‘SPILL THE BEANS’ EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEY 

We undertook our inaugural employee engagement survey in FY22. The ‘Spill the Beans’ survey highlighted issues that were important to our people and helped establish a benchmark we’ll use to measure improvements in employee engagement moving forward.

Willis Towers Watson was engaged to conduct the survey which meant our results were benchmarked against more than 220 companies (148,783 employees) across the resources industry and all Australian industries norms.

Conducted in Q3, our people were encouraged to ’Spill the Beans’ over a cup of coffee and morning tea provided by local suppliers at each of our mines. Questions addressed categories including sustainable engagement, change, communication, retention, values, safety, diversity and inclusion, leadership, and strategy. Diversity and inclusion questions were generated from the WGEA Employee of Choice Certification.

Senior HR Advisor, Sarah Webb spoke about the survey’s participation rate and actions we’re taking to address the issues identified.

“We had 210 employees, or 75% of our workforce, complete this survey. For an inaugural survey, this high participation rate provides meaningful data and a benchmark to measure the effectiveness of the plans we are putting in place to address the issues identified,” Sarah explained.

“Following the survey, Employee Working Groups (EWG) and focus groups comprised of representatives from every department and function were established at each of our work locations to discuss actions to address survey outcomes.

“We’re developing an overarching action plan to address the issues identified in the survey with insights from the EWGs and focus groups, and other targeted discussions with employees across our business. This demonstrates we’re really listening to what our people have to say and are committed to addressing issues that are important to them,” Sarah concluded.

To create momentum, priority actions addressing themes of attraction and retention, burn out/inadequate resourcing, communication, non-monetary recognition, and safety training were fast tracked and rolled out in FY22. The actions included:

• Site facility upgrades, including the camp at our Hera Mine.
• Establishing a housing scheme at our Peak Mine to encourage employees to live residentially.
• Improved communication through a quarterly Group-wide newsletter.
• Ensuring the delivery of training and development opportunities outlined in employee’s individual development plans was addressed during development of the BBP.
• Implementation of a Human Resources Information System, Kronos, which provides employees access to information as it relates to them and systemises workflows for processing and approving human resource information
• Implementation of our Vision and Values and The Aurelia Way through extensive face-to-face training sessions and the continued roll out of Leading The Aurelia Way
• Wellbeing programs, including:
• The Diversity and Inclusion Working Group and Strategy.
• Mental health training and awareness and mental health first responder training.
• Establishment of a Flexible Working Standard.

We intend to undertake a pulse survey in FY23 to understand whether the changes implemented following the survey have been successful.