A push to recruit and train more leaders from diverse backgrounds will see 44 new jobs for production and maintenance supervisors created at the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance’s (BMA) coal operations in Queensland.
The recruitment drive, which began last Friday, will equip people with limited mining knowledge with the practical skills and leadership coaching required to lead and inspire teams at BMA. As part of the 18-month leadership development program, the successful candidates will initially shadow established leaders to learn about different parts of the business
This is part of a broader program across BMA to diversify its workforce, which our latest research shows has many benefits. Our most inclusive and diverse teams have delivered 67 per cent fewer recordable injuries, 28 per cent lower unplanned absence rates, and up to 11 per cent higher planned and scheduled work delivery.
As the only female execution superintendent at Goonyella Riverside coal mine in Queensland, Rebecca Cox has welcomed a new program to recruit more women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander supervisors.
She manages four supervisors who oversee 65 employees and contractors. They provide maintenance to mobile equipment such as dozers, service trucks, graders, and front end-loaders.
Throughout her decade-long career at BHP, Rebecca said she encountered few women in leadership roles. She is embracing the shift to greater inclusion and diversity, which has given her the flexibility to adapt her working hours so she can collect her daughter from childcare each day.
“I was the only female in the Ancillary department a year ago and now there are six females and people from different cultures and races,” she said.
“When we have more inclusive and diverse teams, our achievements are endless because people from different backgrounds and experiences offer a fresh perspective and a different approach to solving problems. We are not confined by one way of thinking.”
Gavin Sandilands, who manages production operations at Broadmeadow mine in Queensland following a 16-year career at BHP, credits his Indigenous mother and coal miner father for instilling in him the “value of self-belief” and the “determination to succeed in my chosen career”.
“Companies need the best and most experienced people available for roles to ensure work is carried out accordingly to ensure safety of the mine and others,” he said.
“I believe my proven hard work and dedication to my field of work has enabled me to secure the supervisory positions.”
First published here
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