Exxaro Resource limited Report Selector 2018
Currently viewing Supplementary Report 2018
Currently viewing Supplementary Report 2018
Exxaro Resources Limited Supplementary Report
Highlights |
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Re-imagining the learning environment through an engaged learning experience |
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Offering new learning for a smart workforce |
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Grants income R45 million |
Lowlights |
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Low interest of employees in adult education and training (AET) |
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Our people are our greatest source of value and Exxaro's regular inclusion in various top-employer rankings illustrates the depth of our commitment to enriching their lives. Supported by the leading practices developed in recent years, Exxaro concentrates on exceeding compliance targets in South Africa through training and development to optimise individual potential, maximise equality and safety in the workplace, meet our employment equity targets and improve living standards in our stakeholder communities. Collectively, our initiatives contribute to reducing the shortage of skills in our industry, although the dearth of specific skills in South Africa remains a particular challenge. A mining sector-specific and national plan aim to address critical or scarce competencies. As such, attracting, developing and retaining these skills is a priority for Exxaro as a mining company, and a competitive advantage. This is the driving force behind our feeder schemes, currently benefiting 1 013 people. Specific strategies ensure the accelerated learning and development of black people, women and people living with disabilities, including:
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Given the importance of skills in our industry, we endeavour to invest an appropriate amount of total salaries and wages each year on developing our people. In 2018, we spent R260 million on training, or 6.3% of payroll (2017: 6.2% or R224 million), including:
We encourage our people to take responsibility for managing their career growth. We provide financial assistance to permanent employees with potential to further their education through part-time studies of recognised, approved courses. When we nominate people to attend programmes, these are fully sponsored (tuition, examinations, travel, accommodation and study leave).
Skills and human resources development
| Rm | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | ||
| Total training | 260 | 224 | 178 | 184 | 221 | 200 | 177 | ||
| HDSA training | 211 | 185 | 150 | 152 | 180 | 161 | 134 | ||
| HDSA training as % of total payroll | 5.1 | 5.1 | 4.5 | 5 | 6.8 | 6.5 | 5.5 |
Current and future skills requirements
To meet our skills requirements, we invest in our existing employees, future employees, and in the communities that provide our labour. At present, 100% of Exxaro's labour is sourced in South Africa. Our education, bursar and skills development initiatives are geared to empower local communities to compete for positions in the company.
Graduate programme
Our three-year professionals-in-training programme blends academic theory with the work environment. Each graduate has a mentor who supervises exposure to operational, leadership and management training on the job. Mentors also assist with registration requirements for relevant governing bodies and professional associations. In 2018, there were 75 professionals in training (2017: 61) across Exxaro in a R29.3 million programme. Of these interns, 29% are black women and 67% are black people, and over 73% were placed throughout the group after completing their programme. The remaining participants were retained for placement as and when vacancies open.
Bursary programme
There are currently 59 bursars studying at South African institutions at a cost of R4.5 million per annum: 75% are black South Africans and 25% are black women.
Exxaro awards bursaries to school leavers from our communities interested in technical disciplines such as engineering (metallurgical, chemical, mechanical, electrical, industrial, mining or civil), mine surveying and geology. These have been aligned with the five-year BEng programme from the University of Pretoria.
Training
Training and development initiatives across the group are based on a comprehensive needs analysis, incorporating business strategy, identified skills gaps, succession planning, employee career progression and employment equity plans.
We offer sponsored engineering learnerships at our acclaimed Grovos training centre in Lephalale. We also sponsor engineering and mining learnerships at Colliery Training College (CTC, where Exxaro is a shareholder) in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga. As part of our feeder schemes, we provide sponsored formal and practical training in core skills programmes including operators for plant, maintenance and mobile equipment.
Our Grootegeluk and Matla mines are accredited (Mining Qualifications Authority or MQA) training providers in selective mining and engineering disciplines. This enables our people to be trained, declared competent and obtain their MQA certification in-house.
Literacy and numeracy
Functional literacy is an important issue in an industry where communicating on safety is often in written form. All employees with qualifications below NQF level 1 are given the opportunity to become functionally literate. Candidates are screened and counselled to ensure informed decisions, and where employees complete training in their own time, there is an incentive scheme for each level completed.
Exxaro pays for voluntary adult education and training (AET) programmes at all operations, investing R1.7 million in 2018 (2017: R1.0 million). We have accredited AET training centres at Grootegeluk (partnership with external provider) and Matla, while accredited external providers are used by other business units.
In 2018, 52 employees, non-employees or people from our communities enrolled in AET programmes. Over 1 300 employees have passed one or more AET levels since the inception of this programme.
As 90% of our total workforce now holds a qualification of NQF level 1 and above, communication is more effective, particularly on safety issues.
Scholarships
In 2018, two medical students from our communities completed their studies on Exxaro scholarships. At the end of their academic programme, these students are expected to practise in communities where Exxaro operates for a specified period.
Talent management
Talent management remains the strategic priority for Exxaro as we believe our people are our greatest asset. Through well-defined talent management strategies that include strategic workforce planning, talent planning as well as learning and development, Exxaro ensures a healthy pipeline of talent for entry-level as well as specialist and leadership positions. Recruitment strategies are geared to provide a steady supply of competent individuals for vacant positions and aim to balance internal talent placements with sourcing talent externally while meeting transformational targets. The proportion of internal placements (including professionals-in-training and learners) in Exxaro in 2018 was 38% against a target of 60%. External recruitment is focused on meeting employment equity targets.
Developing future leaders is a critical pillar of our talent management strategy. Accordingly, we provide supervisory and leadership development from junior management to executive level.
In 2018, we trained 100 employees on the basic management programme, 70 on the first-line management programme and 26 on the middle management programme. In addition, 75 employees completed leadership programmes, 24 enrolled on the coaching programme and 34 on the mentorship programme. Leadership programmes are customised to include Exxaro's culture and values-based philosophy.
Employee engagement
In line with our 2026 strategy, Exxaro's culture journey is evolving through a change programme called Connect2Next. In this programme, all major shifts are aligned to ensure collaboration, share information, communicate effectively throughout the organisation, reduce duplicated effort while exploring opportunities for synergies in implementing the change programmes. Key elements include:
Connect2Next is creating opportunities with significant benefits, such as a mobile staff engagement platform (LetsConnect), integrated operations controls that provide real-time information to employees and assist in swifter decisions.
Prior to initiating our cultural transformation journey, we reviewed and aligned our organisational values, behaviours and culture themes. Our employees helped shape this process through representatives identified from the corporate centre as well as various business units. This was important to ensure that while we delivered business results, as
a company we remained truly committed to our purpose and core values. Our culture themes, which are a daily reflection of expected behaviours, are the simplest embodiment
of how our values should be depicted by staff members. This extends to all stakeholders in our business ecosystem.
In 2019, we will engage our workforce in launching the refreshed values, behaviours and culture themes to create alignment. In line with our strategy, we understand that we need to create a thriving environment for our employees that is conducive to achieving the desired performance levels.
Constructive engagement remains the cornerstone of our approach to organised labour. All our trade union engagement structures are functioning well as a vital conduit for managing issues. In addition, our employee relations strategy provides an effective framework for maintaining a healthy workplace climate.
Our policies and procedures are developed within the framework of relevant labour legislation, and employees are managed individually and collectively.
In total, 4 882 of our employees are represented by affiliated unions recognised by Exxaro subsidiaries: primarily National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity, Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), UASA (formerly United Association of South Africa), Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) and National Union of Metalworking of South Africa.
| Number of members | |
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We concentrate on maintaining sound relations with employees in bargaining units by engaging with their representatives. This is based on a pluralist approach to trade-union recognition through formal agreements. Negotiations for wages and conditions of employment are conducted through in-house forums and the Minerals Council.
In 2017, we concluded multiyear wage agreements for a number of subsidiaries. Agreements for Exxaro Coal, Exxaro Coal Mpumalanga and Ferroland Grondtrust are valid until June 2020. A two-year agreement concluded with AMCU at Coastal Coal is valid until June 2019, and negotiations will begin in May 2019. In 2018, FerroAlloys negotiations concluded a two-year agreement with NUMSA, valid until June 2020.
Our disciplinary codes are based on the principle of fairness as required by labour law, and our supervisors have the skill to implement the codes. A key focus for 2018 was to build employee relations' competency among all stakeholders to foster a healthy climate. Various skills workshops and training were conducted with employee relations managers and line leaders, confirming the commitment from all parties to build solid relationships.
In the absence of a revised mining charter in 2018, a new employee share ownership plan (ESOP) was not implemented. The remuneration committee, however, implemented
an interim cash scheme equivalent in value to a dividend payment was introduced. The base calculation used to determine the dividend payment is equal to 500 units (one unit representing one share) or less (depending on the employees' length of service). There is no other benefit except a value equal to a dividend payment.
Three payments were made in 2018, summarised below.
Dividend payments 2018
| Number of active participants |
Number of units |
Payment before tax |
Payment | ||
| Special cash dividend: 13 February 2018 of 1 255cps | 6 004 | 2 982 560 | R37 431 128 | R29 944 902 | |
| Final cash dividend: 6 March 2018 of 400cps | 6 019 | 2 984 320 | R11 937 280 | R9 549 824 | |
| Interim cash dividend: 14 August 2018 of 530cps | 6 037 | 2 952 900 | R15 650 370 | R12 520 296 |
A qualifying employee in service on all three payment dates received a total of R10 925 for 2018.
Thirteen years into our journey as one of the largest black-owned mining companies in South Africa, we continue to benefit from developing the skill levels of our workforce and enabling progress as the cornerstone of our commitment to meeting our transformation objectives. Employment equity is just one way to realise this commitment, supported by continuous diversity programmes and engagement at our business units.
Our employment equity strategy is founded on detailed plans developed by each business unit in consultation with its employees and unions. By following these plans, each unit ensures that recruitment and skills development are managed responsibly, advancing transformation without affecting existing positions. Each business unit has a dedicated assigned senior manager for employment equity, as well as an employment equity forum that is actively involved in developing, monitoring and communicating employment plans.
We have achieved our targets for the past five years. New targets for 2018 to 2022 have been set and are in line with the new mining charter promulgated in September 2018.
The breakdown of our annual employment equity reports, as submitted to the Department of Labour, is shown below.
Exxaro Resources targets December 2018
| Male | Female | Total | ||||||||
| Management category | % black male |
No | % black female |
No | % black | No | % HDP* target |
% HDP | No | |
| Top management | 33.3 | 1 | 33.3 | 1 | 67 | 2 | 50 | 67 | 2 | |
| Senior management | 34.7 | 32 | 7.6 | 7 | 42.4 | 39 | 60 | 47 | 42 | |
| Middle management | 34.2 | 213 | 17.2 | 107 | 51.4 | 320 | 60 | 65 | 368 | |
| Junior management | 49.1 | 1 172 | 17.4 | 415 | 66.5 | 1 587 | 70 | 74 | 1 672 | |
| People living with disabilities | 0.6 | 39 | 0.1 | 5 | 0.7 | 44 | 1.5 (entire workforce) |
0.8 | 54 | |
| *Historically disadvantaged person as per mining charter III. |
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Exxaro workforce by category and region
Our staff complement was 6 648 at 31 December 2018 (2017: 6 561), split into employees in bargaining units (82%) and the management and specialist category (18%).
| Bargaining unit | Management and specialist | ||||||||||
| Region | Male | % of workforce |
Female | % of workforce |
Total | Male | % of workforce |
Female | % of workforce |
Total | |
| Foreign | 47 | 0.71 | 1 | 0.02 | 48 | 8 | 0.12 | 2 | 0.03 | 10 | |
| Gauteng | 62 | 0.93 | 13 | 0.20 | 75 | 202 | 3.04 | 186 | 2.80 | 388 | |
| KZN | 37 | 0.56 | 16 | 0.24 | 53 | 3 | 0.05 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | |
| Limpopo | 2 260 | 34.00 | 576 | 8.66 | 2 836 | 382 | 5.75 | 101 | 1.52 | 483 | |
| Mpumalanga | 1 964 | 29.54 | 465 | 6.99 | 2 429 | 235 | 3.53 | 88 | 1.32 | 323 | |
| Grand total | 4 370 | 65.73 | 1 071 | 16.11 | 5 441 | 830 | 12.48 | 377 | 5.67 | 1 207 | |
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For 2018, Exxaro's average employee turnover rate was 5.1% (2017: 5.5%), due to death, resignation and dismissal. The turnover rate by employee group is shown below:
Breakdown of turnover by level
| Terminations January to December 2018 |
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| Number | % of workforce |
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| Top management | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Senior management | 7 | 0.11 | |
| Middle management | 63 | 0.95 | |
| Junior management/skilled | 203 | 3.05 | |
| Semi-skilled | 322 | 4.84 | |
| Unskilled | 24 | 0.36 | |
| Total | 619 | 9.31 | |
Our remuneration philosophy includes guaranteed and variable components. These are critical to attract, motivate and retain the high-performing and talented individuals required to build a sustainable business.
There is no discrimination between the salaries of men and women in the bargaining unit category as collective agreements determine specific guaranteed minimum salaries. In the management and specialist category, individual salaries are strictly based on contracted performance.
As an employer, Exxaro is firmly committed to the concept and practice of equal opportunity, irrespective of race, religion, gender, health status, sexual orientation or nationality.
Our corporate values guide the way we do business, and discrimination on any grounds is not acceptable. Managers and supervisors are continuously trained on appropriately applying disciplinary measures should the need arise.
In the review period, no cases of alleged discrimination or grievances were filed.
Exxaro complies with labour legislation in South Africa and International Labour Organisation guidelines. As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, we encourage freedom of association and collective bargaining, and do not tolerate child labour and forced/compulsory labour.
The group's compliance with legislation and international conventions was audited by our internal auditors and confirmed in the prior period.
Our induction programmes educate employees about human rights. Policies on discrimination, harassment and racism are in place, as are structures to protect employees' human rights in the workplace. Security personnel are fully trained on human rights aspects relevant to each operation. Refresher courses also cover human rights issues.
In Exxaro, women make up 22% of the workforce, and we focus on attracting women through our talent pipelines. Although this is a challenge, women comprise 40% of young professionals in training, and 36% of our full-time bursars in engineering and mining at universities.
In line with our mining charter obligations and our business needs, we have focused on homeownership under a long-term housing strategy.
Since introducing a mortgage repayment subsidy for first-time homebuyers who are permanent employees in 2009 – a period marked by the unprecedented scarcity of bank mortgage finance – 387 employees in total have benefited.
The first-time homeownership capital assistance programme has proven to be a key enabler of homeownership among our employees. Our R125 000 capital assistance allows employees to significantly reduce the amount of their mortgage, improving affordability. This has assisted employees on specific salary grades to become homeowners, with
231 benefiting to date, and 156 benefiting from the housing subsidy.
As part of our housing strategy Exxaro has converted all its hostels into single-quarter accommodation or family units, improving the quality of life for over 920 employees.
While our housing policy focuses on homeownership, bargaining unit employees receive a housing or living-out allowance. The housing allowance is paid to 5 143 employees with a registered bond (2017: 1 416) and the living-out allowance to 3 727 renting accommodation (2017: 3 654).
In 2018, 145 community members were enrolled for AET programmes through Exxaro initiatives.
