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| SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTGOLD FIELDS’ PEOPLE Central to our approach to Gold Fields’ people is the upholding of human rights as they apply to our activities. In this regard, the Group has developed and implemented a human rights policy. This policy covers numerous commitments to human rights which include:
A copy of our human rights policy statement is available on our website: www.goldfields.co.za. No material reports of transgressions of our human rights policy have been reported during the period under review. Employee numbers as at 30 June 2009:
Gold Fields has accelerated various strategic imperatives over the last two years and it is fully understood by the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee that quality people will be the foundation for the success of these initiatives. We are continually striving for an environment that encourages innovation, and accepts transformation and development, which will enable our ideals and aspirations. Human rights Gold Fields has started to implement the Group’s Human Rights Policy and practice guides across all operations, with a view to ensuring compliance and good governance. South Africa Region Skills attraction and retention remain a key focus in the South Africa Region. An increased recruitment drive was launched during November 2008 in an effort to fill vacant positions in the South Africa Region. The most critical positions identified include mechanical and electrical engineers, rock mechanic engineers and Mineral Resources managers. Employee relations An employee relations summit, which took place in December 2008, was attended by representatives from Gold Fields and the three recognised unions within Gold Fields. The engagement agenda has now shifted towards safe production management and productivity improvement initiatives. Furthermore, visible commitment by Gold Fields’ senior executives and senior managers to directly communicate with senior leaders of trade unions at national level has been expressly welcomed and encouraged by the trade union leaders. Performance management The Group performance management system is a key business goal in areas such as health and safety management and productivity improvement. The BSC methodology is now fully embraced as a Group-wide process for driving performance management and is gaining momentum. Performance ratings from the individual BSCs are utilised in a number of areas such as remuneration, development and talent planning. Remuneration and benefits Gold Fields continued to optimise its total reward philosophy, which is an all encompassing philosophy incorporating salary remuneration, market trends as well as shortand long-term incentives. It also focuses on employee well-being with a special initiative called 24-hours in the Life of a Gold Fields Employee which addresses accommodation and living conditions, nutrition, health care, safe production, sport and recreation, and learning. It is aimed at attracting and retaining motivated high calibre people aligned with the interests of the business. This philosophy enhances both employee performance excellence and a culture of meritocracy founded on the principle of extraordinary rewards for extraordinary performance, providing for significant differentiation between high, average and low performers. Furthermore, we continued to maintain our competitiveness in the labour market by regularly participating in industry market surveys, not only to benchmark remuneration practices but also to keep abreast of industry movements regarding employee benefits and non-financial recognition programmes. Gold Fields is also currently actively involved in an industry task team working on formulating industry standards for remuneration practices based on labour market dynamics. We have also implemented a true total cost to company structuring for the management group of employees and also for the “Officials” bargaining unit. This structuring is known as the Gross Remuneration Package (GRP) structuring approach. Currently a total of 76 per cent of officials have voluntarily selected the GRP structuring and all employees on Paterson grades D, E, and F-band positions are on the same structuring. The share plan has been enhanced with appropriate changes to the rules. The Senior Executive Retention Bonus Scheme has been discontinued during the course of the year. It was felt that the initial intention for establishing the scheme was not realised and therefore to continue with the scheme was not in the best interests of the business. The Gold Fields Limited Corporate Retirement Fund (GFLCRF) has been closed, and two new employer funds (one for South African operations and one for corporate and international operational staff based in South Africa) have been registered within the Alexander Forbes umbrella fund – Alexander Forbes Retirement Fund (Provident Fund) – (AFRF), effective 1 March 2009. The rules of the AFRF are similar to those of the GFLCRF except for the additional investment portfolios which are now available within the AFRF. Because of the nature of the scheme, (i.e. umbrella fund), the administration costs have been reduced and the risks for trustees have been eliminated. Gold Fields offers a choice of medical aids to its employees, one being an in-house medical aid with highly competitive rates. Gold Fields is actively involved with industry-wide task teams regarding the medical aid and retirement fund industry and influences the agenda in this regard. Safe Production Management As a pivotal driver for transformation and change in Gold Fields, human resources has become a strategic partner to the business in ensuring the successful implementation of the Safe Production Management programme (SPM). The architecture of the SPM is founded on five pillars. The first two pillars, namely (1) Programmes for Safe Production and (2) Technical, Engineering and Mine Design look at traditional approaches to health and safety management, while the remaining three pillars focus directly on people driven outcomes: (3) Cultures, Values and Beliefs; (4) Organisational Structuring; and (5) Performance Leadership. Human Resources is set to play a critical role in bringing about the necessary conditions to progress from a culture of dependence to one of interdependence; rooted in beliefs and values that create the climate and context required for safe production behaviour by all employees. Transformation With regard to the representation of the Historically Disadvantaged South Africans in management (HDSAs), the following progress had been made in comparison to F2008:
Although the employment equity progress was somewhat hindered by the economic challenges faced by the operations in F2009, the operations remain on track to meet the 40 per cent HDSA target before the end of the 2009 calendar year.
The Gold Fields Business and Leadership Academy (the Academy) The Gold Fields Business and Leadership Academy continues to spearhead the provision of a full range of human resource development services needed within Gold Fields, to ensure the organisation remains adequately staffed to meet its operational requirements. The Academy has been operational since F2006 and has recently undergone a review of its service delivery and business model, thereby ensuring it remains fully aligned with the changing demands faced within Gold Fields, particularly in light of the current global economic environment. The primary objective of the Academy’s service to the Group is undergoing continuous change, evolving towards performance improvement facilitation, in addition to its traditional role as a training provider. This means that a greater focus is now being placed on the design and development of learning solutions, which should empower employees with the increased knowledge and ability needed within Gold Fields to achieve its commitment to safe production. Key delivery areas for the Academy in F2009 included: (i) providing increased support to the South African mining operations in respect of their obligations under the relevant sections of the Social and Labour Plans submitted to Government; (ii) special interventions aligned with the roll-out of Gold Fields’ Safe Production Rules, which will drive ongoing safety performance improvement. Human resource development, as an integrated process, has gained considerable momentum with the launch of Gold Fields’ Leadership Development Programme. Our leadership development, together with performance and talent management, are the key drivers of all people management initiatives. A comprehensive approach to leadership development was implemented based on a well researched and designed Gold Fields Leadership Development model and competency framework. The Leadership model and framework was utilised in selecting a group of six full time students and eleven part time students as part of a pilot programme in the South Africa Region. Learning will be based on integrated and adult learning methodologies in association with best in field partners. All learning gained from the design, development and pilot phase will be shared throughout the Group. International regions – Human Resources
Significant focus remained in the areas of bursaries (where 124 have been awarded), learnerships (378) and post graduate trainees (40), closely governed by the relevant discipline development committees through our management review process. One of the important events within the mining learnership provisions area was the successful and smooth transition from the traditional blasting certificate programme to the new era Mining Qualification Authority certification programme. Talent management The Discipline Development Committees (DDCs) are now well established, with a key focus on managing the talent in each discipline. The success of these bodies lies in the partnership between the management from the Regional office and the operations. The annual Management Review (Talent Review) outcomes form the basis of talent, succession and development planning. Execution of development initiatives in the form of skills audits, skills analysis and individual development plans (IDPs) are done through the Academy and the on-mine education and training campuses.
24 Hours in The Life of a Gold Fields Employee During the year a comprehensive new programme was launched to facilitate the total well-being of all employees in the South Africa Region. This programme is designed to address all of the needs of an employee throughout the 24-hour cycle of his or her day. Based on the Total Well-being philosophy, the programme includes interventions in the fields of accommodation and living conditions, nutrition, healthcare, sports and recreation, safety, and education and training, as well as the spiritual needs of employees. In each of the focus areas there are comprehensive plans in place to address the need for appropriate facilities and infrastructure as well as management processes to ensure delivery against the needs of employees. The programme is in the process of being adopted for each of the international regions where the roll-out will be completed during F2010. International Regions International human resource development The focal point for the human resource development effort in F2009 was the health, safety and environmental training required to comply with the site specific safety and environmental systems, as well as to support the “If we cannot mine safely, we will not mine” initiative launched during the year. An increased focus on human resource development necessitated the appointment of a dedicated training and development manager to establish a centralised training and development capacity for all of the international regions. This newly established role is expected to provide leadership in assessing and influencing international training and development initiatives. In addition, a review of the training and development effort and direction within Gold Fields has also started. These reviews should as a whole result in cross pollination and application of the identified best practices across all regions. Human Resources International Best Practice Framework The growth of Gold Fields internationally has necessitated the alignment of human resources best practices across the regions in which we operate. This has resulted in the development and implementation of the Human Resources International Best Practice Framework across the employee work cycle. This includes policies, procedures and clear cut definitions of roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders in the management of people. International deployment The globalisation of our workplace has resulted in the need to revisit deployment practices. Policies, guidelines and a comprehensive remuneration model have been developed to facilitate the seamless movement of people to suit business requirements and the transfer of scarce and critical skills. Human Resources SAP (Information Management System) The standardisation of human resources information management was prioritised as a strategic initiative across the Group. SAP was chosen as the technology enabler to achieve this. To date SAP HR (Phase 1) has been successfully implemented in Peru, followed by an accelerated implementation in Ghana and Australia. The following modules were part of the phase 1 implementation: Personnel Administration, Organisational Management, Time Recording and Administration, Payroll and Recruitment. The overall intent and focus is standardisation of information management and reporting. This initiative will be implemented for the exploration unit in F2010. Labour management In support of delivering operational excellence, renewed focus was placed on labour planning as a critical component of ensuring delivery of the overall strategy. The areas of focus included organisational design, labour cost management (as a percentage of operating costs etc), and labour trends (turnover and retention). As part of securing our future and to ensure that we have depth and breadth of skills across the business pipeline, succession planning at management and specialist levels has been elevated as a critical priority. To measure and monitor progress against plan, annual reviews are being conducted to assess internal pipeline succession against external market influences. Leadership development Leadership development is seen as the core human resources theme that supports the Gold Fields strategy. A comprehensive programme has been developed to further the growth of identified individuals that are earmarked as leaders of the future. Whilst the programme is already being implemented in the South Africa Region, it is being customised for the International Regions. Climate survey A climate survey was conducted in Ghana and Australia to explore the relationships between organisational commitment, productivity and underlying mental models that inform safety based behaviour, and also to understand the underlying assumptions of individuals, the various departments, and contractor groups. The information obtained from the survey assisted each operation to develop interventions to address their specific needs at individual, group and organisational level. Damang mine was subsequently attributed the award of the Chairman’s safety shield as a direct outcome of this intervention. Australasia Region The global financial crisis has had a major impact on the availability of labour in the Australian mining and resources sector. Numerous large projects have been deferred and several operating mines and processing facilities in the industry have been shut down, resulting in more than 13,000 job losses. The challenges of securing suitably skilled and experienced labour that existed only a few months ago has decreased and unplanned labour turnover has been significantly reduced. All of the Australian operations are in the process of securing the necessary people with the skills and experience required to meet their operational needs. While the challenges associated with sourcing labour have eased, retaining quality staff remains a high priority. In line with our strategy of ‘Growing Our People’, additional resources have been added to the human resources team to ensure appropriate training and development strategies are adopted and used effectively to further engage with our staff, providing them with skills and career growth opportunities. Promotion from within remains the key goal for filling the more senior vacancies. Employment and associated benefits are regularly monitored and benchmarked against industry surveys to ensure our total remuneration packages remain competitive. Number of expats employed in Ghana expressed as a percentage of total permanent workforce: Total permanent employees
In line with the Group Initiative, 24 Hours in the Life of a Gold Fields Employee, pioneered in the South Africa Region, and in recognition of the need for work-life balance, revised hours of work and rosters have been introduced into some sections of the operations. Improvements to village accommodation and associated facilities have also been undertaken at Kambalda and Leinster. The recently completed upgrade of the Kambalda airport has reduced the travelling time for employees and visitors to St Ives. Initiatives focusing on the health and well-being of staff beyond the workplace have continued to be well accepted. The Australian government introduced new industrial relations legislation effective from 1 July 2009. The new legislation, in part, abolishes the concept of an individual employment agreement between an employer and an employee, and it also introduces opportunities for third party intervention in the management of staff. The Australian operations have not lost any work time due to industrial action since being acquired by Gold Fields in 2001. This record can be attributed to management’s ability to deal directly with staff on all employment and related matters without outside intervention. In order to retain this ability and to avoid some of the negative aspects of the new legislation, an Employee Collective Agreement has been established and endorsed by staff at each location. These agreements will enable the existing employment relationship to continue for a further five years. West Africa Region Skills development, attraction and retention Skills development, attraction and retention in Ghana remained a major challenge. The focus of training at Tarkwa and Damang has remained on developing employees to their full potential to achieve operational excellence. Future managers and leaders are identified with the view to develop them based on individually identified and measured improvement areas. These individual development plans are linked to career paths and succession plans resulting in appropriate promotional routes. Special attention is given to the principle of promoting from within the company. A total of 90 students who have completed their studies and are undergoing their national service have been accommodated on our operations. During the national service period these individuals are exposed to the world of work and its required competencies. The organisation also reaps the benefits by assessing and attracting the best candidates for permanent employment. The year has seen the introduction of a tertiary bursary scheme for the children of employees, thus addressing future critical skills needs whilst retaining existing employees. During the year an average of 3.7 per cent of available working hours was spent in a training environment by our employees. Our total remuneration packages are acknowledged as attractive, fair and highly competitive within Ghana. Other initiatives put in place to support retention of skills include the introduction of a car loan scheme for official rank employees, where a certain portion of the interest is subsidised by the company, as well as the upgrade of accommodation on the Tarkwa mine site. Employment equity In Ghana the replacement of expatriate employees with competent national employees is a key focus area. The key to achieve this goal is through training and development and knowledge transfer. Strategies are in place to identify, develop and accelerate high potential national employees to fill positions traditionally occupied by expatriate employees. Employee relations Employees of Gold Fields Ghana enjoy freedom of association and expression with the result that two unions affiliated to the Ghana Mineworkers Union (GMWU) represent employees. A Collective Bargaining Agreement for the officials category of employees was concluded during August 2008. Collective Bargaining Agreements are negotiated every three years. Negotiations for the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the staff category of employees are ongoing. In order to promote sound relations and a sense of goodwill the following initiatives were undertaken during the year:
South America Region Cerro Corona mine in Peru employs a total of 1,836 people, consisting of 350 Gold Fields employees and the balance employed by various contractors. The single largest contractor employer is Minera San Martin, which employs some 376 people. Minera San Martin carries out all mining activities under the direction of the Gold Fields mining and geology department. All mine planning, excavation, plant deliveries, and construction activities are directly managed by Gold Fields. Other contractors include camp administration and catering, security, and laboratory operations. In general all plant/metallurgical, environmental, accounting and administration, human resources and community relations activities are executed by Gold Fields personnel. Most of the positions within the organisational structure have been filled. Gold Fields has a commitment to the local communities to employ as many people as possible from the area, to the degree practicable. This commitment also applies to our contractors. In the South America Region the approach to employee well-being is guided by the Groupwide philosophy of Total Well-being. Employees benefit from a wide range of employee specific as well as community-wide well-being initiatives which are discussed in more detail on page 73. The workforce at Cerro Corona is not unionised. Industrial relations are managed through claim policies, internal regulations, and through procedures provided for in Peruvian legislation. Labour relations at Cerro Corona are good and during the year we have experienced no interruptions to production due to labour issues. In addition to the Gold Fields Code of Ethics, an Ethics Policy that is fully compliant with Peruvian regulations, Sarbanes-Oxley and international labour conventions, has been adopted.
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