Case study: How Endeavour promotes employee development
Endeavour Mining is a premier intermediate gold producer, with a solid track record of operational excellence, project development and exploration in the Birimian greenstone belt in West Africa. Employees are Endeavour’s most important resource, and developing their skills while creating a dynamic working culture are commitments that Endeavour remains faithful to.
This case study is based on the 2018 Sustainability Report by Endeavour published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Endeavour firmly believes that in order to grow local talent, it needs to create the right environment for skill transfer and training. Tweet This! In order to promote employee development Endeavour took action to:
- create the “Endeavour Academy”
- collaborate with training institutions
- carry out performance appraisal reviews
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Endeavour has identified;
- How Endeavour proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Endeavour to promote employee development
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2018 Sustainability Report Endeavour identified a range of material issues, such as employment and labour relations, sustainable and local procurement, water stewardship, hazardous materials & waste, anti-bribery and corruption. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for Endeavour.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Endeavour engages with:
To identify and prioritise material topics Endeavour engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Communities | · Consultation Committees at various levels · Grievance mechanisms · Regular meetings with traditional and religious authorities as well as other community groups · Consultations, Environmental and Social Impact Assessments, Public hearings, Stakeholder Engagement Plans · Local cultural and sporting events · Newspapers, radio, television · Newsletters and noticeboards · Participation in local sporting and cultural events · Mine site visits · Community focal points |
| Employees | · Staff representatives · Performance reviews and appraisals · Daily pre-start and toolbox meetings · Training programmes · Newsletters · Intranet |
| Authorities | · Formal meetings and correspondence · Board meetings · Site visits and inspections · Presentation of annual reports · Government and private sector meetings · Chamber of Mines meetings and events · National and International Mining conferences |
| Unions | · Union representatives meetings · Formal meetings, correspondence and events · Onsite training |
| Suppliers and contractors | · Relationship building by procurement team · Supplier appraisal process · Tender documents process or Request for Quote Process · Supply contracts process or Purchase order process · Meetings with local businesses plus expediting and Quality Control |
| Shareholders | · Investor roadshows · Access to meetings and calls, including with CEO/COO/CFO/VP IR · Conferences and forums · Site visits · Press releases, website and filed TSX regulatory documents · Responding to sustainability questionnaires · Responding to rating agency questionnaires |
| Associations | · Partners in Endeavour’s community and livelihood restoration projects · Formal correspondence and meetings · CSR forum |
| Media | · Publications and online information · Press releases and market statements · Interviews · Site visits · Short films · Regular coverage of site activities · Meetings with Journalists · Press events |
What actions were taken by Endeavour to promote employee development?
In its 2018 Sustainability Report Endeavour reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:
- Creating the “Endeavour Academy”
- In 2018, Endeavour created the “Endeavour Academy” initiative to give visibility to all its skills transfer and training programmes, making sure that it continuously increases the level of expertise of its employees and that they possess the right skill set to run Endeavour’s business. The Academy constitutes an important staff retention tool, and encourages employees in their daily tasks.
- Collaborating with training institutions
- Endeavour has formed partnerships with training institutions to promote the mining industry to school and university students and hopefully create vocations. For example, Endeavour is partnered with the educational establishments in Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso and offers internships to their students. In 2018, a total of 69,443 hours of training were offered by Endeavour, averaging 13 hours of training per employee. Endeavour carries out continuous training programmes for its employees and an intensive training programme during construction projects, alternating classroom and field teaching and, through its “Growing Local Talent” initiative, Endeavour’s supervisors and managers continuously assess its workforce to identify areas of skill mastery and leadership development potential to enhance training opportunities and promote internally wherever possible. As a result, in 2018, Endeavour identified 25 national employees to participate in its ongoing Management Development Programme in partnership with the University of Stellenbosh, which equips managers with necessary competencies to implement Endeavour’s strategic objectives and prepares them for roles that are more senior.
- Carrying out performance appraisal reviews
- At the end of 2018, each Endeavour employee went through a Performance Appraisal Review, where their performance was weighed against initial key performance indicators and targets. This leads to a performance-based compensation assessed on metrics such as production, health and safety, environmental compliance and other corporate goals and individual objectives in line with the newly created “Endeavour Reward” initiative. For the projects there is no performance evaluation, due to the short-term nature of the work.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee
2) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs
Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
- Business theme: Employee training and education
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- Business theme: Gender equality
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Employee training and education
Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Employee training and education
Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- Business theme: Gender equality
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Employee training and education
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Endeavour, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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