HRM Essay: Challenges in Mining Sector Staff Attraction/Retention

This essay delves into the critical Human Resource Management (HRM) challenges faced by the Australian mining sector, focusing on attracting and retaining qualified staff. The report highlights the industry's struggle with talent shortages, high turnover rates, and the impact of factors such as remote work locations and demanding work-life balance requirements. It explores various themes, including the importance of strategic HRM, legal and ethical considerations, employee relationships, diversity, and compensation strategies. The discussion examines the effects of occupational safety concerns, the significance of work-life balance, and the influence of employee motivation and rewards on retention. The essay also addresses specific challenges related to the aging workforce, the need for training and motivation, and the impact of the remote locations on the workforce. It concludes with recommendations for improving recruitment and retention strategies, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to HRM in the mining industry. The essay underscores the need for mining companies to adapt and develop effective strategies to overcome these challenges and ensure the long-term sustainability of their operations.

Running Head : HRM
HRM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
In the global context, the mining industry has been facing with a huge shortage of the
quality and the qualifies talent for meeting the needs of the production of the sector. Each and
every year, a numerous number of people leave the industry as compared to the recruitment
rate to the sector for the aim of the pursuing their opportunities of the career in some other
fields (Hutchings, De Cieri & Shea, 2011). The assignment focuses on the mining sector of
Australia and how the companies of the country are batteling with the significant challenges
regarding the attraction and the retention of the employees of the mining sector. Australia has
been known for the leading country for the mineral resources and ranked top twoamong the
countries. The year 2014 witnessed the peak of the revival in the mining industry of Australia
(Langdon, Biggs & Rowland, 2016). One of the main driver in case of this revival has been
the rapid urbanization and the factors such as the industralisation regarding the emerging
economies in the continent of Asia which initiated in some of the dramartical alteration of the
market of the global community during the 2000’s era. The report demonstrates the particular
mining industry and the specifi challenges faced by the industry including the human resorce
management and the strategic human resurces, the occupational health issus of working in the
industry, the context of the ethical, legal and the safety, the chalemges related to the
relationship with the employee, the worklife balane and the challenges of the diversity, the
rewatds, the compension and the motivation of the employees of the mining sector to sustain
in the market.
Discusion
The mining companies of Australiahave began towards the acknowledgement of the
current shortage of the supply that effects the efficiency, the productivity and the profitability
of the operations related to mining (Dickie & Dwyer, 2011). The shortage of the worke force

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that is skilled towards the combination with the high rate of the turn overs that generally
provides the some of the top factors that effects the growth of the industry. As per the
Australian Mines and Metals Association, some of the critical risks for the mining industry
includes the increased level of the competiton for the labour, the loss of the executive
knowledge due to retirements, gowth stagnantion, loss of the knowledge of the operation due
to low rate of recruitments and retention among the sector (Kelly & Fogarty, 2015).
This report highlights the thorough analysis of the perception from the human resurce
department of the mining sector of the Australia regradig the targeted factosr that affects the
retention and the attraction of the empoyees to this resurce sector (Kramer et al., 2011, Part 1,
p. 8). The shortage of the skills dueto the extended working ours and the remote ocations of
the mining industry are the factors that poses as the main challenges since the last of the year
2007 furthermore including the scenario of the enactment of the legislations related to the fair
work employment relations (Bravo Ortega & Muñoz, 2015). The report illustrates by
effectively reviewing the context of te resource sector with the main focus on the mining
sector of Australia furthermore shedding light on the challenges faced by the HRM regarding
the recruitment and the renetaion of the employees due to the several issues facd by the
employees in this sector.
Challenges faced by the mining sector to attract and retain the workforce
There lies a deep connection among the peformance of the firm and the management
of the strategic human resource in the context of the mining industry. Researches has
contributed to the interpretation regrading the essentiality of the startegic HRM by the use of
the integrative model for the aim of the development of the practises for managing the
workforce (Zheng et al., 2007). It is furthermore understood and identified that the innovative

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SHRM model of the performance can be used by the mining sector for designing startegies
for retention of workforce.
Another challenging has been the context of the ageing retirees of the workforce, the training
and the motivation of the existing staff of the mining sector as the tool for the success of the
organization (Dickie & Dwyer, 2011). In the context of the Western Australia, there has been
various debates regrading how the mining sector is dependable on the contractors and the
empoyees for the production and how the HRM of the mining sector of Australia should take
in consideration of the factor of the key talent retention, the recruitment of the new labour
force and the towads motivating the existing employees.
One of the essential challenges faced by the employees has been work life balance
and the remote location of the mining sector of the Australia that are affecting the work force
of the resource sector. The findings of various ongoing survey focused on the experinces of
the employees regarding the location of the mining sector (Allan, 2011). The range of
challenges furthermore included the frequent rate of relocation of the culture in the industry
that affects tge requiremens of the family, the basic requirements and the other personal
factor of the employees. It can thus be illustrated that the lack of the work life balance of the
employees, the disruption in personal relations and the stability of workforce of the mining
sector in Australia that impacts the attraction of new employees to join the force.
Occupational safety in the mining sector is one of the major challenges faced by the
workers or the employees of the organization. The state legislator body explained safety and
well being as one of the key aspects in the multi cultural workforce like mining. Various
researches explains the esssentiaity of the factor of the culture that contributes to safety. It is
furthermore a challenging factor to understnd how the people belonging from the non western
culture tends to have less access towards personalprotection as compared to the native people

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(Starren, Hornikx & Luijters, 2013). The article concludes with the note how the differences
of the culture among the employees in the mining sector of Australia contributes to the
occupational safety and how the shortage of work force is making the mining organization to
hire the immmigrants. It is thus essential for the HRM of the mining sector to develop
effective strategy for the provision of safety of the workers.
Another notable factor of the challenge that needs to be highlighted is the work life
balanace which contributes as the key towards the HRM of the mining sector of Australia.
The lack of the balance of the personal and the professioan life of the employees due to the
excessive work place stress and the practices is leading towards high rate of the retention of
the employees (McCarthy, Darcy & Grady, 2010). It has been furthermore found that the
extent of the effect of the line managers policy regarding the work life balance impacts
towards the employee of the mining industry of Australia.
Theme 1: HRM and the strategic HRM
There lies so significant and particular challeges related to the context of the human
resource (Fleming, Measham & Paredes, 2015). It is the duty of the HRM to develop the
strategies and the ensure that the mining companies are retaining the employees together with
the consideration of the condition of the shifting market. One of the most strategic HRM
initiative would be enhancing the balance of the neeed for the specialization of the labour
force and the elasticity with the drive towards the increasing level of the productivity of the
mining sector. In case of the attraction towards the resource industry it has become a
challenge for the graduates of the current era towards taking up the degrees of the geo science
for the opportunities of the long term employment in the mining sector (Kramer et al., 2011,
Part 2, p. 246). Another issue in the context of the strategic HRM is the challenges of the
mental health of the staff that contributes to the lack of the work life balance and resulting to
high rate of retention of the employees.

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Theme 2: Legal, ethical and the safety context
While the mining industry in Australia tends to provide the employees with attractive
incentives of finances, the employment mostly is being carried out in remote locations
challenging th time and the physical wellbeing of the employees (Humphreys et al., 2017).
Furthermore the dangerous practises in the mining sector contributes to the lack of the follow
of the policies relatd to the occupationa health and safety and the ethical guidelines that shoul
be followed in the mining sector. The mining sector of Australia has been lagely criticized for
the social exploitations, the illegal and the unfair practices and the damagers to the
environment contributing to the violation of the code of ethics and the conventions related to
the regulations of the country in the context of the safety (Kramer et al., 2011, Part 5, p. 527).
There lies a huge debate regradig the contet of the ethics and sustainability of the mining
industry and its effective approaches towards the achivement of the social licensing
operation. The lack of the ethical and the legislative followups in the mining sector are the
rising factors towards the low recruitment rate and the high retention rate of the employees of
the mining sector.
Theme 3: The employee relationship challenges
The management of the relationship with the employees in the mining sector has been
an increasingly challenging task for the HR of the industry. The connection and the
relationship with theco-workers and the managers of the industry possess a huje factor
regarding how the productivity of the mining sector gets influenced (Zhang & Moffat, 2015).
Furthermore the women employees employed in the male dominated mining sector faces
several challenges contributing to the workplace relation challenges, the acceptance by the
male co-workers, the issues related to inequality, the discrimination and the issues of the
sexual harrasements.

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Theme 4: Diversity and work life balance
The context of the relationship amng the employees of the mining sector is an
important concept. Due to the lack of the worforce in the resource sector, most of the HR
department of the mining sector hires or recruits the immigrants or the international labourers
who belong from a different culture thus making the workforce a diversed one (Saxinger et
al., 2016). One of the major challenges faced by the mining sector has been the issues related
to th diversity at the workplace and the conflict among the employees as well as the effects of
the conflicts of the staff members on the human resource management of the mining
organization.
Theme 5: Rewards, motivation and compensation
Pay, rewards and the compensation are the major concern that affects the motivation
and the productivity of the employees of the organization. The level of the otivation of the
industry towards its workers is essential towards the achievement of the goal of the firms
since the factor of the motivation tends to increase the productivity. In case of the mining
industry, the rewards, compensation are some of the major factors that the HRM can use as
the strategic measuermenst for the attraction of the new employees in the workforce and the
retain the current skill and the knowledge of the exising workforce (Perry & Rowe, 2015).
This is because, there lies numerous of the chellenges related to the location, the issues f the
health benefits and the lack of the work life balance which tends to demotivate the employee
of the mining industry and thus the compensation ad the reward can enhance the employees
from leaving the workforce.

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Recommendation
Some of the basic and common strategies in the contet of the recommendation for
addressing the issues raising from the high level of retention and the low level of recruitment
in the mining industry can be summarized as follows.
The includes the effecve implementation of the proactive practices of the human
resource management and the successive planned programs for retention. Furthermore
retention of the senior employees of the mining industry must be initiated by the HR
department by the offering of compensation and promotion in the target of the minimization
of the impact regarding the attrition (Becker & Soosay, 2013). Besides these, he HRM needs
to develop and implement a cross industry and a collaborative plan or strategy for the
educational and the training progras for the facilitation of the availability of the labour force
that is skilled. It is furthermore recommended to ensure the standardization of the skills and
the training consistency for enabling the facilitation of the recutment in the industry. Factors
regarding the leveraging and the recognition of the learning styles and the motiatos of the
emerging generations together with the engagement towards the best practices in the industry
are some of the factors that are included in the strategic HRM (Becker, Hyland & Soosay,
2011). Further recommendation include putting greater amount of emphasis on addressing the
issues related to culture, the soft skills and the support of the management.
In the context of the risk management, some of the recommendation includes the
development of the programs related to voluntary mentoring for the facilitation of the
knowledge transfer from the expericed employees towards the potential sucessors
(Constantine & Battye, 2015). Furthermore establishment of the retirement projection and the
identification of the shortages of the talent together with the delaying the departure and the
time of the retirement of the older and the experienced employees can ensure encouragement
among the workforce towards their workplace satisfaction and productivity.

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Conclusion
Thus it can be concluded that the mining industry has been facing with a huge
shortage of the quality and the qualifies talent for meeting the needs of the production of the
sector. The shortage of the worke force that is skilled towards the combination with the high
rate of the turn overs that generally provides the some of the top factors that effects the
growth of the industry. The year 2014 witnessed the peak of the revival in the mining
industry of Australia among which one of the main driver has been the rapid urbanization and
the factors such as the industralisation regarding the emerging economies in the continent of
Asia which initiated in some of the dramartical alteration of the market of the global
community during the 2000’s era. The assignment focuses on the mining sector of Australia
and how the companies of the country are batteling with the significant challenges regarding
the attraction and the retention of the employees of the mining sector. With the consideration
of the certain and relevant factors that ccan posses as the challenges among the employees of
the mining sector, the assignment illustrated five major themes of the Human resource that
needs to be considred by the HRM of the ining industry together with some of the strategic
recommendation for the improvement of the workforce pattern and the resulted produuctity
of the mining sector.

HRM
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