Table of Contents 6 2012 OVATION Awards Winning Entries

very busy jobs that make taking time for information sessions difficult. They all have computers and are
heavy users of email. Head office employees working in Finance, Human Resources, IT, and other
corporate functions often lack mining knowledge or experience. Most do not travel to mine sites so they
need alternative ways to learn about mining operations. Conversely, employees in technical
departments have mining expertise and visit sites often, but they want to learn about other functions.
Also included in the audience is a group of 20 summer students, who are potential employees of the
future, and they are anxious to learn as much as possible about the industry and the company.
Goals and Objectives
Overall goals for this program were:
• To fulfill employees’ need for information (especially new and office‐bound employees)
• To improve head office employees’ understanding of the company and the mining business
• To encourage networking and collaboration
• To provide a venue for department heads to enhance their profile with employees
We set the following specific objectives for the 2011 program:
1. Attendance
o Increase attendance levels despite moving the events off‐site. Target 60 people per session.
2. Attendee feedback o Ensure high quality sessions, with at least 90% of attendees rating each session
good or excellent.
o Achieve education goal, with a minimum of 90% of attendees agreeing the session helped them feel
better informed.
These two aspects were measured using evaluation forms filled out by attendees at each session.
3. Positive presenter experience o We solicited presenter feedback with a brief email survey after the
program was completed. Our target was to have all presenters agree the event was well organized, and
gain their expressed willingness to present again in the future.
Solution Overview
• Planning for the 2011 program started with a review of attendee and presenter feedback from the
2010 sessions and the company’s 2011 strategic priorities. We developed a tentative list of topics and
approached potential speakers about their interest and availability. Senior managers’ schedules are
difficult, so we book them tentatively far in advance.
• Eight topics were chosen and announced for 2011: Gold Markets/Treasury, Safety, Security, Project
Permitting; Mining Basics, Asset Management, South American Operations, and Capital Projects Update.
In addition, we had a tentative booking for the President and CEO to lead a session at the end of the
series; we announced this special “Lunch with the President” session separately closer to the event
when his schedule was confirmed.
• Early in 2011, it became evident that office renovations would not be completed by the summer and
our meeting room would be unavailable. We discussed this with the administration manager who was
also project manager for the renovations program. She assisted us in identifying potential off‐site
venues. She also indicated that the added cost of the room rental would be absorbed into the
renovations budget. After studying several options, we selected the Royal York, a prestigious hotel just a
five minute walk from the office. Management’s willingness to cover this added cost is evidence of their
support for this program and the value they feel it brings in terms of employee education.