First choice in all things
30 September 2010
 More than 100 years of service to the mining industry has established Murray & Roberts Cementation as the undisputed leader as first-choice underground mining contractor in Africa, being the predominant operator in shaft sinking, contract mining and raisedrilling and shaft-boring technology and services.
An expert team in the four core divisions at Murray & Roberts Cementation, encompassing mine engineering, mine development, contract mining and mine services offers the industry an unparalleled treasury of industry knowledge, skills and experience in mine project delivery, from concept to commissioning.
“We have consciously built on our reputation as the first choice for our customers,” Allan Widlake, business development executive of Murray & Roberts Cementation, says. “Consequently we have developed a comprehensive range of capabilities and services which cover the full spectrum of the mining value chain for underground mine development and contracting services. Backed by an emphasis on safety, quality and outstanding customer service, the natural synergy between our four core divisions provides customers with a solution to any conceivable mining-related need in a proactive manner to guarantee timely delivery of quality projects.”
The concept of “first choice” has now been extended internally, as Murray & Roberts Cementation reaffirms its position as employer of choice, attracting high-calibre employees and creating an environment of choice, where employees can fulfil their potential.
“This policy has led to the development of our ‘1st Choice’ programme,” Widlake explains. “One of the first steps in becoming a first choice for existing and aspiring employees is to maximise opportunities for open communication and engagement,” he continues. “An interesting aspect of the campaign to improve employee engagement and to create smooth channels of communication is that safety awareness and adherence as well as productivity have benefited!”
The programme will trigger a culture change in which all employees are encouraged to participate, contributing their ideas and wishes to create their ideal working environment where the behaviours they favour are respected and rewarded, and those they frown on eliminated.
“The most important factor is that this behaviour code is not something imposed from external sources, but one that has grown from within,” Widlake explains. The initiative has been greeted warmly by both NUM and Solidarity who are giving it their full support.
Employees were invited to fill in questionnaires, using intuition and gut feel, to highlight the type of behaviours they would like to see in the company as well as those they wanted to see eradicated. So the process hinges on reinforcing and multiplying positive behaviours and eliminating the negative behaviours.
The first step in the campaign resulted in a wide range of comments which, in a second step, were categorised under common issues. “The selection set out some 40 ‘above-the-line’ behaviours (enablers) and a similar number of ‘below-the-line’ behaviours (disablers),” Widlake continues.
The third step in the process saw employees being invited to select 20 enablers and 20 disablers to reduce the number of issues. A further selection brought this number down to 10 above- and 10 below-the-line behaviours. These then formed the broad framework for the new behaviour code.
The fifth and final step will be the comprehensive process of communicating this code throughout the organisation and then institutionalising it. “We want all our employees to have an in-depth grasp of exactly what these behaviours mean practically within their own personal environment,” Widlake says. “Thus, over time, each individual will assimilate them in the course of working so that they become a natural and spontaneous way of operating.”
The behaviour code itself will be represented symbolically using pictures and artwork which are already an integral part of the mining industry which is rich in symbols and pictures because of the high illiteracy levels. “This will also facilitate the process of getting the message across,” Widlake points out.
The ‘1st Choice’ campaign is incorporated within Murray & Roberts Cementation’s safety approach and its existing “Stop. Think” safety programme, which is an integral part of all Murray & Roberts companies.
“‘1st Choice’ will form part of the induction programme for all new employees, because we are completely committed to this culture change. We will use the behaviour code where necessary to assess people for certain jobs where these characteristic values and behaviours are a factor in terms of job requirements,” he adds.
To ensure that it is sustainable, measurements will be taken four times a year in terms of compliance and adherence to the code, right down to team level.
“We are confident that the ‘1st Choice’ campaign will enable us to create an exceptional working environment that engages, empowers, enables, encourages and motivates people. They will realise that they too are our ‘1st Choice’ and in turn, this will help to establish us as the ‘Best choice’ in selecting a company to work for.”
Contact Details:
Allan Widlake, business development director
Murray & Roberts Cementation South Africa
Private Bag 3010
Bedfordview,
2008
Tel: +27 11 201-5000
Email: allan.widlake@murrob.com |
