bold spirit - ArcelorMittal South Africa

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ArcelorMittal South Africa
Annual Report 2010
Human Resources management continued
Plans are in place and budgets have been approved to roll
out a variety of campaigns to sustain communication and to
boost employee morale in the year ahead.
hold seats on various committees,
including the Safety, Health and
Environment and Employment Equity
Committees.
Management meets with union
representatives on a monthly basis
and senior trade union members are
involved in negotiations on wages and
conditions of service. The two-year
Collective Labour Agreement signed in
2008 lapsed in 2010. In March 2010
we renegotiated a new agreement
with unions resulting in a 7.5% salary
increase and a housing allowance
increase of 10% for the three lowest
categories. The overall cost impact of
this agreement was 7.8%
We recognise the importance of
maintaining open and transparent
dialogue with employees, particularly
during difficult periods, and we
continue to engage with employees
through various structures and
forums. Personal growth is a strong
motivator for most people, especially
for our professional staff. This factor
− combined with the shortage of skills
in the country − was the prime reason
we maintained our skills development
and training programme through the
economic crisis period and continue to
invest substantial sums in this area.
Identifying employee concerns
Information obtained through
engagement surveys, and our
performance on critical human
resources indicators, have highlighted
the following material human
resources issues:
• Employee morale
• Attracting external talent
• Employment equity
• Remuneration
Attracting external talent is dealt with
in the section ‘Growing a robust skills
pipeline’, while employment equity
is dealt with in the section ‘Socioeconomic
equity’. The rest are dealt
with below, as well as the aspect of
career development.
Employee morale
The negative effects of the economic
downturn, cost cutting, tightening of
budgets, unfavourable press coverage
and government’s open criticism of
the company’s pricing structure have
led to uncertainty among employees
and a drop in employee morale.
We are aware of the negative impact
of these issues on our people and
taken active steps to boost employee
morale, starting with clear and regular
communication. Plans are in place and
budgets have been approved to roll
out a variety of campaigns to sustain
such activities. In particular, our senior
managers have been encouraged to
respond to employee concerns at local
level.
The global company carries out
biannual group-wide climate surveys,
testing employee views on the state
of the company. Specific action plans
are drawn up after a group-wide
communication process.