In an address to delegates at the AusIMM First International Mine Management Conference, Rio Tinto executive Oscar Groeneveld argued that in the current operating environment the expectations of a mine manager’s role were changing.

In the past mine managers were primarily concerned with providing solid technical and operational skills. In future they must be able to lead and engage their workforce in improvement activities, develop and retain employees and seize opportunities for growth and development.

Groeneveld said the primary task of a leader was to: “release the initiative and enthusiasm of their workforce and to harness those qualities in a collaborative drive to achieve a clearly defined purpose.”

If mine managers are to be successful in achieving Groeneveld’s vision they will have to develop a strategy for their middle managers to acquire the competencies to “release the initiative and enthusiasm” of the people they manage.

Business purpose is more likely to be achieved when all employees are engaged in its attainment. You can’t reach your destination unless you know where you are going!

We certainly see the sense in Groeneveld’s vision. For a business to successfully “release initiative and enthusiasm” it will have to name the concrete management competencies required of its middle managers and develop strategies to grow these competencies in the workforce.

But what are these competencies and what is their purpose? A key feature is that they must be concerned with engaging the workforce in the improvement of safety and productivity. This occurs at three levels of management responsibility:

Managing functional work teams (eg panel face crew)

Actively encourage people to participate in decision-making;

Mentor and coach people to implement continuous improvement initiatives;

Monitor the effectiveness of work processes using data;

Identify recorded and hidden downtime causes using data;

Facilitate work teams so that they can improve productivity and safety; and

Identify risks and take action to remove them.

Managing relationships between teams with the same responsibilities (eg panel face crews on different shifts)

Engage other supervisors to ensure that standard operating procedures are used across shifts;

In cooperation with other supervisors and operators map work practices (eg panel advance) to highlight the value adding flows; and

Collaborate with other managers to design more capable procedures and work practices.

Managing cross-functional relationships (maintenance, engineering, supply, longwall)

Work with managers from across the business to creatively manage resources;

Manage creative tensions between business stakeholders who have diverse views; and

Identify blockages to efficiencies with other managers and design new work processes to overcome them.

When you know where you are going you need a means to get there!

Adults are more likely to learn new behaviours and acquire new competencies if what they are working on is real, for example “on the job”. The idea is to make the learning of new competencies part of day-to-day activities.

Project work that focuses on improving the safety and efficiency of a “value stream” is ideal for developing improved managerial competencies. A value stream consists of all the activities that impact on the system and are required to create customer value, basically all of the actions that deliver the product or service into the hands of the customer.

For example, if you consider development as a value stream, it includes not only cutting the coal and supporting the roof, but also getting the supplies to the face, delivering the coal to the washery, the maintenance of the panel equipment and the availability and reliability of support vehicles, the planning activities and the panel advances and more.

Putting together a cross-functional team charged with improving the performance of the value stream promotes a “learn by doing” approach to the development of the required managerial competencies.

In the process of improving safety and adding real wealth to the business, managers can be mentored in the use of the tools and man-management techniques that develop the competencies required to “release the initiative and enthusiasm of their workforce”.

The key to managing a successful value stream project is the use of structured and disciplined methodology. This might include the following steps:

Name projects and competencies (eg for panel development)

Projects that add wealth to the business (eg increase development rates from 3 metres per hour to 4.5mph over the next four months); and

Name behaviours and tools that managers should display and use.

Nominate team members (eg who to mentor and involve?)

Select team members who are involved in the value chain: operators, supervisors and managers;

Nominate team leaders; and

Identify who should be mentored and competencies needed.

How does it work now? Mapping issues and taking action

Develop value stream map;

Identify issues impacting on achievement of project outcomes;

Define best fit small projects, as appropriate; and

Develop action plans, gather data and put team to work.

How could it work? Experiments…

Use data to test the issues raised and commence redesigning the way work is done;

Coach staff to see opportunities and use Lean/Six Sigma tools, as required; and

Mentor key players.

How should it work? System redesign/standards

Reduce variability in the way work is done;

Formalise standards;

Common data collection and meaning making; and

Mentor key players.

Locking in improvements. Auditing/meaning making/ownership

Establish auditing of processes and procedures: team leaders, deputies and senior management; and

Formalise reporting arrangements: shift, daily, weekly.

Improved Competencies. Reporting and self-reflection

Hands-on learning through “doing” and “reflection”: tools and principles; and

Revised job descriptions to integrate functional accountabilities with leadership/management competencies.

There are great opportunities for mines to use Lean Thinking methodologies to improve the safety and efficiency of their value streams and at the same time develop middle management competencies in ways to “release the initiative and enthusiasm of their workforce”