Advanced ANZ head of sales Damien Durston considers the future role human resources (HR) has to play in the mining sector.
The mining industry, often considered a traditional and resource-intensive sector, is undergoing a profound digital transformation. In recent years, the mining sector has been driven by advancements in automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainable practices.
While mining firms were once considered reluctant to embrace new technologies, they have now shifted their outlook and are leading the way in adopting digital technologies. This is helping mining companies to make the transition to renewable energy sources as well as automating their vehicle fleets.
The benefits companies in this sector have realised include increased throughput, simplified operational processes, lower costs, improvements in yield and less supply chain complexity.
These advanced technology investments are predominantly aimed at enhancing safety, productivity and reducing carbon emissions, however most of the digital technology investments have been made on the operational side of mining businesses.
Deskless industry falling behind with HR
Despite the existence of modern HR technology and its potential to deliver substantial efficiency improvements to this deskless industry, some parts of the mining sector have yet to fully embrace HR automation and are missing out on the valuable benefits this can offer.
According to BCG’s digital acceleration index (DAI), the mining industry is roughly 30–40 per cent less digitally mature than comparable industries, such as automotive or chemicals.
In Skedulo’s state of deskless work report, while 80 per cent of the global workforce is deskless, only one per cent of venture capital is allocated to HR technology for deskless workers, leaving them well and truly behind in HR technology adoption, which can have a concerning impact on workforce engagement.
And in such a resource-intensive sector, the lack of digital maturity around HR processes is an area that should be addressed to improve the employee experience.
Some mining companies are still using paper-based methods to record timesheets for payroll and for annual leave requests, which are often handed to HR people to input into Microsoft Excel.
These valuable mining workers are spending more time on admin than they should be, which can be incredibly frustrating and tedious. There have also been reports of time theft, with employees inflating their hours deliberately via traditional pen and paper or outdated timekeeping methods.
These outdated manual systems are too slow to keep up, often lead to human error and make it extremely difficult and time-consuming for leaders to make accurate resourcing decisions easily when the need arises.
Engaging deskless mine workers with HR technology
The deskless report 2021 by Nudge said that 55 per cent of workers believe that proper engagement and communication by their manager helped create a sense of purpose in the workplace.
Leaders managing a deskless and often remote workforce like mining need to build a culture that enables them to work together towards the same goal, with a real sense of community.
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