AngloGold Ashanti and people
Podcast
Steve Rickman,
Senior Vice President –Business Effectiveness,
AngloGold Ashanti
“The essence of SP is simple – it’s about enabling each and every person in the business to work to their full potential. Not only do we need to place the right people in the right roles but we also need to make sure that they are engaged in and value the work that they are doing.”
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We aim to realise one of our core principles – that ‘People are the business’ – through implementation of the System for People (SP). In terms of this principle, we aspire to provide leadership and managerial processes to establish a culture of accountability and trust in which each individual is able and willing to work to his or her full potential.
Transformation and diversity
Considerations of transformation and employee diversity provide context for the implementation of the SP in each region and at each operation and reflect the way in which we deal with the wellbeing of our employees and the communities in which they live.
The company’s transformation strategy and policy, approved by the board in November 2010, rests on its values: ‘We treat each other with dignity and respect’ and ‘We value diversity’ and on our commitment ‘To leave the communities in which we operate better off for our having been there’.
The purpose of the transformation policy and strategy is to translate these values into the way we do business globally, extending our focus beyond South Africa, and beyond pure legislative compliance. They outline a framework within which every region and operation will set its own strategies, structures and policies, taking into account the challenges faced locally, while meeting our corporate standards.
Employees by region of operation
for the year ended 31 December 2010
The SP implementation process
Our business objectives can only be met through a workforce that is capable, accountable and engaged, and where each employee is able to undertake the right work at the right time in order to deliver consistently on the objectives of the business. The SP enables a structured, common approach for people to work together to support long-term business improvements. It has three objectives:
- Creating the right organisation design: a structure where work is undertaken at the correct level, and where the accountability and authority of a particular role clearly contributes towards achieving business objectives. Our organisational structure places priority on operational leadership, with functional roles acting in support of operations through effective cross-functional working relationships.
- Ensuring we have the right people in the right roles: the continual matching of employee capability to role complexity, which is necessary for meeting immediate and future business needs in line with employee career development plans.
- Developing effective working relationships: ensuring that employees across the organisation work together effectively, whatever the differences in their internal and external working environments. Effective working relationships are facilitated when employees’ behaviour and actions are in accordance with the managerial leadership practices and the company’s values.
Technical design of the SP was completed in 2009, and we are currently engaged in its implementation. Our approach to the implementation is that it should be:
- undertaken in a top-down manner;
- inclusive of, and engaging with all employees as far as this is possible;
- undertaken within the respective managerial accountability hierarchies; and
- continually reinforced, until it becomes second nature within the business.
In our 2009 report, we committed to continuing the roll out of the SP, and undertaking a global values survey. Significant progress was made during the year with the development of a new delivery framework for the SP that clearly defines corporate and regional roles in the implementation process. A corporate team was established to be accountable for the process of designing and developing the SP material to be implemented throughout the company. Regional human resources teams have been charged with planning, scheduling and resourcing activation of the programme in consultation with line management.
The global values survey, designed to offer all AngloGold Ashanti employees an opportunity to participate in the identification of value-based behaviours and to gauge employee engagement, was completed during the year. We aim to review our organisational mission, vision and values at regular intervals and maintain their relevance in our constantly-changing environment. The surveys are currently being analysed for trends and conclusions, and the results, which will be integrated with other business processes and communications, will be fed back into the business early in 2011.
In 2010, progress was made on understanding the linkage between the SP and the BPF. The harmonisation of these processes will continue during 2011 under Project ONE. Also of importance for 2011 is the design of appropriate mechanisms to engage employees in the implementation of the BPF and the SP.
Ghana
The workshop team at Iduapriem: a key objective of the SP is developing effective working relationships