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A review of the workplace culture at Gold Fields found half of the survey participants had experienced bullying, sexual discrimination, or racism in the past five years.
The mining company, which operates in multiple countries, including South Africa, said 47% of respondents reported experiencing bullying; 23% of women and 7% of men reported experiencing sexual harassment, and 15% had experienced racism.
Another 29% of respondents who identify as LGBTQI+ reported having experienced harassment, with many reluctant to openly acknowledge their status in the workplace, Gold Fields said.
The independent review – which was undertaken by Elizabeth Broderick & Co (EB&Co) – surveyed thousands of Gold Fields employees, a small portion of which were contractors.
Over 1 300 people participated in face-to-face listening sessions, focus groups, or made written submissions to the review team, while over 2 800 people responded to an online survey.
The issues were detected across Gold Fields' operations at differing levels in various jurisdictions.
The operations in the Americas – Chile and Peru – fared best in that 20% of respondents said they had experienced bullying, 11% of women had been sexually harassed, and 3% had experienced racism.
In Australia, 45% experienced bullying, 31% of women had been sexually harassed, and 10% of respondents had experienced racism.
In Ghana, 59% had been bullied, 14% of women had been sexually harassed, and 10% of people had experienced racism.
At the South Deep mine in South Africa, 51% had experienced bullying, 24% of women had been sexually harassed, and 23% of respondents had experienced racism.
At the group's corporate office, 65% experienced bullying, 28% had experienced racism, and 13% of women had been sexually harassed.
Gold Fields' interim CEO Martin Preece apologised to those in the business who had been exposed to bullying, sexual harassment, racism and any forms of inequality and exclusion.
"The purpose of this independent review was to help us to understand and address these unacceptable behaviours decisively, and create a workplace that everybody feels part of, is attractive to talent, and where everyone can reach their full potential," Preece said.
Gold Fields chairperson Yunus Suleman said the board was "distressed" at the review findings and the negative impact of these unacceptable behaviours on Gold Fields employees and contractors.
The review forms part of Gold Fields' transformational culture journey, which started in early 2022, and which has a "respectful workplace" as one of its four priority themes, and is supported by the group's expanded focus on the psychological safety of employees.
The group said the review identified some strengths on which Gold Fields can build – particularly that many employees said they could "feel a directional change in culture". Many who responded to the survey spoke of their pride in working for Gold Fields, and said they enjoyed the fulfilling work and team cooperation. Many acknowledged and valued the emphasis that Gold Fields places on the physical safety of employees.
The Gold Fields review follows similar efforts from other global mining companies. Rio Tinto, which counts Richards Bay Minerals among its subsidiaries, made headlines last year when its external workplace survey found high levels of bullying, harassment and racism – as well as 21 incidents of actual or attempted rape or sexual assault.
Preece told News24 that while Gold Fields was aware of the various issues, but "we weren't aware of the magnitude".
Preece said that the work done by EB&Co in other sectors suggests the workplace issues are not specific to the mining industry but rather point to wider societal problems.
"There's recently been a report released by the EY offices in Australia, which touched on very similar themes," he said. "Some issues are potentially amplified in the mining industry, but I wouldn't label this exclusively as a mining industry problem. I think a lot of this links to what's going on in broader society."
He said employees should be able to work unencumbered by these issues. It is also important for the business to secure its future. "Our children aren't going to want to work in an environment characterised by these behaviours. So we've got to build a business that doesn't have these impediments and barriers to entry," said Preece. "And it links to the war for talent … if we can build a business that is future fit, I think the war for talent will be easier."
Importantly, the initiative to address the problems in the workplace will not be led by human resources but by leadership – managers and relevant executives at the mines – and will be linked to their rewards packages.
"We have built into our scorecards for all senior people in the business that 15% of the renumeration or the incentives are linked to respectful workplaces, and we will be measuring that based on that delivery," said Preece.
Gold Fields has committed to conduct another workplace culture review in three years, allowing time to properly assess whether there has been a change in trajectory.
"Growth comes from discomfort, and hopefully the discomfort and pain we feel will energise us and create an inflexion point in this business," said Preece. "I'm disappointed that maybe we didn't see deep enough into the extent of [these issues] without the survey. But I'm certainly encouraged that we have it out in the open, it's transparent … And we've committed to building a better way forward."