The case for (more) leadership and communication training in Canada’s mining sector

Canada’s miners are no strangers to production optimization. Enormous time, effort and investment is dedicated to measure and increase the efficiency of processes and equipment. On the other hand, competencies like communication and leadership are hard to quantify, and easy to ignore. Perhaps that’s why relatively little investment is devoted to improving the “human” side of mining operations.

But as Canada’s mining sector continues to suffer from a weak labour market, data suggests that today’s mining leaders may be lacking people management skills. As retention rates plummet, recruitment costs rise, and employee engagement declines, so-called “soft” skills like leadership and communication are becoming more critical for mining organizations.

In fact, 52% of employees who left their job in the last six-months cited “feeling unvalued by their manager” as a key reason. Among mining workers that plan to leave their job, 26% say “uninspiring leadership” is the main reason. 

Poor management skills could perhaps also explain why retention rates for female employees remain low. Despite efforts to attract women into the industry, the gap for women between entry level and middle-management positions remains substantial. Among women that leave the mining industry, a lack of mentorship is often cited as a key reason for their decision.

While hard to quantify, leadership that results in high employee turnover can mean high costs for miners. As employees leave, overtime rates increase, mistakes rise as over worked staff cover until replacements can be hired, and overall production efficiency is reduced.

High turnover can also mean increased costs in the form of recruitment and on-boarding expenses. In the mining sector, hiring and training costs for technical positions can be upwards of ½ - 2 times the yearly salary of the employee.

For employees that elect to stay, poor leadership could have a negative effect on their engagement while at work and often translates to a reduction in overall productivity.

In fact, 70% of employees say that their managers do not provide clear goals or direction, and 69% of managers’ report feeling uncomfortable communicating with employees in general. With such a staggering disconnect between managers and employees it’s unsurprising that trends like “quiet quitting” are on the rise.

With such widespread employee disengagement, it’s no surprise that talented people leaders can have outsized impacts on their teams. Data suggests that a talented manager can increase team performance by 22% and can have significant impacts on overall profitability.

While it’s clear that in the mining industry, technical competencies are critical for management, the mining sector has tended to promote individuals into leadership roles based on their technical expertise alone, with leadership skills often an afterthought.

Unfortunately, technical experts aren’t automatically effective leaders. The ability to encourage career development, give feedback, and provide clear communication are all skills that have immense positive impacts on employee engagement and productivity.

Miners should look to choose the next generation of leaders with not only a view on technical competencies (which should not be discounted), but also incorporate leadership and communication expertise. For those already in management positions, leadership training may be a wise investment given today’s labour market.

Beyond simple leadership and communication skills, miners could also look to invest in more holistic management development programs. Being able to see beyond technical issues allows for managers to build more effective business cases and see the big picture of the mining operation and could mean big savings for mining organizations.

Developing managers doesn’t happen overnight. Canada’s miners will need to identify future leaders early in their career and invest in them purposefully. Providing opportunities for more technical training, while also encouraging them to develop broad leadership and management competencies will be critical.

For miners that continue to think of leadership and communication as terms used to pad a CV, that are merely nice to have, high costs associated with poor engagement and employee retention should be expected. For Miners that take people management seriously, reduced employee turnover, heightened engagement and more efficient operations are likely to follow.