Talent management

We empower our employees by offering learning and skills development opportunities to ensure a healthy talent pipeline of core and critical skills. Our communitybased skills development programmes, which are aimed at educating marginalised groups and youths, support our employment equity targets and ensure a feeder line of trained and skilled candidates.

Key achievements

Streamlined the application process for internal employment opportunities. Aligned to Exxaro's value of “Empowered to grow and contribute”, we removed the internal application form that required approval by an employee's supervisor

Additional courses available on the MyNexxt e-learning platform including climate change and DEI programmes, among others

Rolled out various leadership programmes among employees at different levels

Awarded internships and bursaries to black people with disabilities and students of the Edumap initiative

Placed in the top three of the 2023 MQA Good Practice Recognition awards

Pursuing sustainable growth and impact through...

Our commitment

To empower and upskill our employees through learning, skills development and career advancement opportunities, and advance our employee equity goals and secure a talent pipeline for the minerals and energy businesses through skills development, bursaries and internships for equity candidates and students in our host communities

Monitoring and measuring our performance

KPIs:

• Skills provision (percentage of appointment of employees within)
• Scarcity skills retention (percentage turnover)
• Skills development expenditure on learning programmes in the learning programme matrix for black people as a percentage of leviable amount (B-BBEE)

Delivering on our strategic objectives

Our talent management strategy supports the objectives of our DEI and Social Impact strategies.

Empower people to create impact

Going beyond compliance

• Exxaro's consolidated skills development expenditure exceeds the Mining Charter's human resource development compliance target of 5%
• Establishing a talent pipeline for people with disabilities to improve Exxaro's employment equity profile and broaden the hiring pool

• Providing full-time bursaries to young people from the communities in which we operate and creating employment opportunities through Yes4Youth
• Enhanced offering on the Powering Knowledge learning platform allowing zero-rated access for mobile devices and SETA accreditation on certain courses

• Improving the Department of Higher Education and Training's (DHET) bursar spend on the B-BBEE scorecard
• Professionals in training (PIT) development programme

Stakeholder collaboration and engagement

Employees and community members

To develop capabilities and build a talent pipeline

Minerals Council Education Advisory Committee (EAC)

To collaborate on skills development and regulatory changes with other mining member companies

MQA

To drive mining sector skills development

Colliery Training College

To offer engineering and mining-related training and development in Mpumalanga

Future focus

We plan to enable responsive, agile talent acquisition to fill critical vacancies and provide a marketplace for internal employment opportunities. This is supported by an online platform that facilitates the internal recruitment process from submission to processing and tracking. We are also focusing on streamlining our internal policies by integrating related policies into overarching policies. This will reduce the number of policies and improve policy management and employee access.

Legacy artisan trade qualifications expired at the end of 2023. This requires an involvement in newly developed qualifications through the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations.

Our approach

Attracting, developing and retaining skilled people strengthens our ability to deliver on strategic objectives, ensure business continuity and preserve the value we create for our employees and communities. Talent management is a critical sustainability factor and part of our employee value proposition.

We achieve this through:

• Our talent management strategy and delivering against its strategic objectives: This strategy outlines our approach to strategic workforce and talent planning, leadership and capability development, compliance training and reporting, and talent pipeline development activities
• Measuring and reporting our performance through KPIs: We annually identify and measure KPIs as part of the strategic dashboard for talent management and people and performance. Talent management and review processes aim to identify and prepare suitable internal candidates for positions while building a leadership pipeline to address skills shortages
• Monitoring the relevance of our training programme: Our people and performance and digital value chain teams keep informed of technological advances in training to ensure our programmes are up to date (including Adapting to 4IR on MyNexxt, Power BI and dashboards, and our data science programme language curriculum)
• Cross-platform education and training: We offer classroom‑based training, e-learning platforms, simulators, virtual reality, webinars and masterclasses – thereby broadening the scope of learning opportunities

Cennergi prioritises internal recruitment of highpotential employees to retain talent and grow management expertise. Employees receive STIs based on individual and company performance. Cennergi invests 1% of its payroll in employee training and development. Line managers conduct performance appraisals twice a year to determine training and development needs.

Talent management strategy

Our talent management strategy enables us to transition organisational inclusivity by developing future capabilities and creating a healthy working environment through engaged, supportive leadership, and using technology to help achieve this. We consider Exxaro's vision to provide resources (beyond just commodities) that are critical in a low-carbon world in our talent management approach. Our talent strategic objectives were defined considering global and local trends, and Exxaro's overarching Sustainable Growth and Impact strategy.

These objectives are supported by talent management functions and our culture and values are at the centre of our strategy's success. Our progress against these objectives are unpacked below.

Our performance

Progressing against our talent management strategy

Use digital platforms

Our digitalised environment is a critical success factor in executing on our strategy. It enables efficient talent management and helps create a self-learning culture, but also expands the reach of our learning opportunities, making it accessible to a broader audience.

Enhance employee experience

We improve internal processes to bolster performance achievements, career and succession planning, culture and leadership initiatives, and SLP commitments.

This year, we implemented a process change whereby line managers are no longer required to approve employment applications made by their team members, thereby empowering employees to freely explore internal growth opportunities. This resulted in an increase in internal applications, with 1 598 applications in the Paterson DL band and higher in 2023 compared to 760 in 2022. We also reintroduced a revamped employee referral reward programme, which offers employees rewards for referring successfully appointed candidates.

Build relevant future skills and competencies

We proactively address talent and critical skills shortages and changes when employees are promoted, rotated, resign or retire.

Our learning interventions are structured appropriately to support improved employee capabilities through formal studies in traditional programmes and to ensure new capabilities support renewable energy, digitalisation and the new world of work.

We also provide university-accredited short courses in competencies to support new capabilities such as automation, neuroscience, change management, data analytics and digital business strategy.

Exxaro refreshed our talent management strategy in 2023 to support capability development and succession planning for management and specialist roles in response to new ways of working and global workforce trends.

Build a talent pipeline representative of economically active populations

Our development efforts focus on our employment equity candidates – building our talent pipeline by educating people with disabilities and women. This supports our DEI strategy and complies with employment equity targets.

We strive to fill vacancies with black people, with preference given to black women. To address challenges in recruiting qualified black women, particularly in the Lephalale labour sending area, we implemented the employee referral programme. This is an internal programme to find the best talent from employees' existing networks. Benefits include having access to a wider reach of candidates than through traditional hiring methods and enhancing the Exxaro brand through internal employee promotion.

Various empowerment initiatives support our women in mining drive by growing this talent pipeline. Initiatives include:

• Accelerated development and executive coaching programmes
• Increased intake of women for mentorship training (69% of employees trained in 2023 were women)
• Enabling young women in our communities to plan their careers and acquire skills (including the Edumap bridging programme for matriculants to improve their maths and science results)
• Aiming to increase the number of black women in our feeder schemes and talent pipeline through our employment equity plans
• Women in mining forums and women in leadership programme

In accordance with its aim to further the objectives of diversity and inclusion in the energy sector, Cennergi recruited eight new employees in 2023, of which 75% were female (six African women) and 25% were male (two African men).

Case study:

Empowering PIT graduates

We actively improve the PIT programme to ensure it is best in class. We held our annual PIT symposium in October 2023, where graduates showcased their problem-solving and project management skills in finding solutions to operational challenges. This year's theme was striking the balance, empowering graduates to live a more holistic, balanced lifestyle.

Establish healthy strategic partner relations

Stakeholder engagement builds competencies that deliver on our business strategy. We submitted annual workplace skills plans and training reports to the MQA, Mining Charter compliance to the DMRE and B-BBEE scores to the dtic including employee information, spend, training and development programmes. Due to the successful submission of the MQA Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report, we received R50.5 million of skills levy tax paid back in the form of grants. We also actioned two Yes4Youth initiatives with youths from our communities to improve their employability.

Case study:

Partnering with Yes4Youth

The Yes4Youth programme provides job opportunities and work experience to youths to address South Africa's unemployment crisis. Exxaro partnered with two service providers in the programme, SME.TAX and Lula Rides, who were contracted to recruit 450 youths from Mpumalanga and Limpopo over a two-year period from 2022. On completion of the programme in 2024, participants will be placed in jobs or be assisted to start their own businesses.

Through Lula Rides, 400 black youths were recruited from Exxaro communities to be trained as licensed motorbike delivery drivers. 186 participants completed the programme and have been placed with various companies such as Takealot and Mr D Food. 173 participants are still active in the programme. SME.TAX recruited and trained 50 black youths with finance qualifications as interns to improve their employability. 49 participants are still active in the programme, and two participants have received employment in the tax and banking sectors.

Exxaro worked with the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) in both initiatives to assist youth with opportunities as entrepreneurs. Workshops were held with Seda in November to further engage youth on opportunities in the entrepreneurial and business spaces.

Enhancing talent bench strength

Our mentorship programme supports employees who aspire to develop into leadership positions. This is informed by succession planning for our leadership pipeline and is critical for employee development within our diverse organisation.

We had 126 employees (89% black people and 58% black women) in our 24-month mentoring programme (2022: 40). Demand for mentorship is high – 100 employees attended mentee training and 26 trained as mentors.

Adult education and training

As interest in adult education and training (4.0% of our employees) is low due to the age profile of our workforce, we offer portable skills training in welding, plumbing and civils for entry level employees.

Adult education and training helps employees reach national qualification framework level 1 (grade 9) with functional literacy for health and safety communication, further development, and access to higher level jobs.