Anglo American Annual Report 2012

OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW STRATEGY IN ACTIONSTRATEGIC ELEMENT: Employing the best peopleTHE RIGHT PEOPLEIN THE RIGHT PLACESOUR PEOPLEOur people are as vital to oursuccess as our mining assets.They determine how effectivelywe operate, represent our valuesand are critical to building andmaintaining our reputation withstakeholders. Ultimately, it isour people who will realise ourambition and deliver on ourstrategy of being the leadingglobal mining company.OUR STRATEGY ANDMANAGEMENT APPROACHOur human resources (HR) strategyis anchored in Anglo American’sobjective ‘to be the leading globalmining company’ and in supportingthe objective of being ‘the employerof choice’. We see the quality ofour people as a key source ofcompetitive advantage.To attract and retain the best peoplewe need to:• Demonstrate that we have a clearand compelling strategy for success• Offer safe, worthwhile andstimulating work• Be organised for effectivenessand efficiency• Maintain the right leadership culture• Support people to develop andprogress• Pay people competitively.The Group HR function operates aspart of a lean corporate centre andfocuses on: essential governance;capturing synergies across the Group;and sharing knowledge and expertise.Policies and standards are set througha collaborative process involving thebusinesses. Once set, compliancewith these is mandatory. Along withthese standards, our HR managementsystems and processes provide thefoundation that allows us to deliver onour HR agenda.We are implementing a wide-rangingthree year plan of work to furtherimprove these foundations.Resourcing with thefuture in mindHaving the right people in placeis vital to achieving our businessobjectives. Within the context of avery competitive job market, ensuringwe understand our current and futureskills needs, and actively drive plans tomeet these, is a key strategic priorityfor HR. Throughout 2011 we put inplace foundations to enable moreeffective workforce planning. Thisincluded a Group-wide monthlyheadcount reporting process andsystem and a common frameworkfor categorising roles across theorganisation. During 2012, we builton these foundations, implementinga new annual strategic workforceplanning process and system thatran successfully to support the 2012planning cycle.Our improved workforce planningcapability will play a pivotal role intargeting our talent sourcing activitiesand guiding the work we do to buildglobal talent pools. Talented graduates,bursars, interns, apprentices andother trainees form an important partof our sourcing strategy. During 2012,we saw nearly 3,000 graduates,bursars, apprentices and othertrainees supported by the company.At certain of our operations we arelegally required to recruit a percentageof mining related roles from within theimmediate and local communitiesin which we operate. The recentimplementation of text-based jobapplications has enabled us to moreeffectively access communitymembers in remote locationsparticularly across South Africa.Supporting our people todevelop and progressManaging our people’s performanceplays a key role in guiding theirbehaviour and development. During2012 we continued to roll out ourGroup-wide performancemanagement process and system,which aligns individual objectiveswith the company’s strategy whilereinforcing our values. Ourmanagement and professionalemployees have regular performanceand career development reviews withtheir managers. For the remainingemployees, performancemanagement is largely team-based.Number of permanent employeesand contractors by region (1)2012Africa 97,298Europe 396North America 583South America 31,319Australia 6,619Asia 104(1)Excludes associates and OMI non-core operations.Alongside our performancemanagement process, we continued toembed the People Development Way,our global capability frameworkdetailing the behaviours, knowledge,skills and experience required of ouremployees to achieve our strategicobjectives. 2012 also saw theintroduction of career path tools aimedat guiding employees’ careerdevelopment decisions.Formal learning is delivered at bothbusiness unit and Group level withexternal training expenditure acrossAnglo American amounting to$98 million, 3% of total employeecosts in 2012 (2011: $79 million,2.2% of total employee costs). Thecontinued development of first-linemanagers to improve operational andpeople management capabilities hasbeen the focus of 2012. The first-linemanagers development programmebuilds on current best practice acrossthe Group and will be rolled outduring 2013.The Adult Basic Education andTraining programme, which is run byour businesses and corporate centreoffice in South Africa provides generaleducation to adults who have not hadaccess to formal schooling. In 2012,1,239 employees, contractors andcommunity members enrolled inthe programme. In addition, 2,638employees and community memberswere provided with portable skills34 Anglo American plc Annual Report 2012