite if they have members on that site, if the members requested the union’s presence and if the union was a party to the enterprise agreement related to that site. 5. Adverse action Adverse action provisions are unjustified and, if not removed entirely, the Act must ensure claims are only able to proceed if the alleged prohibited reason was the sole or dominant reason for the adverse action being taken, not one of several factors. 6. Individual flexibility Parties should be able to agree on the terms of an individual flexibility agreement that leaves the employee better off overall and protects the employer from any form of industrial action for the life of the agreement. 7. Protected industrial action Protected industrial action should not be permitted where the claims sought are not considered to be in the public interest. The majority support of all employees that will be subject to a proposed enterprise agreement must be obtained before any employees can embark on protected industrial action. 8. Unprotected industrial action The legislative mechanism, under which the courts can order work to resume following unprotected industrial action, should be reviewed to ensure it is more responsive to the needs of employers who are subject to damaging and costly unlawful industrial action.

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

Q&A

Wizard of OZ Terry Burgess| OZ Minerals

OZ MINERALS OWNS and operates the Prominent Hill copper-gold mine in northern South Australia, with a workforce of 1,200 people. With the recent acquisition of the Carrapateena advanced exploration project and the new underground mine at Prominent Hill going into production, it has been an exciting year for the company. In addition to these new projects, CEO and managing director Terry Burgess is focused on developing the OZ Minerals workforce. As he explains in this Q&A, inventive recruitment campaigns, strong diversity practices and effective community engagement have the innovative miner focused on building a modern mining company for which people aspire to work. In 2011, OZ Minerals launched a recruitment campaign around the catchphrase ‘Careers with Life’. What was the strategy behind this? Our recruitment campaign was born from the idea that we needed to widen the talent pool to find and retain skilled employees. It was important for us to look for new ways to attract people, rather than to keep offering more money. Our ‘Careers with Life’ campaign promotes a lifestyle that appeals to the people we are trying to attract. Our fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) schedules from Adelaide, and recently Melbourne, allow our employees to gain the experience and benefits that working on a remote mining site provides, while enjoying a lifestyle in the place they want to live. Our advertising consciously moved away from the ‘tougher’ images of mining and we instead focused on what we believe is central to the culture of our modern mining company – a welcoming workforce that reflects the diversity that society has to offer. It is important to us that we attract men that want to work alongside women as well as attracting women as employees themselves, and this is portrayed in the photos and language used in the advertisements. We were one of the first mining companies to embrace a major airport billboard advertising campaign and I was delighted in the interest it has generated. We have had media interest; we have received positive feedback from candidates, shareholders, our contractors, other service

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

Q&A

providers; and, best of all I have had great comments from existing employees. We did not use models – all our advertisements feature our own employees and in some cases their families. Over the last 12 months, our number of applicants per position has risen by 30 per cent and we now receive an average of 240 expressions of interest and 580 resumes through our website every month. What initiatives have you put in place to give OZ Minerals a recruitment edge over your rivals? I believe that in order to attract good people to come and work for us, we must be able to evolve and continue to be attractive and relevant to new generations. Very few people visit Prominent Hill for a pre-work familiarisation and decide not to work there. People comment on how welcome they feel and say that the operation has a really friendly atmosphere. Prominent Hill is a FIFO site in a fairly remote part of northern South Australia. We have recently changed our roster for our site-based employees to eight days on, six days off (or 8/6). This change has meant that we have been able to attract some past employees that have come back to work for us. FIFO is a choice that suits many lifestyles. We have partners on the same roster so they can work and travel together; young people often prefer it as it gives them time to travel; and families that are settled in schools and have a city lifestyle like it because they do not need to move. Some employees have told me that the teachers at their children’s school have said that they see them more than parents working normal weekdays, and this is one of the benefits of the FIFO roster. To expand our attractiveness to potential and also existing employees who live in Melbourne and the east coast of Australia, we are now offering direct flights from Melbourne to Prominent Hill. The shortened commute gives these employees more time to enjoy their family and lifestyle. We also pay for employees’ flights from any Australian capital city or regional centre to Prominent Hill, which is obviously a good incentive. OZ Minerals is a strong employer of local and indigenous people from the communities nearby Prominent Hill. How and why do you incorporate these values into your workforce strategy? OZ Minerals has always had a commitment to employing people from nearby communities. More than 80 per cent of our workforce comes from South Australia. We employ 80 people from the nearby town of Coober Pedy and 250 people from Port Augusta. OZ Minerals, as well as our contractors, are actively focused on recruiting people from local communities through a number of initiatives. One initiative is our Pre-employment Training Program and we are extremely proud of its ongoing success. This program enables local and indigenous people with no previous mining experience, and who have often been long-term unemployed, to gain the skills required to obtain guaranteed permanent employment at Prominent Hill with OZ Minerals or one of our major contractors.

OZ Minerals team at Prominent Hill.

We felt it was important to ensure we have indigenous people in our workforce at the supervisory level, so in 2011 we ran a slightly different program, the Mining Technician’s course, targeting people at a more senior level. All ten participants graduated with a nationally-recognised Certificate II in Surface Extraction and are now working in various roles at Prominent Hill. Six of these graduates are indigenous people. Since the launch of the Pre-employment Training Program in 2006, seven groups of trainees, including 59 successful graduates, have successfully completed the program and taken up roles at Prominent Hill. The graduates come from the local towns of Coober Pedy, Port Augusta, Oodnadatta, Port Pirie and the APY Lands. Around 75 per cent of these graduates are indigenous. You are a personal supporter of the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA) and gender diversity in the workplace. How is OZ Minerals championing this cause? I think that there are great opportunities for women in our industry and definitely at OZ Minerals. Women remain underrepresented in our industry and increasing female representation is something OZ Minerals is focused on. We have formalised our commitment by setting measurable targets that we report externally via our annual sustainability report. One key target is to achieve 25 per cent female representation at all levels within OZ Minerals and we are pleased to be able to report that we have achieved this in four of our six job bands. We may have reached a number of key successes in this area but achievement of all our diversity objectives remains a work in progress. An important focus is ensuring there are opportunities for women to move into key decision-making roles within the business. We have recently started a joint program with Beach Energy called ‘Leading My Career’ which takes female employees, who have shown potential to reach at least Superintendent level, and offers them an environment to workshop and share ideas, and also gives them a mentoring program as additional support. A dozen employees – six from each company – have embarked on this program each with their own mentor.

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

RECRUITMENT

Xstrata Mt Isa Mines.

FRESH THINKING for human capital The skills shortage aside, many resource companies have traditionally struggled to attract and retain workers. Xstrata Copper’s Tony Page explains why HR professionals must stay one step ahead of the game to tackle employee attrition as well as prepare for future demand. TONY PAGE BELIEVES it may be a little tempting for HR

TONY PAGE GENERAL MANAGER – HR XSTRATA COPPER.

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

executives to point the finger squarely at the ongoing skills shortage for challenges in attracting and retaining workers. The Xstrata Copper general manager of HR has worked in the resources sector for more than 20 years, and says the industry’s people problems aren’t going to improve unless its leaders get innovative. “The limited number of skilled workers is often used as a scapegoat for the resource sector’s HR problems, but it’s often the long hours, manual labour, isolated lifestyle and family sacrifices people make that result in low staff retention and acquisition rates,” says Page. “Traditionally, these factors have posed a constant challenge to HR managers in our industry. My projection for the future is that it’s going to get worse. “But there are certainly things that mining companies can do, such as promoting the industry, promoting the safety culture of the workplace and creating an environment supported by constructive management, in order for people to want to work in the industry.” Page notes one of Xstrata Copper’s most successful tactics to reduce turnover is using 6/8 or 7/7 roster structures at its Ernest Henry mine in Queensland. This allows fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers to spend substantial time with families in between shifts and appeals to the large number of workers and their spouses, who desire greater work/life balance. However with many resource companies becoming more effective at staff retention policies, Page says the industry’s real

RECRUITMENT long-term challenge is attracting new workers in the first place. He recommends creating training centres and entry-level, on-the-job opportunities for tertiary students, employees looking to up-skill, and for indigenous and local communities who reside within close proximity to mining operations. “I don’t think Australia paid a lot of attention to its skills development and therefore we are ending up with lower numbers coming through university that actually want to get into the mining industry. “In the mid-90s Australia went through a period where we weren’t taking on the same number of professionals, so therefore the numbers at universities dwindled and we haven’t had the same capacity now out of those universities to catchup in time.” Xstrata Copper tackles the education issue by making their engineers available to high schools to conduct science and maths classes from years 7–12. “We run physics classes and we get engineers from our projects to take classes so that the students get a chance to actually understand the theory that they are learning and how it is put into practice,” says Page. “Greater education is the first step towards overcoming skills shortage and attraction problems, and involves heavy promotion of the maths and sciences to high school students.” However, there are larger push-pull factors outside the control of any single organisation.

A0171_531A AMMA ad_outlines Apr12.indd 1

With proponents competing against each other for graduates, high-level management and skilled labour, the industry has seen salaries spiral out of control with many tradesmen earning salaries well into six-figures, ultimately pushing up project costs and slimming profit margins. Page believes this wage inflation creates a transient attitude across the industry where people move from job to job quickly, without spending time consolidating experience and skills. He asks those in the industry to ‘stick out the tough times’ and to gain as much experience as possible, rather than be lured away by the almighty dollar. “I think one of the things that people have got to do in today’s workforce is show energy, initiative and accountability. I think accountability is the thing that I have learnt to be most important in my career,” says Page. “If you stand up and take accountability for a mistake and learn to fix it then that’s experience, and the experience builds over time so that you’ve actually got a repertoire of tools and skills you can call on in any scenario. “Throughout your career, you’re challenged by situations that people give to you and you can either rise to it and see it as an opportunity to develop new skills or you can sit there and say ‘I don’t know how to do this’.” With many HR professionals like Tony Page ‘thinking outside the box’ and instilling innovative solutions to worker attraction and retention challenges, there is no better time for the resource industry as a whole to stand up and say ‘we can do this’.

12/04/2012 4:42:57 PM | Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

RECRUITMENT

STAR RECRUIT: Papworth talks strategy Mining companies are responding to the industry’s labour gap in many practical and innovative ways. Here, MMG group recruitment manager Rob Papworth shares his recruitment secrets and strategies. AFTER 14 YEARS of experience in internal, agency and outsourced recruitment models, Rob Papworth has an indepth understanding of the human dynamics of the recruitment industry, which he says is becoming increasingly complex. “The outlook for Australian mining is a complex equation between commodity prices, exploration, site developments, labour supply, labour demand and global competition,” says Papworth. “From an Australian perspective, I have read many articles that discuss a labour gap. However, I am optimistic that this gap will drive a solution, as we are an industry that likes to solve problems.” One of the key recruitment challenges for mining exploration and development companies like MMG, is working through the competency gap created by the downturn of the 1990s. Papworth refers to key industry research, such as the Mining Industry Skill Centre’s Heartbeat Project Report, which states more than 70 per cent of open cut examiners are over the age of 50. “Mining has a lifecycle of exploration, development, operation and closure. This cycle takes time,” he says. “Through better communication, planning and partnership with educational institutions, industry organisations and governments, we can work better within this protracted cycle and avoid some of the current and forecasted labour issues.” Better communication of your company’s career offerings, according to Papworth, requires a ‘mind shift’ in the way recruiters operate. At the forefront is ensuring your recruitment messages transcend national borders.

ROB PAPWORTH GROUP RECRUITMENT MANAGER MMG.

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

At present, MMG has several concurrent recruitment campaigns as the company drives growth through operations in Australia, Laos, Canada and the Democratic Republic of Congo. One of these campaigns is dedicated to recruiting talented professionals from around the globe, particularly in the critical areas of geology, mining engineering and metallurgy.

I am optimistic that this [skills] gap will drive a solution, as we are an industry that likes to solve problems. ROB PAPWORTH. “Over the past few years we have moved from processing candidates, to attracting and hunting for candidates in these categories. Put simply, there are not enough people in these professions globally to supply associated labour needs,” explains Papworth. “While this presents long-term challenges, the short-term key to recruiting in these categories is to understand what is unique about your organisation, and being both practical and innovative about getting that information out to candidates. “This requires a mind shift, not just for the recruitment team, but for the business as a whole. At MMG we are getting better at finding people and letting them know who we are and what we can offer.” Spreading the message In 2011 MMG surveyed both the job hunting behaviours and job acceptance reasons of its new hires. Analysis of the results provided the company with a unique perspective on its specific people markets. According to Papworth, the results revealed traditional advertising alone will not achieve recruitment goals – a company must embrace a multitude of candidate sourcing techniques. “Other techniques include social media, alumni networks, employee networks, word of mouth, indirect promotion and career fairs,” he says. “You could say we are moving toward the concept of ‘crowdsourcing’ as it is about building collaborative recruitment communities. “In addition to this, while MMG has some people-sourcing techniques that are common across the industry, we also have

RECRUITMENT

some that are very specific to the markets we were sourcing from.” Papworth also explains why the company was happy to invest early in market research. “For geology, mining engineering and metallurgy, that research sits in-house with MMG, but for other areas we have a series of external consultants who can supply market maps as requested. These maps are cost effective and are repeatable,” he says. “Between market research and our own sourcing techniques, we find the solution most of the time without having to always engage third parties and this has delivered significant cost savings.” Getting effective While adopting a global perspective is a key strategy in the rapidly evolving recruitment landscape, Papworth says companies should always use a combination of local sourcing and diversity programs to achieve the best results. He also warns not to ignore the existing talent that may already be present within the company, saying ‘any external campaign should be mirrored with an internal one’. “For semi-skilled, skilled, trade and technical recruitment you need to think both local and global, but not at the expense of the local interest in this industry, which is overwhelming and needs to be better captured,” says Papworth. “Another industry-specific consideration is that timelines for campaigns need to be typically longer than other industries, to reflect the unusual rosters and working cycles of the fly-in, fly-out and drive-in, drive-out work in the industry. “Applicant methods also need to be simple and time effective, as you want to enable someone at a web kiosk at an airport to apply as they wait for their connection home. However recruitment is about selection as much as it is sourcing. Selection frameworks need to be reliable and valid, and managers need to be competent in their use. “Managers inevitably make the recruitment decision and, with diverse geographies, the process of educating and aligning them to a robust selection frameworks can take time.”

ROB PAPWORTH’S TOP RECRUITMENT READS 1. The Mining Industry Skill Centre’s Heartbeat Project Report; 2. Corporate Leadership Council publications on employee value proposition, referral schemes and critical talent segments; and 3. Herbert Heneman’s Staffing Organisations, 6th edition.

Oil, Gas and Mining recruitment oﬀering expert local knowledge, nationally supported, providing eﬀective candidate acquisition. Our Consultants have worked in resources and are considered local experts, each bringing with them over 10 years experience in recruitment for the Oil, Gas and Mining sectors. We are passionate about knowing our clients and their business, providing solid recruitment solutions that comply with legislative requirements and safety standards. Perth Level 8, 5 Mill Street Perth WA 6000 08 9287 9800 1300 337 000 perth@dfp.com.au

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www.dfp.com.au | Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

RECRUITMENT

Get the message You may only need basic skills to set up a social media recruitment campaign, but online communications specialist Sarah Mitchell says many employers aren’t sending the right message. IN THE MODERN age of technology, even the most reluctant of hiring managers can quickly become social media converts. However a successful social media recruitment campaign requires greater planning than simply setting up a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account. Content marketing consultant Sarah Mitchell has been assisting corporations to be heard in the digital world since before the technology became mainstream. To reach skilled workers and attract the top talent to your company, she says resource employers have to get the message right. “Enhancing your candidate attraction strategy is all about the message,” says Mitchell. “Traditionally, our ‘go to market’ messages have been carefully crafted by a corporate communications group. Regardless of size, it’s a universal truth the corporate line is going to be formal. “For the most part, these communications are ideally suited for broadcast to a large audience and that’s exactly why they fail in social networking.” Mitchell is quick to admit the term ‘engagement’ is grossly overused by digital marketing gurus, but says the concept hasn’t lost its meaning. The biggest error, according to Mitchell, is operating in ‘outbound broadcast mode’. “This is the fault of many organisations and almost all newcomers to social networking. You’ll never gain influence with your audience by simply broadcasting and the people

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you’re most trying to reach won’t even bother to tune in,” she says. “Creating engaging content to share on social media isn’t as difficult as you may think. There’s no reason to go ‘off message’ either. “Consider everything you’re doing to be part of a conversation. Craft your posts and profile updates like you are speaking with one person. As with face-to-face communications, make sure you’re asking questions and answering questions asked of you. “Say hello and goodbye, address people by name and always thank anyone who has shared your information. These little touches are easy to do and attach a human flair to your brand.” The impersonal nature of corporate communications has proven to be ineffective in the social media world. Mitchell says the corporate message can stay the same, but needs to ‘be put in a friendly wrapper’. “Next time you think about sharing a media release, preface the title with a ‘Guess what’s happening?’ sentence,” she says. “When you post a job, add a few words to grab the attention of your reader like ‘cool job’ or ‘check out this roster’. Readers soon get the idea they’re dealing with real people, not just a machine cranking out corporate speak.” Once you have the target audience’s attention, says Mitchell, the conversation can really begin.

RECRUITMENT

Time for a FRESH LOOK at workforce planning Since its launch in October 2011, AMMA miningoilandgasjobs.com has become the vital link between jobseekers and resource industry employers. Site director Kyla Jones explains how to best engage with a complex recruitment pool. IT IS OFTEN said the biggest challenge facing our national resource industry is the skills shortage and its impact on workforce planning. The issues are being felt across the broader industry, including the allied service sectors of construction and KYLA JONES transportation. Research completed by PwC is particularly interesting and indicates many resource companies are experiencing similar problems. Interviews with more than a dozen major players in the resource industry identified five root causes of Australia’s current skills shortage in order of priority: 1. The sector does not do enough to attract women; 2. There are not enough experienced workers to recruit in the Australian workforce; 3. Not enough young people are graduating with education relevant to the industry; 4. Australians are reluctant to move for work; and, 5. The industry doesn’t offer clear career paths to entice workers. It’s a daunting list considering these same problems are occurring globally. Resource companies are not just competing to find the best talent in Australia – every country with major resource projects is suffering a skills shortage. Engineers, geologists and metallurgists are in huge demand in Canada, South Africa, the United States and various countries in South America and Africa. Further, Afghanistan is investigating the start of a mining industry and will require significant talent, most sourced outside its own borders.

As we move into the construction phase of many projects, the demand for skilled labour becomes staggering. Australian workers could very well be poached by other countries. None of these problems are insurmountable as long as the industry changes its traditional approach to workforce planning. Now is the time for Australian employers to become innovative in their workforce planning strategies. The best candidates are looking for seamless careers and have no loyalty to industry or even geography. Salaries are skyrocketing all over the world so throwing money at the problem isn’t as effective as it was in the past.

Now is the time for Australian employers to become innovative in their workforce planning strategies. KYLA JONES. A strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP), however, positions your company for success. In a jobseeker’s market, benefits like mentoring programs, flexible work schedules, family-friendly rosters, attendance at international conferences and sabbatical programs make a big impact. We’re facing unprecedented demand for skills; therefore it makes sense to adopt new attitudes and policies. The organisations on the winning end of the labour sourcing challenge will be the ones making a conscious effort to innovate.

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

RECRUITMENT

Job Snapshot

Alice Jack, Senior Geotechnical Engineer, SRK Consulting How did you become a geotechnical engineer and what led you down this career path? I was employed as a resource geologist after completing my geology degree at Cardiff University and as a junior I was used in all departments. I found I enjoyed geotech and returned to Leeds University to complete a masters. What exactly does a day’s work involve for you? There’s a lot of variety in my work. Onsite I might be setting up or overseeing a drill program, training or collecting data. In the office I might be undertaking analytical work, managing programs or reporting. It’s a good balance between the way you work as a geologist out in the field and the mathematical side of engineering, which is what I’m good at. Where has this career path taken you? I have worked in 14 different countries to date on a variety of deposits. I enjoy visiting the sites, seeing the different cultures and meeting local people. I spent four years in West Africa, and Sierra Leone stands out as an experience I’ll never forget. My first job was as an exploration geologist in Tanzania in 2002. I spent two years in Guinea and I’ve also worked in Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Europe and other parts of Africa. I haven’t worked in South or Central America yet but I’ll get there.

Which operations are you currently ALICE JACK working on? I’m currently working on a couple of iron ore feasibility studies in mid Western Australia and some gold operations in Australia and Africa. What are the greatest challenges with this role? Finding the most effective way to work with people from a range of different cultures, including Australians, can be challenging. Making things work in difficult and remote environments is another. Do you have any advice for young people looking to this as a career option? Get field experience as early as possible, even if you want to be a consultant. It stands as true for engineers as geologists that the best consultants are the ones who have seen the most rocks – you don’t get that in an office. Where do you think the industry will be, and where do you hope you will be, in ten years’ time? I think that there will be less expat work as developing countries are increasingly able to employ internally. There will be a shift in the mineral producing regions. I like not knowing where I’ll be in ten years’ time, it makes life more interesting.

5 minutes with...

AMMA’s Bill FitzGerald, Principal Employee Relations Consultant – Hobart

BILL FITZGERALD

I’ve worked for AMMA for: The past 14 years and I am about to have a month’s long service leave in Africa.

If I could be anywhere else in the world it would be: Living on Flinders Island in Bass Strait which I visited at Easter for the first time.

My work involves: Providing employment and IR advice and training to Tasmanian AMMA members and also those interstate.

The perfect meal is: Tasmanian Flathead with a simple salad.

The thing I love about my job is: The diversity of issues and the close relationship with members. The greatest challenge of my work is: Being able to respond quickly when a number of member queries come in at once. My colleagues think I am: Easy to communicate with. My alternate career choice would be: In the service sector – my family had a department store in Tasmania for nearly 100 years.

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

In my spare time I like to: Go bush walking and cruise in our yacht in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel south of Hobart. My favourite thing about Tasmania is: The easy lifestyle and walking to work in 15 minutes. I couldn’t live without: Family, particularly our two grandsons. I’m inspired by: Mining entrepreneurs. You wouldn’t know it but: I was on the Tennis Australia Council for ten years and attended all four Grand Slams. I would spend my last $100 on: A bottle of the best Tasmanian Pinot Noir.

COVER STORY

I do have a serious concern about the cost position of the Australian mining industry. I think that is the resource sectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s number one challenge â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that we are pricing ourselves out of the market in the future. PETER JOHNSTON.

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

COVER STORY

PETER JOHNSTON

PULLING NO PUNCHES He may not grab headlines like the Rineharts and Palmers of the sector, but Minara Resources CEO Peter Johnston is a fierce industry advocate and formidable opponent to the incoming mining tax. In this rare interview, the AMMA VP talks leadership, skills, Minara’s takeover by Glencore and the mining industry’s interaction with the Gillard Government. EVEN THE MOST impartial political observers have criticised the Federal Government’s campaign against Australia’s mining industry as a means to gain public support for its Minerals Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) and carbon pricing legislation. Yet while some groups support the government’s approach to reaping the benefits gained from Australia’s mining activities, when someone like Peter Johnston warns it could slow the growth of the industry and cripple the economy – the Gillard administration should pay attention. With an array of leadership positions on his CV, including Minara CEO, AMMA vice-president and Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) chairman, Johnston understates his views on the ‘demonisation’ of the resources boom as ‘very unfortunate’. “The government has done this through the use of a lot of pejorative words – for example, I am no longer a miner; I am a polluter. I find that demonisation of the industry shallow and unnecessary,” says Johnston. “I think it does no favours to the government and they have got to stop doing it.” Like many industry heavyweights, Johnston is astonished at how little acknowledgment Australia’s successful resource employers receive for boosting Australia’s economy to among the most competitive in the world. He fondly recalls the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth where Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett remarked: “What do you miners have to do in order to be thanked for helping Australia through the recession?” With the MRRT being introduced on July 1, perhaps the sole yet unfitting answer to this question is ‘pay more tax’. “The MRRT is a top-up tax. We currently pay company tax and then we pay a lot of state royalties,” says Johnston. “Governments are too easy to hit the tax revenue side when there are many other areas that they should have been focusing on. Fundamentally, this is an additional tax and we think we have been paying our fair way for quite a while and we will continue to do that.”

While some segments of the resource industry are enjoying strong profit margins, Johnston warns the industry is cyclical and will turn. He says all markets have ‘their ups and downs’ and that heavy new taxation will add to the fixed cost structure of the industry, deter foreign investment and dilute Australia’s competiveness in a global market. Arguing a structural change in world economies is seeing a movement from the West to the ‘Asian century’, Johnston says Australia’s current decision makers risk damaging the resource industry’s long-term viability. “Certainly in terms of sovereign risk, the super profits debate, MRRT and carbon tax has damaged Australia’s reputation,” he says. “You have to take recognition of the competitiveness of where Australia sits in the world and the cost structure we have. In the long-term, if you are not positioned down the cost curve you will eventually damage the industry. “And I do have a serious concern about the cost position of the Australian mining industry. I think that is the resource sector’s number one challenge – that we are pricing ourselves out of the market in the future.” Despite his concerns Johnston still believes Australia’s resource advantage has seen the country maintain its attractiveness to international and domestic investors. But he warns in other areas where the nation does not have ‘a resource edge’, our foreign competitors are using this period of political uncertainty to ‘grow their businesses quite substantially’. Policy matters Through his extensive advocacy and lobbying capacity within the Australian mining industry, Johnston stresses the importance of staying at the policy level when negotiating with government. “You simply cannot descend into politics. We have to get on with all governments, both state and Federal, and we have to deal with the government of the day – and that’s very important,” he remarks.

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

COVER STORY We do not give our own industry enough credit for some of the gains we have already made. PETER JOHNSTON. “[The mining associations] focus a lot on the policies and not the politics, despite what people think. And unfortunately when bad policy comes about, we advocate very strongly that this is not sensible.” Aside from the mining and carbon taxes, one of the key areas Johnston has been advocating for reform is Australia’s poorly performing industrial framework. Johnston says the re-emergence of militant unionism in Australian workplaces is the catalyst behind a rapidly deteriorating industrial relations climate, a reregulation he believes the industry ‘simply did not require at all’. “Trade unions are exerting an enormous influence on the government, which is no surprise, but I do have some real concerns about this agenda of the 1970s about union control and union intrusion into your business,” says Johnston. “In mining in particular, we pay high wages and the workers have received a fair share of the rewards of the success of the mining industry. The current legislative framework is putting hurdles in place that will make that more difficult in the future. “There has been 15 years of industrial peace in mining, in the midst of which has been the greatest increase in growth that the industry has seen.” Pushing the merits of employer groups in Australia’s political playground, Johnston says associations like AMMA and the MCA provide a sense of industry leadership. “We certainly engage with governments at all levels, to assist in their policy development. Sometimes that works, and they listen; and sometimes it doesn’t. So there is an ongoing program of constant engagement,” he says. “From time-to-time we do have to mount public campaigns to heighten the awareness of our constituents, but before we go there we have already engaged with governments. Certainly there are no surprises when we oppose their policies.” Minara magic With his experience and standing in the resource industry, it is only fitting Johnston is a key figure in the largest merger/acquisition seen in the sector. It began in September 2011 when Johnston and his board at Minara Resources recommended shareholders accept a 100 per cent takeover bid by majority owner Glencore International, valuing the Australian nickel miner at around $1.02 billion. The takeover, which was finalised in December, was followed with the

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

COVER STORY

highly publicised announcement of the Swiss giant’s merger with Xstrata – a merger that would create an international resource house valued at $80 billion. The Glencore/Xstrata merger is on track for completion by the final quarter of this year, but Johnston says he has ‘always anticipated a long journey’. “Mergers take some time to consummate and the regulatory authorities always scrutinise large mergers and acquisitions,” he says. “The first challenge in all of this is to stay focused while all this regulatory activity happens. The second challenge is to retain your good people, while the third is to look at opportunities, if and when they arise, even in the midst of all of this corporate activity. “We are unique in that Glencore already owns 35 per cent of Xstrata, so it was not a hostile takeover – it’s a merger and that’s a critical difference. We also have good relationships with Xstrata and understand the way they operate and they know and understand us as well.” Despite the big developments on the corporate front, Johnston believes the majority of Minara’s workforce will see little impact in their daily work, particularly those in remote locations. “Because of the size of the amalgamation, it will open up career opportunities for employees where they didn’t exist in the past. So that is seen as a positive outcome of this process. “We have been very open and direct with our communications with our staff.” Johnston says the corporate direction of Minara is to focus on total shareholder returns and growth. With emphasis on ‘delivering the fundamentals’, he says Minara’s employees play an integral role in achieving this. “I think we’re a normal company – we do have a rather rigorous planning process, which involves as many employees as possible,” he says. “We have a five-year business plan; we have strategic hurdles to achieve and KPIs, which our employees understand and participate in. Then we focus on our yearly budget and the delivery of that budget, and – predominantly for those employees working onsite – three areas, safety, production and costs. “Once the planning process is finalised we publish those targets and KPIs, and our employees do understand the direction and the future of the company. We do rely on our management and employees to deliver those KPIs.” Looking ahead While Johnston often tackles a range of ‘people’ policies in the underequipped resources sector, from migration to individual flexibility, he believes the industry doesn’t give itself

enough credit for the employment opportunities it’s already creating. “The amount of direct labour in mining has doubled in the past five years. As an example of our committment to training and development, five years ago we directly employed approximately 3,500 apprentices and trainees; now it’s more than 10,000,” he says. “It’s the same with graduates – take mining engineers, for example. Five years ago, universities were only graduating 120 mining engineers. That number is 220 and is continuing to grow.” Johnston notes the mining industry subsidises numerous university courses created to help ameliorate the skilled worker shortage, and that the industry’s spending on training is well above the national average. “We require highly-skilled people, and we do put the time, effort and resources into developing our employees. But with any growth phase, such as what the mining industry is currently experiencing, we can’t keep up with the demand side.” While not seeing eye-to-eye on some matters, Johnston concludes the Federal Government is supportive of skills development – however the colourful resource industry identity will continue to advocate for a whole lot more.

PROFILE: PETER JOHNSTON Johnston boasts an impressive history in the Australian resource industry, holding many influential positions, including: • CEO of Minara Resources; • Vice-president of AMMA; • Chairman of the Minerals Council of Australia; • Board director of the Nickel Institute; • Executive Council of The Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA; • Board director of Emeco Holdings Limited; and • Board director of Silver Lake Resources Limited.

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

OHS & WELLBEING

Empowering workers to foster safe culture

Underground mining is often perceived as a high-risk or inherently dangerous activity, but GBF’s Franko Roberts explains the fast-evolving sector is leading the charge on empowering workers to create their own safe working cultures. FROM FALLING OBJECTS to heat-related illness in high temperature environments – GBF Underground Mining Company’s Franko Roberts doesn’t shy away from the health and safety risks of contractors’ work spaces. In fact, it’s the varying nature of GBF’s health, safety and environment (HSE) hazards that has led the group human resources and sustainability manager to seek innovative ways of embedding best practice in the company’s work health and safety policies and procedures. According to Roberts, successful HSE risk management requires strong leadership and the recognition that the decision-makers must get their workers involved. “GBF’s policies and procedures are developed using a consultative approach with team members from the rock face, supported by a team of professionals working together on a Job Safety Environmental Analysis (JSEA),” he says. “It is critical that such relationships facilitate agreement on the minimum expectations of performance, for example risk management, safety, and environmental management and production success. “The JSEA is then moved through to a Safe Operating Procedure (SOP), which includes diagrams, flowcharts and legislative requirement. The importance of consultation throughout this process is critical in order for acceptance in the workplace and ownership by the team.” Roberts says the key to effective JSEA and SOP documents is to keep the message ‘simple and to the point’, including the use of pictures and real-time experiences to ensure the messages are thoroughly understood. This philosophy is best illustrated in GBF’s approach to managing the high temperatures and humidity conditions, which are among the largest health risks associated with underground mining. Following a risk assessment at one of its mine sites in the Northern Territory, GBF developed a structured, formal management system to continually monitor the health of Underground with GBF.

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

OHS & WELLBEING

Employees were also provided with onsite information sessions on how to minimise the risk of heat stress, starting with home impacts and the immediate actions following each shift. “Most accepted the advice and some quickly adopted changes to their lifestyle to combat the ever-present effects of heat in the tropics,” says Roberts. “The most difficult hurdle was to balance the work rate of the contract miner and to change their mindset to accept that at times, in certain conditions, they will have to make a conscious decision to slow down, take regular breaks, and consider their own health and that of their workmates. “Through support from all levels of management, GBF has empowered its employees to lead the crews by setting the example in the quest for managing work in a humid environment, and only then with a change of behaviour were we assured of a safer culture.” GBF is a locally owned and operated private contractor that was founded in 1995 in the Western Australian Goldfields. The company works for a number of international mining companies throughout Australia with project commodities including gold, zinc, and copper.

employees working in underground conditions, which Roberts describes as ‘uncomfortable at best’. Again, engaging with the workers on how best to manage the risks was the top priority. “To minimise the opportunity for heat-related illness resulting at the workplace or following a period of work, GBF consulted with the entire workforce to identify all causal factors and hazards associated with exposure to heat in the workplace,” says Roberts. “The eventual result was a HSE management strategy which portrayed a holistic approach to provision of information and instructions on operational management of workplace temperatures, measurement and monitoring, health effects, and prevention of heat illness.” GBF also introduced requirements for employees to undergo mandatory urine testing to determine hydration status and fitness for work. Roberts admits the procedure may seem invasive, but says the information effectively identified if a worker was at risk of serious heat illness.

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| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

OHS & WELLBEING

Royal Flying Doctor Service in action.

Healthy partnership still

FLYING HIGH

Mining doesn’t typically come to mind when people think of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Yet the history between the resource industry and this iconic not-for-profit organisation spans decades and involves much more than emergency rescues. THE RESOURCE INDUSTRY’S relationship with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) blends healthcare and corporate responsibility, covering everything from mental health to public relations. Approximately 50 mine sites currently draw on the RFDS to provide their workers with access to quality healthcare. Since the service was founded 84 years ago, emergency air evacuations have been performed at some of the most remote worksites, along with mental health services and first aid training. While the image of red dust clouds encapsulating risqué emergency rescues may be gripping, the RFDS’s general manager of health services Ian Hosegood says OHS is generally of a high standard at mine sites, meaning serious incidences are rare. According to Hosegood, most medical issues the RFDS encounters on mine sites concern general practice. “There have been a number of fatalities in mining in recent

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

years and companies have banded together to improve their safety precautions, procedures and emergency response time,” he says. “A foreign body stuck in the eye is the typical scenario, rather than severe injuries, and everyday health issues such as this can simply be treated via remote consultation. “Remote consultations suit the nature of mine sites, particularly in exploratory phases.” Remote consultation is the RFDS’s most popular health service for the mining sector as it allows workers to speak to an offsite doctor who can prescribe medication via phone or video call. Medications ranging from painkillers to life-saving medication are kept onsite in a secure location and managed by an assigned staff member. While severe injuries are uncommon, the high risks inherent to mining sites pose serious dangers that Hosegood says need to be mitigated.

OHS & WELLBEING

“Mine sites present unique challenges due to their complex environment and the industrial injuries that can result, so risks must be contained wherever possible,” he says. “To assist, we provide safety audits of emergency procedures, as well as policy, equipment and training audits. “It is important that mining workers are adequately trained to do their jobs in times of crisis. “This involves specific skills as well as practical steps, such as ensuring everyone has emergency numbers in their wallets and knowing whether to call 000 or RFDS direct.” But the RFDS and the mining sector collaborate further than health and auditing – they also reach out to society to improve mining companies’, sometimes strained, relationship with communities. “Mining companies sponsor RFDS to work with communities to provide support for the increase in the demand [for healthcare] that sometimes results due to changes that mining can bring to a community,” says Hosegood. “Companies invest in social infrastructure where they will be imposing on the community. “Supporting the community contributes to resource companies’ positive social impact and corporate social responsibility.”

Supporting the community contributes to resource companies’ positive social impact and corporate social responsibility. IAN HOSEGOOD.

The RFDS also helps mining companies from a public relations perspective by providing an alternative to investing in publicly-listed healthcare services. “RFDS is a not-for-profit organisation and has a positive impact on the community, as surpluses go into the community rather than in the shareholder’s pocket,” says Hosegood. “It’s a way of giving back to the community and assisting the community.”

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| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

OHS & WELLBEING

Fighting the BIG C down the mines If the only thing men were allowed to talk about while at work were intimate health issues, you could guarantee Australia’s mine sites would be the quietest workplaces in the country. IT IS NO secret that Aussie blokes don’t enjoy discussing serious health problems, which is why the resource industry’s work with the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) is held in such high esteem. Every day in Australia, 32 men wake up to learn they have prostate cancer – one of the biggest killers of Australian men with 3,500 each year. AMMA and the PCFA, as well as many individual industry employers, are determined to ensure the country’s resource workers don’t contribute to these statistics. The partnership between the PCFA and AMMA has seen cancer information sessions for men and women working in the resource industry delivered both onsite and in employers’ head offices. MMG was the first resource company to join forces with AMMA and the PCFA to take the fight with cancer to the mines. Today, under MMG’s head corporation MinMetals Resources Limited (MMR), the employer continues to hold regular information sessions with its workers. MMR has run the program on three of its mine sites in Australia as part of the company’s initiative to make discussions about health more commonplace. “At the workplace the last thing men want to do is talk about health, so you’ve got to take the information to the workers,” says Tim Scully, MMR’s executive general manager of business support. “Education is a way of prevention. We use the health message of the sessions to promote the safety message and the wellbeing of our employees. “We look at the sessions as an opportunity to acquaint people with health issues and set them up to self-manage.”

Scully says it is extremely valuable to have women in the sessions as, unlike most men, they are open to discussing health without needing to be prompted. “The sessions are not limited to males because females enjoy the sessions and usually have questions due to their concern for their partners, family or friends,” he says. “Women often ask the questions that the males want to, but don’t ask.” While prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in Australian men and the second most common cause of cancer deaths in men, a national survey by the PCFA found that only 52 per cent of men believe they are informed about prostate cancer. The educational sessions provided to the resource sector are run by a PCFA ambassador with first-hand experience of cancer. Scully says the sessions raised awareness of health issues among employees and were well attended. “Without the sessions many discussions wouldn’t have been had,” he says.

To organise a prostate cancer information session at your worksite, contact AMMA through www.amma.org.au Each session requires a contribution, with all money raised assisting the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia fund research into the prevention of this disease.

Drug testing procedures under the microscope Endeavour Energy’s appeal against a Fair Work Australia (FWA) ruling could determine whether employers in Australia’s resource industry will be restricted in their ability to administer appropriate on-site drug and alcohol testing procedures. The appeal, which was publicly supported by AMMA, was against a ruling that meant the company could only administer saliva-based drug testing that is proven to be less effective than urine testing procedures. “The resource industry is concerned with both the inconsistent and conflicting decisions coming off the tribunal along with separate legislative proposals to restrict mining industry employers’ ability to introduce urine testing for drug detection,” says AMMA chief executive Steve Knott. FWA’s Endeavour ruling appears contradictory to an earlier decision involving HWE Mining, where the tribunal ruled that urine testing was more accurate and less likely to produce false negatives. “These recent developments could act to hinder employers’ efforts in this area and restrict onsite drug testing to the less-effective saliva testing in line with the union agenda,” says Knott.

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

OHS & WELLBEING

HEALTH AND SAFETY works towards harmony As the new harmonised work health and safety laws are gradually being adopted by the states, we explore whether the legislation will really improve safety or just add another level of red tape. ANY SIGNIFICANT LEGISLATIVE change around employers’ obligations will always add a compliance burden. The question is whether a short-term compliance burden will leave employers with more efficient systems and policies, or whether this burden is due to increased requirements that ultimately will be longer and more difficult to navigate. It remains to be seen which category the intergovernmental agreement between state and Federal governments to reform Australia’s state-based occupational health and safety (OHS) systems falls into. For now, the move to ensure each state and territory’s system reflects the model Work Health & Safety Act has not yet played out in full. “Under the nationally harmonised OHS system, each state and the Commonwealth agreed to enact their own ‘mirror’ version of the model Work Health & Safety Act and the Work Health & Safety Regulations,” explains Lisa Matthews, AMMA senior workplace policy advisor. “Effectively, this was meant to ensure that all the OHS laws would be similar across the states and territories. As it has turned out, there will be inconsistencies between the states, particularly in Western Australia and New South Wales, and it remains to be seen how this will impact on the operation of the national system. “There will also be an additional layer of mine safety legislation in Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales given that those states will retain existing mine safety laws as well as the nationally harmonised laws that include mining provisions.” The various state and Commonwealth jurisdictions are enacting their ‘model’ legislation in a piecemeal fashion, with five jurisdictions having adopted the new system while the other four states lag behind. For mining businesses working across borders, the new ‘harmonised’ system should make compliance more streamlined and easier to manage; however, experts warn that navigating the new system will take some getting used to. A major concern is the ongoing differences in each state’s legislation and regulations have left employers with a less-than a harmonised OHS system. Senior occupational health and safety lawyer Maria Saraceni says the ‘interesting’ decision to ‘harmonise’ state safety legislation and leave it governed by the states rather than the Federal Government, has seen limitations and delays placed on the process. “There are limits with the harmonised health and safety laws in that separate legislation continues to operate in particular industries. For example, in the offshore oil and gas industry,

the rail industry, the dangerous goods industry and the commercial vehicle drivers industry,” says Saraceni, a partner with Norton Rose Australia. “In these circumstances, businesses, particularly those that operate across industries, cannot be said to have had their obligations and liabilities streamlined.”

MARIA SARACENI

The basics for employers Although the harmonised system is not yet law in some jurisdictions, compliance issues are already beginning to surface. Saraceni says employers are already asking questions about what their new duties of care, what documentation systems could head off possible prosecutions and who will be regarded as a corporate officer or ‘persons conducting a business or undertaking’ (PCBUs). Her advice to resource industry employers is to review their processes to prepare for the new legislation, review contractual clauses for adequacy and ensure that everything reasonably practicable is being done to ensure workers’ health and safety.

There is no better time for PCBUs to better inform themselves of the legislative changes. MARIA SARACENI. “There is no better time for PCBUs to better inform themselves of the legislative changes. This gives them the window of opportunity to undertake gap analysis and fill in those gaps before the legislation is live right around Australia,” says Saraceni. “Anecdotally, board directors are not across health and safety matters, as traditionally it has been left to the safety staff at the operational level. “For them, there is much to do to help them comply with the law and provide the necessary safety leadership required to have a positive safety culture. Safety should be regarded as a cost but also as a value-adding proposition to assist businesses to continuously improve.”

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

OHS & WELLBEING

Ashby’s family keeps on growing For communities of people living the transient working lifestyle, FIFO Families provides a network to share the pressures, minimise stress on relationships and make working in the resource industry more enjoyable. NICOLE ASHBY MAY be the founder of a highly successful support service organisation, but she understands the strain placed on families by fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) working rosters as well as any of her clients. When Ashby’s husband Joe began working offshore in the oil industry more than three years ago, she was faced with multiple parenting challenges derived from the physical distance separating them. The experience of being a parent with four children under the age of four who was tasked with being a sole parent for six months of each year while her husband was away for work, drilled the idea for FIFO Families into her mind. “None of my friends around me were FIFO, so none of them understood the complexities that came with living this lifestyle,” says Ashby. “I had some very stressful situations because my husband does 28 days on, 28 days off. I came to the realisation that if this is a problem for me it has to be a problem for thousands of other families across the country.” Ashby was right. More than 13,000 families across Australia and New Zealand now utilise the services of FIFO Families, which comprise online support and information offerings – such as chat forums and social media – in addition to in-person support at scheduled events for couples, parents and families. Nearly four years on from the establishment of FIFO Families, the organisation continues to connect members who live within a 10 km radius of one another, so that if an emergency situation arises, the members will have a local friend who can be approached for assistance. “The whole vision for setting up FIFO Families was that I knew I had to be able to create local community groups across the country,” says Ashby. “Wherever you can FIFO, if there are a significant number of families there, they can come together and connect through the organisation. You know that they’ll totally understand where you’re coming from, and be there to help you out.” Parents in a fly in, fly out family will have dinner together, spend time together on weekends and reciprocate care for each other’s children; supporting each other through the good times as well as the bad. This philosophy has proven strong when feelings of isolation kick-in.

“That seems to be the universal thread – that people come to us because they experience challenges with this lifestyle,” says Ashby. “Their husband or dad has gone off, and the family feels upset and needs advice. There’s a whole range of issues that families that are new to a FIFO or drive-in, drive-out experience come to us to get help with. “They find that connecting with other FIFO families – even if it’s just on a virtual level – helps break down that loneliness and isolation because you can communicate, and gain experience, wisdom and knowledge from other families that are living the same lifestyle.”

Connecting with other FIFO families – even if it’s just on a virtual level – helps break down loneliness and isolation. NICOLE ASHBY. Helping in times of crisis is something that Ashby has experienced first-hand. Early in the FIFO Families story, Ashby came to the aid of a neighbour who was alone with two children when the youngest, a three-month old, required medical attention. With her husband away working on a mine site, the neighbour turned to Ashby and husband Joe. “As she rang the ambulance I was holding her baby, and she said ‘oh my God, he’s stopped breathing, he’s starting to go blue’,” recalls Ashby. “I took her baby as she was on the phone to the ambulance and ran him to my husband to administer first aid. The baby was struggling to breathe. My neighbour had to go to hospital with the baby, so we offered to take her older child. It was very frightening, a really scary experience.” Thankfully, the child survived the scare, and through the growing support networks offered by FIFO Families both the parents working on remote mine sites and those remaining at home can enjoy some peace of mind.

FIFO Families offers a wide range of services, both to the families involved in fly-in, fly-out or drive-in, drive-out work lifestyles and to the industry stakeholders who employ them, by providing solutions to increase their retention rates, productivity and safety. For further information, visit www.fifofamilies.com.au www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

OHS & WELLBEING

Healthy retention plans MARK FITZGIBBON

In an industry where every added employee bonus is a potential tool to capture and retain talented workers, nib explains why health insurance is a fantastic trump card to gain a recruitment edge.

AS CEO AND managing director of nib holdings limited, Mark Fitzgibbon has witnessed a spike in resource employers using attractive health insurance offerings to entice workers and encourage employee loyalty. Fitzgibbon says his clients must keep abreast of how OHS legislation and welfare-related clauses are integrated into insurance products, but significantly, they’re also becoming a greater part of recruitment and retention strategies. “Company paid schemes are securing skilled workers particularly for trades where there is such a shortage. Nonsalary benefits are becoming more and more important with pressures on wage costs, so health insurance schemes are emerging as a leading retaining tool,” he says. According to Fitzgibbon, the provision of health insurance is quite unique in Australia, particularly compared to America.

“In Australia, the bulk of health insurance is bought by individuals (retail) whereas in the US around 70 per cent of health insurance is provided by employers,” he says. “Employers have recognised that incorporating health insurance into an employment package can be an important offer in attracting and retaining employees, particularly when there are skilled worker shortages. “We are not there to do the OHS management for the company. However, through our relationship with Kinetic Health we are certainly there to help companies better manage their occupational health [responsibilities].” “The first advantage we believe will be our excellent customer service and understanding of the migrant worker insurance industry. And for domestic employees we have launched a range of products for company paid schemes.”

Attracting, retaining and engaging labour in the resources sector can be challenging Frontier Software provides the tools to ease the burden, ensuring you have more time to execute workforce initiatives and focus on the projects that deliver bottomline results. Ask us today how you can leverage your workforce investments with our award-winning HR, payroll and talent management solution. www.frontiersoftware.com.au

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| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

DIVERSITY

2012 Young Australian of the Year Marita Cheng is changing the way females view their capacity to contribute to engineering.

ROBOGALS

tackling the gender issue You don’t need to be a rocket scientist, or in this case an engineer, to realise the critical skills shortage in the resource industry is not helped by its male-dominated workforce culture. But if Marita Cheng is any indication, the next generation may swing this around. The problem is not to do with women not completing their engineering degrees; the problem is that there aren’t that many girls enrolled in the first place.

MARITA CHENG FOUNDER ROBOGALS.

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

SHE MAY STILL be a university student but 2012 Young Australian of the Year Marita Cheng is already on a mission to convince more young women to study engineering. “Only ten per cent of engineers are females, and we have this huge lack of engineers in Australia that is becoming quite problematic,” says Cheng. “The problem is not to do with women not completing their engineering degrees; the problem is that there aren’t that many girls enrolled in the first place. “Only 14 per cent of engineering students are female.” Cheng experienced this firsthand, being just one of five girls enrolled in an engineering degree at the University of Melbourne. However, rather than just sitting back and accepting this as another gloomy statistic, Cheng took action. In 2008, she launched Robogals, an organisation that encourages schoolgirls to undertake engineering degrees by bringing fun robotics activities to schools. “To get girls into engineering degrees, we go to schools with Lego robots and tell them what engineering is, as most school students don’t know,” says Cheng. “We explain that engineering is the practical application of science, to make the world better. Then we tell them about all the things engineers bring to the world, such as how they bring electricity every day, build new features for our cars and all our technologies, and make sure we have the resources to build buildings and build electronics and different systems. “We let them program the robots so that they get firsthand experience of what engineering is actually like and that things don’t always turn out right the first time. We tell them not to be afraid of failure or having your assumptions be wrong, and to always be curious and ask why that happened. “The girls really enjoy it – they really like the hands-on experience and the feeling of accomplishment that comes through achieving a real-world outcome,” says Cheng. Since Robogals was founded in 2008, approximately 3,000 schoolgirls across 80 schools in Australia have been

DIVERSITY

Female engineering students also really like the idea because they get to grow a network of their female engineering peers from around the country and that’s really powerful. MARITA CHENG.

educated about the benefits of engineering and the reach of the program is quickly expanding, now having over 20 chapters in six countries around the world. Cheng says demand for Robogals’ programs is very high – as is the enthusiasm. “I get heaps of emails every day from universities all around the world who want to setup this program. I think the universities really like the idea because this is an issue they’re really concerned about. It is true that we have a huge lack of engineers in Australia,” she says. “Female engineering students also really like the idea because they get to grow a network of their female engineering peers from around the country and that’s really powerful. The typical Robogals volunteer is very interested in having more females in the industry because they experience every day that there aren’t many females in engineering. “In terms of industry, we’ve had a very positive response to

Robogals so far. Industry likes the idea of us reaching out to young girls and tackling the issue from as early as possible. They also like that we have the attachment to universities for recruitment purposes,” says Cheng. To attract more women into engineering careers, Cheng suggests resource companies talk to female employees about what they desire in terms of career, lifestyle and family goals. “It all comes out of conversation,” says Cheng. “Companies need to be flexible in that regard if they want to attract diversity to their teams.” Cheng is currently working on a new curriculum for Robogals and encourages mining engineering companies to get in touch (robogals.org) to discuss how Robogals could involve mining engineering principles in its program. “We’re always looking for new companies to work with so if there are any mining companies who are interested in collaborating with us we’d love to hear from them.”

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| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

DIVERSITY

Fuelling the gender balance As the commercial and cultural benefits of gender diversity become more apparent in the resource industry, Marie Irwin is leading Caltex Australia’s mission to achieve a greater balance in leadership roles. She tells Resource People how. FOR MANY RESOURCE industry employers, the greatest gender disparities in their workforces are at the ‘coal face’; remote locations where onsite culture has historically seen women fall by the wayside. MARIE IRWIN But Caltex Australia has succeeded through a different approach, one that appreciates change can only occur by leading from the top. The fuel supplier and retailer has made instilling more women in leadership roles a key priority for the ongoing evolution of its workforce. While relatively new initiatives, such as the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA), began rolling out gender diversity strategies in 2011, Caltex recognised the need for change much earlier. “In April 2010, there was a heightened concern that we weren’t doing well in recruiting, promoting and retaining female workers at Caltex,” explains Marie Irwin, group manager for diversity and employee relations. “At the time, only 18 per cent of our departmental leaders were female. Conversely men made up 70 per cent of our workforce, but 82 per cent of our departmental leadership.” Despite recognising the challenge was ‘big’, Irwin says Caltex staff were keen to improve gender diversity in leadership positions and took a number of steps to do so. The initial stages of action included investigating gender diversity at other companies in the sector, facilitating discussions with current female managers at Caltex and conducting market research. “We held focus groups of women managers in our company, and this was the first opportunity they had to talk about what it was like to be a female leader in a male-dominated company, a blue collar environment or a heavy industry environment,” says Irwin. “We talked about their experiences and what we could to do make Caltex a better place for women leaders. The first of those was the Caltex Diversity Council, led by our chief executive officer Julian Segal.” Drawing on key findings from this qualitative and quantitative research, Caltex devised a proactive diversity strategy, encompassing a series of initiatives that focused on strengthening the presence of women in management roles. Explaining the thought-processes behind the focus on senior and middle managers, Irwin says it is about ‘driving it down throughout the company’. “Our view is that the more women leaders we have, the more women employees who aren’t yet leaders will understand www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

that’s something they can pursue,” she says. “We tried to ensure this wasn’t a human resources initiative; this was a leadership initiative from the top leaders of our company. “In addition, we also had female managers as members of the diversity council. To date, it’s the only forum at Caltex where we have gender balance, 50/50 male and female.” While the significance this initiative has on organisational culture can’t be underestimated, Irwin stresses the importance of creating specific success metrics to monitor how the strategy is playing out in the real world. She says some women were ‘a bit cynical’ about whether a movement to improve gender diversity would be followed through. “The most important thing we did was setup really rigours metrics for analysing and regularly reporting how many female new hires we were getting, how many women were attending interviews and how many women were being promoted,” says Irwin. “Now there is more trust that there will be follow-through and that we’ll tackle issues head on. The people who were cynical are now really interested in what they can do. They’re much more positive and interested in pursuing the opportunities we offer. “By the end of the year, 50 per cent of our management promotions had gone to women, something I am sure was a first for the company.” From here, it’s onwards and upwards for Irwin and Caltex’s movement to lead the industry in gender diversity. “Its early days but the consistent support of the board and senior leadership means that gender diversity has really taken a hold in the company,” she says.

Caltex Australia’s gender diversity at work.

DIVERSITY

LIFTING THE VOLUME of the untold stories The Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA) has secured the academic prowess of Dr Linley Lord, the country’s leading researcher into gender diversity in the resource industry. In her first column for Resource People, she speaks of the sector’s great untold stories. THE SKILLS AND labour shortages within the national resource industry have seen a growing focus on increasing both the attraction of women to a wide range of roles within the sector and on their long-term retention. While women are still largely under-represented within the industry, there have been great stories of success at both the organisational and personal levels. Such stories are often highlighted by events including AMMA’s Industry Awards and the annual ‘women in resources’ awards held by the respective state-based employer groups. Research undertaken at Cranfield University’s Centre for International Women Leaders demonstrates the importance of these women as great role models for all of us. It found a lack of role models is often seen as a key barrier to women’s career success and hearing these stories helps us to chart a path for our own careers and to see new possibilities. The organisational stories help to spread good practice and highlight new and innovative ways of addressing gender imbalance. However, there are a range of stories that also impact on the attraction and retention of women. These are untold stories – those not made public or only shared with a trusted few. They are stories of success and also of failure; stories that also need to be shared and provide a foundation upon which change can be built. They provide great insight into the challenges faced by women who are building their careers within the resource industry. I have been recently reminded of two such stories. The first story is that of the ‘ordinary’ women. That is, the women who aren’t likely to win awards but who achieve great things every day just to get to work. They are often balancing society’s expectations regarding the type of work they should be doing; managing childcare, sometimes as a single parent;

DR LINLEY LORD AWRA. and working in environments that remain hostile to the presence of women. Our own research at the Maureen Bickley Centre for Women in Leadership has shown that women working in non-traditional areas continue to experience harassment and discrimination in their workplaces. Women are juggling all this while negotiating career pathways that were designed for people who can give all to the job and who have support systems at home and in the organisation that are rarely available to women. The second story is the story of failure and what happens when the career opportunity you have been working for doesn’t work out. What does that mean for women especially when they are likely to have been highly visible? Research has consistently shown that women tend to be judged more harshly than their male counterparts for the same work or achievement, or lack of achievement. They also often carry the burden for all women in that if a woman doesn’t succeed it is interpreted by some that women aren’t suited to such roles, be that a management role or working in a non-traditional role. Rarely is the same argument used when men fail in a role. So the cost of failure is much higher for women. So what do stories such as these mean for attraction and retention? For me it means not only looking for and listening to the high-profile stories of success, but also looking for and listening to the quieter and often untold stories told by women about their experiences in organisations. Listening to and understanding the impact of the untold stories helps increase the understanding of the impact that such experiences can have on retention. The resource industry has recently taken great steps towards increasing the attraction and retention of women in its workforces – now is the time to listen to the untold stories.

Visit www.amma.org.au/awra and get in contact either via email awra@amma.org.au or phone 1800 186 840 for further information.

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

MIGRATION

MIGRANTS, MYTHS AND MISTRUTHS: The use of overseas workers in the resource industry

As mainstream media coverage continues to recount the myths and mistruths, Resource People talks to AMMA migration services manager Jules Pedrosa about the role migrant workers play in Australia’s mining, oil and gas projects. THE UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH occurring in Australia’s resource industry has brought many issues into focus, none more so than the use of migrant workers on large projects. While industry representative bodies argue skilled migration programs are a JULES necessary part of large-scale workforce PEDROSA strategies, resource employers often face public criticism and backlash from trade unions when engaging this option. As the demand for workers heats up, so too does the demand for specialist services that can provide practical and efficient solutions to the ever-increasing migration requirements of Australian employers in the resource industry. AMMA’s Migration Services is one avenue many resource employers are utilising for this purpose, with manager Jules Pedrosa explaining skilled migration programs are essential to filling a number of short-term skills gaps on large local projects. “Federal Government data highlights the 94 advanced projects in the onshore mining sector alone equate to $173.5 billion in capital value,” says Pedrosa. “Data from state governments suggests this figure will be surpassed and it’s not a bold statement to say the demand for skilled workers has exceeded the expectations of all industry stakeholders. “Temporary skilled migrants play a small but important role in assisting resource companies to get these large projects operating effectively, which in turn allows the economic, employment and wider community benefits from these projects to be realised.” Pedrosa says there are many ‘oversimplified, divisive and often misleading arguments’ being rolled out by trade unions and other political and community groups opposed to the use of skilled migrants. “It’s important that we in the industry continue to dispel such arguments so the true value of bringing in overseas workers can be better understood,” he says. Myth 1: The volume of 457 visas According to Pedrosa, one common misconception is that the resource industry is a significant user of temporary 457 visas. Department of Immigration and Citizenship figures show the mining industry accounted for just 7.6 per cent of the total number of 457 visas granted in 2010–11. The biggest users

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

were ‘health care and social assistance’; and the information media and telecommunications industries. “In reality, resource employers only rely on migrants to fill critical temporary skills gaps that at this stage are unable to be solved by local supply,” says Pedrosa, a registered migration agent. “To put the numbers into perspective, the wider resource industry is bracing itself for peak demand of 83,000 resource-related construction jobs by 2013, yet in 2011 just 3,650 temporary visa applications in mining were granted. “Various initiatives and policy settings are in place to fast-track the development of the Australian workforce to ensure the overwhelming majority of these new jobs will be filled by Australian workers.” Myth 2: The cost of skilled migration Trade unions have consistently called for the curbing of skilled migration programs, arguing ‘cheap labour’ represents a threat to Australian jobs. With this mistruth particularly damaging the public perception of migration in the resource industry, Pedrosa says it’s often much more expensive for Australian resource employers to engage temporary skilled migrants. He explains how onerous obligations on both employers and the visa holder can cause the costs and exertion of skilled migration to skyrocket. “Firstly, employers must ensure 457 visa workers are being paid the market rate and are receiving the same terms and conditions of their Australian counterparts,” he says. “Visa holders are also required to maintain private health insurance at the time of applying for the 457 visa – in many circumstances paid for by the sponsor. There are also costs for the employer to lodge an application with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to process and assess the application, regardless of the outcome.” The cliché ‘time is money’ is very relevant to the resource industry, where there are often short lead times into projects. Pedrosa argues the current 457 visa program is not responsive enough to deal with short lead times for many resource projects and therefore it is unviable to rely on large workforces of migrants to complete this work. “The bottom line is that it is not a cheap or easy option for resource employers to bring in overseas workers. This only occurs in small numbers when the supply from the local workforce cannot match the specific needs of a major project,” he says.

MIGRATION Myth 3: Migration is detrimental to Australia’s future Skilled migration is only a small component of the resource industry workforce, but Pedrosa believes its long-term benefits are often overlooked. He says employers in the industry are focused on up-skilling and supplementing the Australian workforce, rather than replacing it. “Any employer who applies for sponsored visas to bring in overseas workers must have a specific program in place for the up-skilling of Australian workers through apprenticeships, traineeships, graduate programs and other avenues designed to engage as many Australian jobseekers as they can,” says Pedrosa. “On the ground, this means thousands of extra Australians are being trained or skilled up in the resource industry as a direct result of the existing skilled migration program. “For a visa application to be granted, resource employers are required to make a strong commitment to providing training for Australian workers.” Pedrosa says this is just one example of how employers are required to spend a ‘significant amount of their payroll’ training Australian workers – a sensible approach supported by industry. He says the industry supports this approach as it makes sense from a commercial and future skills perspective.

“Furthermore, some of these highly skilled professionals have specifically been brought into Australia to pass on their experience and to help up-skill the local workforce for further job opportunities,” he says. Myth 4: Enterprise Migration Agreements (EMAs) mean large numbers of unskilled workers will be brought into the country. EMAs were introduced by the Federal Government for mega resource projects with a capital expenditure of $2 billion or more and a peak workforce of at least 1,500. At the time, it was estimated this would cover between 13–20 resource projects. The government and industry has however come under fire, with some organisations accusing both parties of allowing large numbers of semi-skilled migrants into the country. “The EMA concept was never about replacing Australian jobs with migrants,” says Pedrosa. “The high thresholds of capital value and employee numbers demonstrate that the very nature of EMAs is to be a last resort for a handful of our biggest projects only. “Given the limited number of projects EMAs apply to, and the commercial arguments outlined above, it is highly unlikely that EMAs will ever be widely used in the resource industry.”

To discuss any of the content in this article or to learn more about migration in the resource industry, please call 1800 627 771 or email migration@amma.org.au

R E S O U R C E I N D U S T RY E M P L O Y E R G R O U P

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

MIGRATION

Expats

BOOSTING Aussie skills

The often-held perception that migrant workers are less skilled than their Australian counterparts has been turned on its head with recent findings that most are tertiary educated and contribute valuably to the Australia’s workforce. IN ITS MIGRANTS help boost Australian skills report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has bucked the view that the Australian workforce is not benefiting from migrant workers. The report shows that in some cases migrant workers are more skilled than Australian-born workers, with two thirds of working-age migrants possessing academic or trade qualifications in 2010–2011, compared to just over half (56 per cent) of Australian-born workers. The resource industry has been countering negative publicity around skilled migration for years by arguing expatriates on Australian soil play an integral role in up-skilling the domestic workforce and providing ongoing local employment opportunities. Saxon Energy Services is a multinational drilling services provider to the oil and gas industry. The company’s Queensland operations will require around 400 new workers

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by the end of this year and Saxon Australia country manager Daniel Marcano says skilled migrants are vital to training Australian recruits. “Only around ten per cent of this new workforce will be covered by migration, and we only bring migrants in to fill the positions that require a certain level of skills and knowledge with operating our equipment to our procedures and standards,” says Marcano. “The situation in Australia is such that there is very little incentive for people to bring unskilled migrant workers if you don’t absolutely need to. “The most difficult positions to fill are the skilled supervisory positions from rig management to rigs attendance and also the maintenance supervisory types of positions – those people in charge of supervising the other workers.” To create more sustainable workforces of highly-skilled

MIGRATION

The situation in Australia is such that there is very little incentive for people to bring unskilled migrant workers if you don’t absolutely need to. DANIEL MARCANO.

people, Marcano says Saxon utilises its small percentage of migrant workers to train Australians to eventually take over their positions. “There is a lot of talent in Australia and our plan is always to train that talent so they can operate those positions that initially were filled by migrant workers and supervisors. For many semi-skilled positions we feel our time is better spent training Australians up to fill those positions rather than bringing people in,” he says. “To use the example of the three rigs that we operate for Santos in the Cooper Basin, those rigs originally had as many as 12 out of 80 positions filled by migrant supervisors at the start of our operations last year. “Today out of those 80 positions, only four are held by expats. They have all trained Australian supervisors to take up those positions, freeing those migrant supervisors to move

onto other operations in Australia and around the world.” Marcano believes another benefit of having multinational companies operate in Australia is to provide overseas opportunities for Australian workers. He says each worker trained in Australia, many by skilled migrants, will have the opportunity to use this skills on Saxon projects around the world. Saxon is just one of many examples of how the ABS’ findings are reflected in practice across the national resource industry. The research also found the level of working-age migrants who have completed a university degree has tripled in recent years, rising from 15 per cent in the early 1990s to 44 per cent in the last five years. When Australian employees were asked about the benefit of their highest qualification, more than one-quarter said it assisted them in joining the workforce and nine per cent said it assisted them in getting a promotion or pay rise.

Trade occupations assessed by VETASSESS

Countries where VETASSESS can conduct skills assessment

Automotive electrician Baker Bricklayer Cabinetmaker Carpenter Carpenter and Joiner Chef Cook Diesel Motor Mechanic Electrician Electrician (Special class) Fitter

America Republic of Ireland United Kingdom Brazil China Fiji India Papua New Guinea Philippines South Africa South Korea Sri Lanka

Fitter and Turner Joiner Metal Fabricator Metal Mechanist(First class) Motor Mechanic (General) Motorcycle Mechanic Panel Beater Pastrycook Sheetmetal worker Vehicle Painter Welder Civil Construction Mobile Plant

Thailand United Arab Emirates Vietnam Zimbabwe Other countries (by request)

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

INNOVATION

RIO GOES ROBOTIC Rio Tinto’s expansion of its Mine of the Future program has raised a few eyebrows among its workforce and community stakeholders. But as Resource People discovers, the investment in remote operated technology is not about cutting jobs, but driving innovation and creating new opportunities. THE ICONIC IMAGES of mammoth dump trucks filled with iron ore, coal and gold travelling across the barren Australian landscape has become etched in the identity of the national resource industry – but the operators for such vehicles may soon be 1,500 kilometres away. Led by an impressive fleet of driverless trucks, trains, drills and remote control equipment, there is no doubt Rio Tinto has accelerated into the future of mining. The new trucks have made headlines around the country, having been in use in Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron ore mines since the start of the year. Rio’s contract with Komatsu Limited for 150 vehicles signals a 15-fold expansion from the original plans for ten driverless trucks and the critics have been vocal. However as explained by Ruby Jeer, Rio’s senior advisor of branding and marketing – talent acquisition, the multi-national mining giant’s investment is not only reducing costs, increasing efficiency and improving health, safety and environmental performance; it’s also creating new employment opportunities. “There is no denying that the mining boom has led to shortages in the candidate market, making it more difficult for everyone to source a skilled workforce,” says Jeer. “We felt this was a prime opportunity for us to go out to market with something a little different. “The introduction of driverless trucks is to increase tonnage output as we grow and expand our operations, which may address labour shortages and many other challenges currently facing the resource industry. “The deployment of autonomous trucks across our Pilbara operations will be done over the course of the next few years, meaning we still require a skilled workforce and always will.” While Jeer has been busy recruiting the types of skilled labour required to operate this new technology, Rio Tinto head of innovation John McGagh has been pressing ahead with plans for the development and testing of new technologies in underground tunnelling and mineral recovery. “More mining is moving underground as deeper ore bodies are identified and open pits come to the end of their lives. Constructing underground mines can be technically challenging, expensive and a slow process,” says McGagh. “These trials mean we can test the technology to allow us to mine deeper and more safely, with the potential benefits of greater efficiency and speed of underground mine construction, which would increase the value of the projects.” McGagh says the full-scale rollout of automation of mine equipment and large-scale tests of tunnelling, mineral recovery and exploration technologies is ‘becoming a reality today’.

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The introduction of driverless trucks is to increase tonnage output as we grow and expand our operations, which may address labour shortages and many other challenges currently facing the resources industry. RUBY JEER.

Despite the skills shortage, he believes the opportunity to work with cutting-edge technology and in a variety of newly created positions will give Rio the edge over its competitors in attracting and retaining the best workers. “Rio Tinto is head and shoulders above the rest of the industry in our technology and innovation programs,” he says. “Being ahead of the pack gives Rio Tinto a competitive edge in the global mining landscape by generating more efficient and cost-competitive methods of finding, extracting and processing mineral resources, and providing new, engaging and diverse employment opportunities.” In the talent acquisition department, Jeer is already witnessing the evolution of many traditional mining positions into higher-skilled, technical jobs. Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron ore mining and infrastructure has been controlled remotely for the past 18 months from the Operations Centre in Perth. The centre has more than 400 employees overseeing and ensuring the synchronisation of the mine, rail and port systems in the Pilbara region. “This is about improving our operational and financial performance. Our growth plans mean there will be an array of opportunities available across the business,” says Jeer. “A range of new roles will be required to maintain and support the new technologies, not just for autonomous haulage, but also tunnelling and recovery. “It will see the introduction of new and exciting career opportunities for our people and anyone wishing to join Rio Tinto. An individual will now have the option of managing a fleet of autonomous trucks opposed to operating a specific onsite truck. “It will also create roles in locations that are more attractive for individuals and families, as site roles will now be based in the city.”

Driverless Smart-Trucks? Now thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Smart Move. Rio Tintoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mine of the Future programme, implements the latest technologies and processes to lead the revolution in a safer, cleaner and more efficient way to mine.

The Mine of the Future programme will introduce a fleet of new driverless trucks and remote controlled equipment that will create a vast array of career opportunities, many of which are world firsts. We are currently seeking enthusiastic professionals looking to lead exciting careers in the new age of high tech mining. Applications are now being taken for a variety of positions, to register your application visit www.mineofthefuture.com.au

INNOVATION

MODERN living for a happy workforce

The days where a miner bunked among sweaty work mates have long been replaced by new cosmopolitan villages where there is just as much a focus on rest as there is on work. VISIT A MINE site today and you’re likely to find a modern village infused with a sense of community and state-of-the-art facilities, ranging from ‘quit smoking’ programs and fitness classes, to Foxtel and massage clinics. The resource industry is becoming increasingly aware of the impact of the workplace on the health and wellbeing of employees and, coupled with the mining boom, this has inspired award-winning villages equipped with facilities that could show-up some small suburbs. This has led to greater expectations of facilities management companies,such as Sodexo, Morris Corporation and ESS Australia. After 25 years in the industry, former executive director of ESS Australia Paul Nugent believes one of the most significant changes to the expectations of modern village life is the quality of catering. After all, at the end of a long day a hearty meal can be the closest reminder of home. “Food used to be very basic even as recent as ten years ago,” says Nugent. “Now, we use our own in-house programs called Tastelife and Activelife to plan healthy meals for workers and provide them with information about what they are eating. “There is a lot of knowledge in the community now about food and eating well thanks to TV programs like My Kitchen Rules, and our workers are used to eating well at restaurants in Perth and at home on their days-off. “Food is graded according to its nutritional value. Workers are also presented with a reference table of what they should eat often, moderately or sometimes.” Nugent also notes that community participation is an important aspect of the Activelife program implemented in ESS villages. “Fly-in, fly-out workers have had a hard time in the media recently and we think it’s important that workers are encouraged to go out into the community on their rostered days off to network and mix with the locals,” says Nugent. Fiona Berkin, managing director of Morris Corporation, agrees. “I think it’s extremely important from a health and safety factor, and from a positive attitude factor, to help foster healthy

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

One of the latest ESS villages in Port Hedland.

working relationships for people to have a balanced lifestyle and sense of wellbeing, which is more achievable in a modern village environment,” says Berkin. “More innovative options that are beginning to become commonplace in villages are massage services onsite, aerobics and water aerobics classes, big theatres, espresso coffee and more upmarket retail outlets. “A lot of standard shift hours are ten hour days, especially in a production environment, and not always the twelve-hour-on twelve-hour-off roster, so people certainly have spare time that can be used to unwind.” Berkin says state-of-the-art village facilities can be an ace up a company’s sleeve when trying to attract potential employees amid tough competition for skilled labour. “There is more of a need in these situations to make sure the village is state-of-the-art to keep up with the needs of the residents and to ensure that the village doesn’t become too dated over its longer lifetime,” she says. “I really think we need to get the basics right and listen to the working communities we sustain and what’s important to them.” It was finding a community that suited his needs that led graduate mechanical engineer James Hicks to leave the comforts of Melbourne behind and relocate with his partner

INNOVATION More innovative options that are beginning to become commonplace in villages are massage services onsite, aerobics and water aerobics classes, big theatres, espresso coffee and more upmarket retail outlets. FIONA BERKIN.

Michelle Petrass to a company-run village, Roxby Downs. “We wanted to be part of the community where we lived and we wanted to live where we worked, so it wouldn’t have been appealing to us if there had not been a genuine sense of community and the vibrant atmosphere that exists here at Roxby,” says Hicks. “The money and the job alone wouldn’t be enough for me to want to leave my friends and family behind, and live in a village arrangement. It has to be part of a wider package so your life has overall balance.” “I really enjoy the social aspect of living here, and it’s been a great way to quickly build up a good network and support base with the people you work and live with. I was surprised at how modern the town is and how good the facilities are.” Hicks and his partner are an example of the increasing amount of couples living together onsite. “The number of couples working onsite is absolutely increasing and this is evident in the number of larger rooms with double beds onsite,” says Berkin. “Our clients are encouraging this because it provides more stability and security in their employment as well as increased tenure from employees.” Hicks agrees, explaining it was ‘a lot easier to make the move here with Michelle’. “It would have been challenging if she was back in Melbourne or didn’t have job security up here, and would have meant a lot more travel for us both, and the costs and relationship strains that come with that,” he says.

Desert Oasis

With more than half of Australia’s resource workers estimated to be living the fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) or drive-in, drive-out (DIDO) lifestyle, Sodexo Remote Sites Australia’s chief operating officer Gary Mickler sheds some light on working villages. How has onsite living for a FIFO/DIDO worker evolved? In the last twelve years there’s been enormous change, particularly to the type of facilities villages now have. The sizes of the rooms are much bigger and workers also enjoy flat screen televisions, stereo systems, king single beds and ensuites. The majority of villages also have WIFI access so workers can be in contact with their families all of the time. For companies to attract and retain strong workforces these days, they also need to offer a range of recreational facilities – you name it and they’ve pretty much got it. Are these new villages changing traditional perceptions about the resource industry? These days, it’s the norm for villages to be built to a certain standard. A lot of the new people we hire who have limited experience in this industry are pleasantly surprised with the village facilities. I believe many members of the public would also be amazed at how evolved these living and working conditions have become. Even some of the older villages that tend to be a bit smaller provide an excellent living environment with a great internal atmosphere and a close culture. How important is the standard of village life for a FIFO/DIDO worker? There may be up to 1,000 people living in any one village, so it’s important that people get along. The after-hours social activities make a big difference and I get a lot of feedback from workers saying they enjoy the amount of people they’ve met onsite. The village environment can improve workplace relations and intervillage relationships. We’ve taken on a few young people and after a couple of years their whole attitude towards life has changed immensely. Do resource companies see a direct benefit from improving onsite living standards? Absolutely. Our motto is to improve the quality of daily life. We work with our clients to improve the quality of life for workers and by doing that they improve their retention and attraction figures. These days, because the availability of workforce is tight, it’s important from a client’s perspective to get that part right. Aside from the great facilities, there have been other immense improvements in village life over the past ten years including safety standards.

The hospitality team at a Morris Corporation village.

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

INNOVATION

No crystal ball needed for Pit Crew’s Pete Labour market forecasting is emerging as one of the most important workforce planning tools in the resource sector. As explained by Peter Dyball it also has an important role in safeguarding the industry’s future. ENGINEER TURNED ENTREPRENEUR Peter Dyball doesn’t have a magic crystal ball, but he has witnessed and predicted major developments in the resource sector. None are quite as important as the current skills shortages that threaten to cripple new projects. As founder and managing director of Pit Crew Management Consultanting, Dyball says the prospect of projects being constrained due to a lack of skills and labour is the most significant risk to Australia’s resources future. Having analysed the labour needs for major projects and the industry as a whole, he believes labour and skill shortages are going to intensify over the next five years and industry, government and education providers all have a part to play in meeting this challenge. Dyball says there are several reasons for the skills shortage. “Firstly is that, in the 2005–2008, period while some companies were very aware of the impending shortage and took action, many other companies adopted more of a ‘watch and wait’ approach to the looming shortage,” he says. “Once they realised it was upon them it was too little, too late; and it hurt.” The other primary cause of the shortage, he says, is the increase in the unprecedented volume of approved resource projects. “The level of projects approved in the past twelve months has meant that the demand for resources is going to increase significantly in the short term,” says Dyball. “Even if there are not any additional projects approved, it will take two years for demand to increase and then subside to current levels. “Every stakeholder needs to understand in detail what is ahead. Having regular, accurate and up-to-date information identifying the skills in short supply, when and by how many is critical in meeting this challenge. “It’s not a ‘nice to have’ enhancement, it’s the fundamental element of our understanding upon which our risk mitigation strategies are based.” Established in 2004 by the former engineer and project manager, Dyball has grown Pit Crew from a single owneroperator business based from his home into a large consultancy firm based in Western Australia’s West Leederville. With clients including multi-national corporations, the company prepares analytical reports that provide subscribers with the capability to better understand the labour demand environment.

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“The reports analyse construction labour, engineering resources and operations resources on a five year look-ahead basis and detail which key skills will be in short supply, by how many and when,” says Dyball. “No other industry report in Australia provides this type of information in such detail.” So how does forecasting data allow companies to pre-emptively deal with skilled worker shortages? According to Dyball, forecasting provides insight into which skills will be in short supply, when and where. “From this insight, companies can develop strategies which include: process and plant design strategies which might reduce the requirement for site construction labour or operations resources, contracting strategies, training plans, workforce planning, recruitment and retention plans,” he says. “The underlying need is to understand the level and impact of the shortage.”

Once they realised [the skills shortage] was upon them it was too little, too late; and it hurt.

PETER DYBALL FOUNDER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR PIT CREW MANAGEMENT CONSULTING.

INNOVATION

THERE IS NO doubt that managing dust pollution is a major

Dusty lessons from ski slopes Italian technology firm TechnoAlpin may be the global leader in snow making machines, but its innovative dust suppression devices are promising to solve environmental problems for Australian miners.

environmental management issue for Australian miners. Dust emissions cost miners millions of dollars each year in management strategies, have a serious impact on surrounding communities and contribute to negative press about the mining industry. As unlikely as it may seem, the technology that could solve these problems can been found on ski slopes all over the world. TechnoAlpin has taken the concept from its innovative snow-misting machines and developed dust suppression devices that atomise water into a fine mist that is sprayed across wide areas through high-performance turbines. Director of Pro Air Solutions Thomas Peintner, who brands and imports the machines for use in Australian mines, says the high-tech turbines enable construction and mining companies to lower their carbon footprint and significantly reduce their impact on the environment. He says the ‘V series dust guns’ can reduce the amount of toxic materials being released by up to 70 per cent and cover the area of a football field without saturating the work environment. “Dust is a big problem. Not only is it very hazardous to health, it also complicates the actual working processes by worsening visibility, and damaging machinery and equipment,” says Peintner.

Many communities have indicated that they do not have a problem with coal mining as such, however are seeking solutions to ensure that the coal mining companies reduce the dust to protect their health. THOMAS PEINTNER. “To date, the preferred method for dust suppression has been a traditional water hose and sprinklers. However, it is very limited in what it can achieve, consumes a lot of water and cannot be controlled, often resulting in a wet and muddy worksite environment. “TechnoAlpin’s V series guns have been purpose developed to efficiently reduce dust in various types of applications including mining, quarries, demolition sites and recycling sites, potentially bringing real relief to Australians affected by the dust created by these industries.” Peintner says that many communities are now asking coal mining companies to reduce dust for health reasons. “Many communities have indicated that they do not have a problem with coal mining as such, however are seeking solutions to ensure that the coal mining companies reduce the dust to protect their health,” says Peintner. “With industries such as open cut coal mining on the increase, so too must be the focus on environmental management. This is a new and positive step for environmentally responsible companies.”

TechnoAplin’s V series dust gun in action.

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

LEADERSHIP

LESSONS from the sea With high stress, remote locations and cramped environments, the military is a prime example of effective people management – but Captain Allison Norris from the Royal Australian Navy says the resource sector isn’t all that different.

In my opinion, this is where the cultural shift needs to occur – in the minds of managers who believe that treating all staff the same is equality.

CAPTAIN ALLISON NORRIS ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY.

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WORKERS IN THE resource industry may not line up on command or salute their supervisors, but Captain Allison Norris compares her Australian Defence Force (ADF) role to being a manager on a mine site or oil rig. As the director of the ADF’s only 24/7 watch-keeping facility, Norris manages more than 60 staff across the Navy, Army and Air Force; of varying ages, backgrounds and experience levels. “I suspect that leaders in the Navy and in the resource sector face similar experiences in that they manage a workforce often expected to operate in remote locations, with limited communication,” says Norris. “A corollary of this is that employees are often isolated from their families, and other forms of support. Navy and resource sector personnel both operate in inherently dangerous environments. As such, a commanding officer in the Navy and a manager in a mining context, for example, have to achieve their organisational missions, but also keep their personnel safe.” Norris believes optimising both organisational and personal outcomes requires a tailored approach to managing individuals. Rather than a ‘one-size-fits-all’ attitude, which may not bring out the full potential of your people, she says managers must understand how to encourage the best performance from each individual to achieve the desired organisational outcomes. “In my opinion, this is where the cultural shift needs to occur – in the minds of managers who believe that treating all staff the same is equality. A manager needs to be aware of each individual staff member’s motivations and personal circumstances, and offer flexible work practices to accommodate them,” she says. “Be mindful, though, of knowing when there is the need to be direct – and if you need to make a decision, make it. “A manager’s personal style has a significant impact on workplace culture. We have a saying in the Navy that ‘a warship assumes the personality of the Commanding Officer’. “Members of a workplace look to their leader for guidance and example. They follow the lead of the manager and it has been my observation that subordinates adopt the behaviour enacted by their supervisors.” The concept of setting an example is one of utmost importance in the defence forces and Norris believes ‘respecting yourself and every team member’ instills mutual trust in the leadership relationship. “A positive workplace is conducive to team cohesion and motivation, achievement, high morale and staff retention. A negative workplace, on the other hand, leads to poor performance, disharmony, poor efficiency, low morale and high staff rotation.”

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

UP-SKILLING to conquer shortage When it comes to finding the right skills for the job, the fast moving SME segment of the resource industry has found success in one simple philosophy – if we can’t attract them, we’ll create them.

Both the government and industry are fostering new training and development prorgams, RTO courses and other initiatives designed to raise the skill levels of our current workforces.

BEVERLEY LONG RTO MANAGER AMMA.

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IT COULD BE argued the critical skills shortage weighs most heavily on small to medium-sized operators who often struggle to compete with the big players for the best people. As the lifeblood of the national resource industry, the industry and government is working together to ensure these employers are getting the assistance they need in up-skilling their workforces for the future. Doral Mineral Sands is one such medium-sized employer which has drawn upon Federal Government-funded training, delivered through employer group AMMA to ease the pressure on its recruitment processes. With Doral facing a lack of skilled workers to sustain the growth of its Western Australian operations, general manager Andrew Templeman explains how the company is producing the next generation of skilled leaders. “One of the biggest industry shortages is the leadership development for our next tier of leaders. This is about up-skilling workers to enable them to move into leadership roles,” says Templeman. “We certainly find that it is a lot easier to develop workers internally that have come through the system then to try and find [skilled workers] out in the workforce, where there is a real skills shortage. “Training gives them the skills to move from their current roles into potential management and leadership roles. “Those skills are always worthwhile developing. At Doral we’re up to the second module and the feedback we’ve had from our guys is very positive. They’ve all picked up something out of it and are really enjoying it.” Doral Mineral Sands was one of five successful applicants to receive funding through the Federal Government’s $200 million Critical Skills Investment Fund, which offered co-funding for projects that provide training and employment opportunities to meet demands in critical industry sectors. The training is being conducted by AMMA’s Registered Training Organisation (RTO) division, which regularly delivers a number of nationally-recognised qualifications tailored to the resource sector. AMMA RTO manager Beverley Long played an integral role in organising the training programs and says developing workers’ skills internally is the key for future-planning for many companies. “Due to the unprecedented level of investment into our resource industry and the number of projects coming online, the industry is anticipating a great influx of new positions that will at least equate to 85,000 new jobs by 2016. This jobs creation represents both great opportunities for Australia, but also great difficulties for our industry,” says Long. “There are several initiatives underway to meet this demand in the short-term, but the only way the industry is going to really sustain this growth is to focus on up-skilling the domestic workforce now. “As such, both the government and industry are fostering new training and development programs, RTO courses and other initiatives designed to raise the skill levels of our current workforces so they can train, supervise and lead the next generation of resources workers.”

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FINANCE

Resourcing your retirement It’s widely accepted that workers in the resource industry are the highest paid in the country – but that doesn’t mean they can afford to forget about superannuation. ACCORDING TO RESOURCE Super managing director Brett Wing, industry workers will need to be more diligent about effectively building retirement wealth savings once government superannuation reforms take effect on July 1 2012. The changes will see the $50,000 concessional (before-tax) contribution cap for people aged 50 and over halve to $25,000 if their fund balance is $500,000 or more. Wing says the overriding intention is to encourage workers to spread their super savings more evenly over their entire working lifespan, instead of looking to bolster superannuation balances later in life. “With the proposed changes, the Government is basically restricting how much money eligible people aged 50 and over can contribute to their superannuation fund,” says Wing. “This means workers of all ages need to be aware of what’s happening with their super and how to maximise their contributions spread over their entire working life. “It pays to be aware of what is happening within your fund and whether you want to top that up with salary sacrifices yourself, an attractive option for many operating in this sector whose incomes attract the top marginal tax rate of 46.5 per cent. “Concessional superannuation contributions are taxed at 15 per cent so there’s a strong tax saving there. It means you are actually planning for your future.” AMMA chief executive Steve Knott wrote to Federal Minister for Superannuation Bill Shorten earlier this year to ask the Federal Government to reconsider the changes to the concessional contribution limits. Knott says the move to penalise workers aged 50 and over, who have already built a strong retirement fund and wish to contribute up to $50,000 a year, is ‘particularly detrimental’. “In our view, these changes are a retrograde step and completely at odds with the government’s stated objective to improve superannuation benefits and retirement savings for workers,” says Knott. “AMMA is calling on the government to allow employees to top up their retirement savings to $50,000 without penalty if they are aged under 50, and to $100,000 if they are aged 50 and over and have less than $1 million in retirement savings.” While agreeing that many workers aged 50 and over are at a disadvantage, Wing says greater awareness of how to maximise retirement savings could see younger employees avoid the same problem. “Historically, people throughout their 30s and 40s have mortgages and their children’s education, and they tend to be less focused on their super. As they enter their 50s and 60s and begin to approach retirement, that’s when they want to focus on putting extra money into their funds,” says Wing. “During employer-sponsored information sessions, I am continuously surprised by some of the responses and the

www.amma.org.au |Winter 2012 |

intricate details understood by many audience members. But as a general rule, most workers do not understand just how important it is to put in place a strong strategy over the longevity of their working lives.” After more than 20 years in the financial services industry, Wing still explains superannuation as two basic components – employer-led and employee-initiated. “The first is what the employer is prepared to offer both in customising a product for their entire workforce and the individual member,” he says. “We work with the employer as a starting point to help them build value around the minimum nine per cent mandatory superannuation contribution with programs structured to grow and protect the retirement wealth of their employees, while helping improve operational efficiency. “The second is empowering employees to become informed managers of their superannuation through providing greater transparency of their returns, understanding of how it all works and access to expert advice.”

With the proposed changes, the government is basically restricting how much money eligable people aged 50 and over can contribute to their superannuation fund.

BRETT WING MANAGING DIRECTOR RESOURCE SUPER.

FINANCE

DELOITTE’S TOP 10 MINING TRENDS FOR 2012 According to Deloitte Access Economics, social, economic and political trends are affecting the mining sector to an unprecedented extent, requiring mining companies to incorporate more complex scenarios in their strategic planning. 1. The cost of doing business With commodity prices surging, costs are going up across the board. 2. Commodity price chaos Have commodity prices been reset at a higher level or are we at the top of a bubble that’s about to burst? Making informed decisions in this uncertain environment requires a level of forecasting that many companies lack. 3. The battle to keep profits To maximise investor returns, companies must engage more consistently in financial modelling when choosing jurisdictions. 4. Heightened corporate social responsibility Mining companies will need to integrate risk-based corporate social responsibility strategies, and develop and track key performance indicators. 5. Labour pains There aren’t enough people to power projected resource growth and each year skill gap extends to a wider range of functions.

resourcesuper_advert_outlined.indd 1

6. Capital project quandaries Mining companies must focus on managing risks that could interfere with their ability to meet production objectives. 7. Non-traditional financing Despite the cash companies have, finding sufficient capital to fuel growth remains difficult. It is critical for companies to build the relationships required to gain access and insights to foreign markets. 8. The big get bigger Dwindling access to deposits, deteriorating grades, spiking global demand and lofty commodity prices have heightened mining companies’ appetite for geographic and economic risk. 9. Volatility is the new stability Preparing for unanticipated surprises is likely to require more of a creative licence than mining companies are accustomed to exercising. 10. Tough regulations Worldwide, regulatory initiatives increasingly focus on the mining industry, heightening the need for mining companies to review their regulatory compliance procedures.

12/04/12 2:17 PM

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

EVENTS

CALENDAR JUNE Thursday 7 – Friday 8 Mine Invest Summit encourages networking amongst mining company executives, bankers, brokers and investors, Pan Pacific Hotel, Perth. More info at: www.mine-invest.com Tuesday 12 – Wednesday 13 Mining Procurement & Supply 2012, Rendezvous Hotel, Perth. More info at: www.miningprocurement.com.au Wednesday 20 – Thursday 21 The 2012 Surat Basin Energy & Mining Expo facilitates business between key decision makers and buyers from the growing Surat Basin, Toowoomba Showgrounds, Toowoomba. More info at: www.suratbasinexpo.com.au Thursday 28 The AMMA Training & Development Conference is the resource industry’s most comprehensive and specialised event for all T&D requirements, TBC, Brisbane. More info at: www.amma.org.au

JULY Tuesday 3 – Thursday 5 Create safer underground mine sites and understand recent legislation at Mine Ventilation 2012, Royal on the Park, Brisbane. More info at: www.mineventilationqld.com.au Wednesday 18 – Wednesday 25 AMMA’s Regional Breakfast Member Forum allows networking and discussion of topical issues relevant to various geographic areas, multiple regional locations. More info at: www.amma.org.au Monday 30 July – Wednesday 1 August The Australian Industrial Relations Summit 2012 will explore effective workplace functioning and successful management techniques, Sir Stamford Plaza, Melbourne. More info at: www.akolade.com.au

AUGUST Thursday 2 AMMA’s August Fresh Thinking Workshop is the most innovative and interactive workshop available for all ‘people’ professionals, venues TBC, Brisbane and Melbourne. More info at: www.amma.org.au Sunday 5 – Friday 10 International Geological Congress, Unearthing our Past and Future, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane. More info at: www.34igc.org

www.amma.org.au | Winter 2012 |

Migration Conference 2012 FOLLOWING A SUCCESSFUL inaugural event last year, the AMMA Migration Conference has returned in 2012 with a bolstered list of high-profile speakers and a comprehensive range of issues, challenges and opportunities up for discussion. As sourcing skilled labour from overseas proves an integral strategy to fulfilling current and forecasted skills shortages, AMMA Migration Services is proactively assisting members in all their migration needs, ensuring compliance with the Migration Act. The two separate one-day conferences, in Perth and Brisbane, are devoted to skilled migration issues and will feature top quality keynote speakers including the Minister for Immigration & Citizenship Chris Bowen (Brisbane), and leading migration academic Dr Susanne Bahn from Edith Cowan University (Perth). This much-anticipated industry event will cover: • Government policies and plans in the skilled migration area; • The latest developments in temporary skilled migration visas; • Employer experiences with skilled migration; • Panel sessions on the needs and equal treatment of overseas skilled workers ; • The implications for Australia of not having sufficient skilled labour; and • The English language testing requirements. “The annual AMMA Migration Conference consistently assembles people in their field of expertise to share their knowledge and views on present and future trends,” says Mal Hallman, MMG’s general manager, HR. AMMA’s Brisbane Migration Conference is being held at Stamford Plaza, July 2. The Perth Migration Conference is being held at the Perth Convention and Entertainment Centre, July 9. For more information, visit www.amma.org.au

Friday 6 – Sunday 8 Diggers and Dealers will showcase an exhibition and presentations from ASX-listed resource companies, The Goldfields Arts Centre, Kalgoorlie. More info at: www.diggersndealers.com.au Tuesday 7 – Thursday 9 Perth Safety Conference 2012 provides a wide range of safety solutions, Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, Perth. More info at: www.wasafetyshow.com Sunday 8 2012 SkillsDMC National Conference enhances understanding of the economic and labour market challenges, The Westin Hotel, Sydney. More info at: www.skillsdmcconference.com.au

POLICY

Policy at a glance AMMA’s policy development and lobbying activities delivers effective workforce outcomes for its members and the entire resource industry. In each edition of Resource People, AMMA’s executive director of industry Minna Knight will provide this update on key cases involving AMMA, its members and/or impacts on the industry. Fair Work review The two-yearly review of the Fair Work Act is currently underway and is being conducted by a three-member review panel. Parties have lodged their written submissions to the review, and key stakeholders including AMMA have met with the review panel face-to-face to give further evidence to support written submissions. The panel will make its recommendations to the Federal Government by 31 May 2012 but it remains to be seen whether any legislative change will occur.

already have more than $500,000 in their retirement savings. The government is expected to announce further changes over the next two months. OHS Harmony The harmonisation of state workers’ compensation laws is expected to gather pace in the next 12 months, with policy recommendations due to be subject to widespread public consultation in 2013.

Construction laws New laws have been passed that, once they take effect, will impact on employers in the resource and construction industries. The new laws will make it more difficult for the building industry inspectorate to compel people to attend interviews to help with its investigations. They will also curtail the inspectorate’s ability to prosecute unlawful industrial action in the event that the other parties to the unlawful action reach a private settlement. FIFO Inquiry A House of Representatives inquiry is currently underway looking into issues associated with fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workplace arrangements, which are common in the resource industry and an important part of ensuring remote worksites can attract the necessary staff. The committee will meet with key stakeholders, including AMMA, up until June 2012 and then make its recommendations. Recommendations could include whether extra government funding is needed to help support regional communities, plus the sorts of incentives that could be offered to workers to entice them to relocate to remote areas for work. Sham contracting The new building industry inspectorate will shortly embark on further research into the issue of sham contracting in the building and construction industry, continuing the work of an Australian Building & Construction Commission inquiry that began in 2010. The aim of the research is to identify the extent of the alleged problem of employment arrangements in the industry being disguised as independent contracting arrangements.

MINNA KNIGHT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF INDUSTRY AMMA.

Super changes Taking effect on 1 July 2012 are changes to the tax treatment of superannuation contributions that will affect some workers and employers in the resource industry. The changes will reduce the level of superannuation contributions that can be made by workers aged 50 and over (and their employers) if workers

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

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www.amma.org.au |Winter 2012 |

BUSINESS PARTNER DIRECTORY

| Winter 2012 | www.amma.org.au

BUSINESS PARTNER DIRECTORY

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