“This reconciliation process brought
about the first step change in absentee
management and the initial project reduced
our leave liability by more than $1 million.”
Recent research has shown how such
workplace inefficiencies can end up
damaging overall business performance
and competitiveness.
In its 2014 report
Mining for Efficiency
,
PricewaterhouseCoopers found the global
mining industry’s open cut equipment
productivity has declined by 20 per cent
over the past seven years. In Australia,
mining equipment runs at lower annual
outputs than most of its global competitors.
PwC found equipment productivity
was heavily dependent on whether there
were clear and strategic work practices
to follow, and this could deliver better
output improvements than investing in
higher rated pieces of equipment.
As with most resource employers,
management and leave recording falls
largely with Newmont’s onsite supervisors.
“At Boddington it is not unusual to have
up to 55 employees to one supervisor
per crew. Expecting that supervisor to
keep track of all planned and unplanned
absences was unrealistic without an
efficient system in place,” Crowe says.
With the help of colleagues at
Newmont’s headquarters in the United
States, a new electronic ‘leave marker’
tool was created and is now being piloted
with four supervisors and their teams.
Crowe is already seeing improvements
in supervisors’ management capabilities.
“If somebody has not arrived for their
shift, the supervisor will simply put a flag
in the leave marker system,” she says.
“That marker remains in place until the
employee accounts for the absence and at
any given time, we can print a report and see
if the absence has not been followed up on.
“So it puts the onus back on the
individual and deals with live data which
helps us to reduce no-operator standbys
and avoid other inefficiencies such as
overpayment of wages.
“Aside from improving HR practices, I’m
confident the supervisors will be better
equipped to drive cultural change and
greater employee engagement. It has the
capability to extend to other Newmont
sites if required.”
Driving efficiency across everyday
workplace processes may seem minor
in isolation, but the impact on wider
productivity improvements in a cost-
competitive environment cannot be
underestimated and will surely help
determine which resource companies
remain leaders.
Newmont’s new tool to tackle
absenteeism will assist greatly in keeping
the gold producer at the top of its game.
RP
This reconciliation process
brought about the first
step change in absentee
management and the initial
project reduced our leave
liability by over $1 million.
RESOURCE
PEOPLE
SUMMER 2014-15
|
|
HUMAN RESOURCES
11
