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Improving Retention in the Mineral Resources Workforce

Improving retention is a key aspect of growing a qualified mineral resources workforce. For the workshop’s final session, Priscilla Nelson, Colorado School of Mines, moderated a panel discussion about strategies for addressing workplace culture, increasing opportunities for advancement, and implementing worker support systems to improve employee retention in the mining industry.

IMPROVING RETENTION AMONG WOMEN

Ashley Chancellor, Women in Mining USA, shared how her organization works to improve retention in the mining industry, especially among women. Women in Mining has existed for more than 50 years, with the first chapter founded in Denver, Colorado, in 1973. The organization focuses on educating people about the misconceptions of extractive industries and empowering workers to leverage professional development and networking to advance their careers within the mining industry. They also work to inspire future generations of mining industry workers by helping to honor its history while advocating for a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive industry. The organization has eight professional chapters and eight student chapters, with about 1,300 individual members total. It also has about 50 corporate members and is working to establish a new student chapter at Virginia Tech, along with new professional chapters in New York, the Carolinas, Wyoming, New Mexico, and South Dakota.

This year the organization launched a mentorship network, and 300 mentors and mentees have already signed up. Mentees can select from a variety of mentors to help them with various issues such as professional development, conflict resolution, or career progression. In addition, the organization’s Leadership Lab offers classes focused on professional development and social skills, covering topics such as conflict resolution, building teams, and career advocacy. Another new initiative is a 4-hour, self-paced course on building a gender-inclusive company, which aims to foster understanding in companies or portions of the industry that have not yet built their own diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

In partnership with the Bradshaw Institute of Minerals and Mining, Women in Mining also developed a micro certificate in economic leadership in mining that is offered at the University of British Columbia; Chancellor noted that members of the organization can receive full scholarships for this program, which has successfully brought many women into the program.

Finally, the organization worked with the International Women in Mining Alliance to identify seven areas of focus for companies seeking to make their workplaces more inclusive for women. These areas include considerations around technology and automation, shift design and remote work, safety and equipment, family leave and childcare, changing rooms and toilets, women’s health, and mental health. For example, through their recent alliance agreement with the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the organization has advocated for having personal protective equipment available that fits people of all sizes and genders, regardless of body type and ability, so that everyone can be safe and comfortable in their workspace.

ADDRESSING RETENTION CHALLENGES

Beatrice Opoku-Asare, AngloGold Ashanti, discussed the importance of focusing on worker retention and factors that can influence whether workers stay or leave a company or industry. AngloGold Ashanti has eight mines across the world, which are mostly gold and copper deposits, and a large project being developed in Nevada. Noting that people can opt out of a given field at any point in time, Opoku-Asare described how AngloGold Ashanti has worked to address the challenge of worker attrition.

“One of the biggest predictors of attrition is the experiences that people are having,” Opoku-Asare said. Based on this insight, the company embarked on a multiyear effort focused on understanding and improving its workplace culture. To do this, it conducted a culture assessment and talked to employees to help prioritize efforts. This led the company to refresh its statement of values in support of creating a culture that focuses on employee experiences. Opoku-Asare said that an important part of the effort’s success was that company leaders were active participants and willing to show vulnerability.

Opoku-Asare said that within the mining industry most benefits and reward packages are the same, but the culture and day-to-day employee experiences are what makes each company unique. AngloGold Ashanti is investing heavily in coaching, assessments, and other programs aimed at equipping leaders to model the types of behaviors that make for a workplace that workers will enjoy. She noted that the types of workplace experiences that workers want can vary depending on where someone is in their career. For example, money may be the top priority for a person early in their career, but those who have been working longer may be more interested in flexibility or feeling that their work is meaningful. The company’s leaders have quarterly conversations with their teams to understand what is important to them at that time, allowing them to work proactively to meet employees’ needs instead of waiting for someone to resign before addressing a problem.

Opoku-Asare also highlighted how the company is working to address sexual harassment, which she said is a complex experience that is not just about responding to what is reported but also about managing the traumatic experience. In addition, she said the company is working to improve inclusion, diversity, and equity across their global company by addressing the unique cultural challenges of each location. They also use monetary incentives and other benefits such as coaching to encourage retention among workers with critical or hard-to-replace roles.

INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY IN MINING

Irene Schlechter, BHP, described how her company has sought to improve inclusion and diversity among its workforce. BHP is a large Australian mining company that also has a presence in Canada, Chile, and several other countries in Latin America through joint ventures. In 2016, the company’s CEO declared the goal of achieving gender balance across the organization. At that time, women represented about 9 percent of the company, about on par with the industry as a whole. By 2023, that had grown to 40.4 percent. “We are so proud of this achievement,” said Schlechter, adding that female representation has grown substantially across the company, including in leadership positions.

What drove this change? Schlechter said that having the right infrastructure, having frequent conversations about why it was important to achieve gender balance, and building the inclusive leadership skills were all key; she also said that it required creating psychological safety and respectful environments in the workplace. As part of this effort, the company started conducting exit interviews and focus groups to understand why some women left the company and how to better foster a sense of belonging within the organization.

The company’s retention plan incorporates three key components: career development, inclusive leadership, and work–life balance. In contrast to a traditional corporate-ladder style pathway, Schlechter noted that career development in the mining field often offers possibilities of a lateral path, in which talent move among different areas within the operation and may move back and forth between corporate offices and remote sites. She said it is important that this dynamic be explicitly communicated as a learning opportunity to both mentors and workers. For cultivating inclusive leadership, she said it is important to consider how the leader makes decisions to ensure equity and how he or she creates psychological safety for people to speak up if they feel uncomfortable. At BHP, all employees go through active bystander training, which teaches them how to identify and respond to situations where inappropriate, harmful, or unethical behavior is occurring. In terms of work–life balance, Schlechter said it is important to recognize that working arrangements need to be customized to each person. For example, while working far from home for 4 days and going home for 3 days may work well for some, mothers returning to work after maternity may find

Changes in Leadership

Leadership changes due to mergers and acquisitions can often lead to attrition. To retain workers during these transitions, Schlechter emphasized that communication with the leaders who are coming in is key to understanding their expectations and the company’s culture. Opoku-Asare added that in general, the industry does not have a good track record of smoothly implementing mergers and acquisitions in ways that attend to the affected workers. “We can do a better job . . . in terms of trying to not just retain talent, but to actually retain knowledge, lessons, and experiences,” she said.

Thinking Creatively

Panelists considered ways universities could contribute to instilling values and norms in mining. Chancellor suggested challenging students to think outside of the box—not just about how to build a better mine, for instance, but also how to engineer facilities to better support workers’ needs, such as including places for nursing mothers to use while at work.

Opoku-Asare added that cultivating self-awareness is the foundation for building emotional intelligence. She suggested implementing job shadowing, which provides many of the same experiences as an internship but is less expensive. She also suggested developing training programs designed for particular groups of workers, such as people moving into mining from other sectors or workers who seek to reengage at field sites after taking time away from those environments to work closer to home while raising a family.