Strategies for Attracting and Retaining Talent in Mining Industry

This report examines the critical role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in the mining industry, particularly in Australia, highlighting the challenges of attracting and retaining qualified talent. The report discusses the dynamic nature of human capital and its impact on organizational success, especially in the face of industry-specific risks and remote work locations. Key issues addressed include the shortage of skilled workers, the need for innovative recruitment strategies, and the impact of cultural diversity and work-life balance. The report explores various HRM practices, such as recruitment, selection, training, and development, and emphasizes the importance of performance management and succession planning. Challenges like relocation, health and safety concerns, and the industry's image are also analyzed. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for strategic HRM planning, effective communication, and the development of advanced skills to meet the evolving demands of the mining sector. The report also highlights the importance of adapting to globalization and increased competition to ensure long-term sustainability, along with the significance of continuous training and development programs. The report suggests the HR needs to focus on strategic human resource planning to address issues related to workforce needs, management policies, corporate profitability, and overall organizational performance. The report suggests the HR needs to focus on strategic human resource planning to address issues related to workforce needs, management policies, corporate profitability, and overall organizational performance.

Running head: Managing Human Resource 1
Managing Human Resource
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Managing Human Resource 1
Human capital has been considered as one of the greatest assets for any organization
(Hanushek, 2013). As per its nature, human capital is also very much dynamic as per its nature,
because the success and the failure are highly linked to the work performance of its employees.
In addition to this, human capital is also a major component, which drives the overall success of
any organization (Hanushek, 2013). On the other hand, the mining industry faces a shortage of
qualified talent in meeting the production needs of the organization (Smets et al., 2010). It has
been found that each year, the mining sector is one of the riskiest sectors in comparison to other,
and thus, in order to pursue the job or career opportunities, many candidates resign from their
position. Thus, it is very important to attract or retain the workforce within the mining industry
of Australia (Xiang et al., 2015).
Gradually, it becomes a global problem, and some innovative strategies are required to be
implemented for attracting and developing new talent in the mining industry. This study focuses
on the key strategies which are important for the mining industry to retain their existing
employees and at the same time attract new talents as well.
Many challenges are found in attracting as well as retaining the employees in remote
places of the mining industry in Australia from over three decades. Over those decades, it is
continually declining in the population within various non-metropolitan locations. It is also noted
that the remote communities include both Aboriginal as well as non-Aboriginal citizens. The
youth of those communities is trying drift to the cities for better education and work life (Kramar
et al., 2013).
Due to ramp up in Australia in 2018/19, with multiple projects, candidates would become
more selective with regard to the type of companies they desire to get recruited. Thus, it would
become more challenging for HR professionals, as they will not be able to attract the top
candidates or retain talented workers.
Therefore, it is essential to take an effective strategy for attracting and retaining young
talents in the mining industry.
In the context of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, there are a number of
issues that have been ascended while recruiting and selecting new talents as well as retaining

Managing Human Resource 2
existing employees. According to the reports of Kramer et al. (2013) recruitment and selection of
employees have become difficult for the HRs because of a number of reasons such as
inappropriate training and guidance, low enthusiasm. Syed and Kramar (2009) suggest that
cultural diversity has led to a number of issues in the mining industry in Australia. Cultural
diversity influences socio-cultural and economic potentials. This is one of the biggest challenges
in the industry to manage potential candidates for any particular job role or the existing
employees who belong to the different cultural background. It often leads to conflicts and
contrast among them.
Lack of confidence to exercise the technical skills that are already possessed by the HR’s
also creates problems in recruiting new talents, when it comes to managing cultural diversity. In
order to improve such faults and difficulties, the HR’s does need strong support from the
management so as to gain self-confidence. It is an evident fact that the profession of HR is
undergoing significant change and it has become tremendously essential that the HR is capable
of meeting the new standards and norms with regard to the recruitment selection and retaining of
employees. Recruitment and selection of the appropriate candidate in the mining industry has
become a sever issue because of the general image of the industry and the incompetence of the
HR to provide the potential candidates with the assurance of their work-life balance along with
managing cultural diversity at the workplace.
The mining industry has a reputation for being a risky business (Mariappanadar &
Kramar, 2014). The health risks are varied and are often quite serious to maintain a healthy life.
This is one of the significant reasons that that many skilled candidates who are potential enough
to handle tasks in the mining industry do not opt to get recruited in such organizations or stay for
a longer duration. Thus, it is the duty of the HR to make sure right candidates get appointed to
the right position and right time. The higher the potentials of HR, the better would be the
recruitment and selection process. In comparison to other industries, mining has a major
undertaking, which involves the use of the complex process, equipment, and heavy machinery,
as well as numerous and diverse worker activities in a dynamic and a challenging environment
(Hutchings et al., 2011). Thus recruitment and selection have been tough for the HR's, and they
do require additional skills to take over the process of recruitment and selection of the best
available alternatives. It can be said that the poor industry image combined with a lack of

Managing Human Resource 3
confidence in implementing technical skills, it becomes challenging for the HR to either recruit
or retain the employee for a long term (Mariappanadar & Kramar, 2014).
Another challenge that has been noted recruitment and retention of employees in the
mining industry is the requirement of the relocation of the candidates in remote areas, which in
turn leads to health and safety issues. In Australia, mining corporations are located in diverse
remote areas where there is the scope of getting minerals, metals, ores, copper, and chemicals.
The geographical locations of the mining companies in Australia and the severe locations where
the mining operations are conducted are often the reasons for not selecting such career options
(Tonts, 2010). The performances of most of the employees in the mining companies decline due
to such concern.
It is the responsibility of the HR to provide the employees with an opportunity to work in
their desired locations. However, it is not always possible for the organization to recruit and
position an employee in the location selected by the candidates; thus, there is a high rate of
employee turnover and the decline in retention rate. Retaining employees does not mean hiring
the best candidates from diverse alternative options who will be going to stay at the same
position until they retire. According to Mahdevari et al. (2014), employees want challenges so as
to keep them motivated. There are a number of strategies and practices implemented by HR are
to offer work to the employees that continuously engages the employees and boost their morale.
Encouraging employees to aspire to roles with more responsibility as an alternative to
seek advancement opportunities outside the industry is a strategic retention strategy. Existing
employees in the mining sector try to look for opportunities in career making and growth and
development. Trying to get a job in a safety zone that ensures comfort is one of the essential
requirements of the employees after they have worked in the mining industry. Lack of
experience of the HR in encouraging or boosting the morale of the employees often leads to
employee turnover. Lack of appropriate motivational strategies in the organization makes it
difficult for HR to retain existing employees.
Performance management has been considered as one of the most significant strategies to
improve the productivity of the individual candidates as well as that of the organization.
Opportunities for professional development, succession planning as well as training provides
employees with significant options to take on additional responsibilities or cross-functional

Managing Human Resource 4
assignments that can help to improve retention as well as minimize employee turnover. It
becomes essential for the HR to focus on retaining high-performing employees, rather than any
candidate who is not potent enough for the mining sector (Littlewood, 2014). The continuous
development programs and training ensure that the performance of the employees is well-
managed. However, no such development programs lead to the monotonous work environment
with lack of skills among the employee which in turn leads to a lack of interest among them to
contribute towards organizational growth and development.
According to the point of view of the scholars Skinner et al. (2012), by any stretch, the
mining sector can be regarded as a pick and shovel industry. In today's marketplace, it relies on
advanced technology and furtherance of skills and knowledge so as to make it competitive.
Hence, it can be said that unskilled labourers have no place in the recruitment and selection list
of the corporation's (Littlewood, 2014; Skinner et al., 2012). There is a huge requirement for
professional as well as technological savvy people. This indicates that the current and future
workforces need to think genuinely about post-secondary quests in equipment operations, IT,
engineering, geology, environmental studies, processing, trades, and the like.
Human resource development is an integral part of any organization and any industry.
Improvements can come from new practices. The new challenges that are posed by the mining
industry such as providing training and development at a remote location have often been
considered as a challenging issue for the companies in this sector because it increases the cost of
human resource development as well as performance management. It has always remained an
evident fact that the success of every industry depends on a number of things, out of which
strategic human resource planning is the essential one.
Xiang et al. (2015) contend that poor human resource planning has a long-term as well as
an abrupt influence on the employee recruitment and retention. It also affects the management
policies, corporate profitability together with the organizational performance. Poor
communication among the HR might result in poor team building as well as personality
conflicts. In the mining industry, as there are significant changes that take places frequently,
employers find it difficult to organize human resource planning. As a result, there is a huge risk
for the HR team to cooperate with the potential candidates as even the most experienced workers
may be uncomfortable with the environment at the workplace. As it has been considered that

Managing Human Resource 5
recruiting and hiring the best available talent is an incessant process, the HR professional with
poor communication skills along with their apathetic attitude makes them incompetent to address
workforce as well as organizational requirements, thereby leading to high turnover and low
recruitment rate.
It is an evident fact that due to globalization and increased competition all over the world,
organizations are compelled to improve their performance and productivity so as to ensure long
term sustainability in the most competitive market (Daly et al., 2018). In addition to this, the
changes in the working conditions also require changes in the skills of the human resource, i.e.,
the development of advanced skills so as to meet the essential criterion and ascertain long term
sustenance. According to the point of view of the scholars Dickie and Dwyer (2011), training
and development, as well as human resource management practices have often resulted in
improving human resource management.
Though recruitment and selection practices of the companies in the mining sector are
common for all the organizations, however, the skills required to manage the allocated tasks are
different for each segment (Mayes & Pini, 2010; Becker & Soosay, 2013). For instance, mining
of mineral and ore have a different process, and that of the minerals have different. Possessing
the technological as well as mining skills with the use of the latest equipment is necessary for the
survival of the employees. The changing skills requirement makes it difficult for existing
employees to cope with the pre-requisites of the changes. In addition to this, the cost of training
and development of the human resource at each instance is huge, and thus, organizations in the
mining sector face great difficulty in recruiting the best available alternative candidates
possessing the required skills and with updated knowledge.
This, as a result, makes it difficult for the HR of mining organizations to prepare the list
of specialized candidates and skills that are essential for any particular project or task. Hiring on
contract basis also makes it difficult for the candidates to secure job for long-term, thereby prefer
choosing other sectors. The theoretical perspectives’ of Kramar et al. (2013) suggests that the
lack of appropriate planning of human resource as well as management practices often creates an
issue in the mining industry. The changes in the skills required of the workforce also require the
HR to adopt the changes that would be necessary to communicate with the potential candidates.

Managing Human Resource 6
Failure to which often leads to challenges for the HR to initiate the recruitment process. Similar
is the case with the retention process of existing employees.
Mining is one of the most volatile business cycles, where operations are carried on based
on the changes in the environment, climatic interference, and other geographical aspects. This
causes loss of business to many of the organization as well as the economy (Littlewood, 2014).
In addition to this, such a business cycle results in an increase in unemployment and employee
turnover rate, thereby making it difficult for HR to maintain stability in workforce retention.
Moreover, such volatility, which results in job loss, is also less attractive to the potential
candidates pursuing career options for the future.
From the above challenges that have been identified, it can be said that the best HRM
practices in the mining industry must be implemented so as to resolve such issues. These include
improving communication skills, adopting performance management system that would
necessitate the evaluation f performance of the employees based on changing skills requirements
as well as the requirements of the industry. This must be done to ensure the survival of the fittest
in the mining industry. In addition to this, initiatives must be taken to encourage the adoption of
HR management strategies that are particular to the mining industry and those organizations that
frequently undergo changes. This, in turn, would help the employers to implement diverse
strategies to retain the employees even in uncertain conditions. The skills and the aptitude of the
employees must be transformed to a positive one. It is the responsibility of the HR department to
take substantial steps in motivating the employees. Taking a step towards HR training and
development would ease the challenge of recruitment and training of the employees as well.
Recruitment and selection of the most appropriate candidates at the right time and right
position is one of the fundamental concepts in human resource management. Mining industry all
over the world has been considered the most perilous and unpredictable, and the Australian
mining industry is no exception. The HRM practices in the mining organizations have been
developed and transformed in such a manner which best suits the needs of the real world.
However, the lack of interest of the candidates to opt their career in the mining sector makes it
difficult for HR managers to recruit and select the best available alternatives. There is less option
in the number of candidates.

Managing Human Resource 7
The challenges in recruitment and retaining employees are many. Though there are the
immense scope and career option in the mining industry, however, the fear of health hazards and
safety issues as per the poor image of the industry makes the candidates not to choose this sector
for future. In addition to this, the high degree of volatility makes existing employees exit the
sector for career development and future growth in other sectors. It has also been found that
every year, the mining industry turns out to be one of the dangerous segments in comparison to
other sectors. This too causes fear among the potential applicants to pursue mining career options
or any other career option related to this sector.

Managing Human Resource 8
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Managing Human Resource 9
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