The Top Employers Institute has certified iron-ore major Kumba Iron Ore, a division of diversified mining group Anglo American, as a top employer in South Africa, owing to its employee offerings.

The international research undertaken yearly by the Top Employers Institute recognises leading employers around the world, particularly those that provide excellent employee conditions, nurture and develop talent through all levels of the organisation, and strive to continuously improve employment practices. Kumba Iron Ore has been awarded both the exclusive Top Employers South Africa 2015 certification and was also recognised as the number one employer in the mining industry.

The Top Employers Institute globally certifies excellence based on the conditions that employers create for their staff. It announced the results of this year’s research into the employee conditions of significant employers in South Africa. Kumba Iron Ore is one of the select organisations to achieve the Top Employers South Africa 2015 certification and the miner is delighted to be officially recognised as a leading employer.

Crucial to the Top Employers process is that participating companies must complete a stringent research process and meet the required standards to achieve the certification. To further reinforce the validity of the process, all answers were independently audited, and Kumba Iron Ore’s employee conditions were verified, earning the company a coveted spot among a choice group of certified Top Employers.

The Top Employers Institute assessed Kumba Iron Ore’s employee offerings on the following criteria: talent strategy; workforce planning; on-boarding; learning and development; performance management; leadership development; career and succession management; compensation and benefits; and culture.

“Optimal employee conditions ensure that people develop themselves personally and professionally. Our comprehensive research concluded that Kumba Iron Ore provides an outstanding employment environment and offers a wide range of creative initiatives, from secondary benefits and working conditions, to performance-management programmes that are well thought out and truly aligned with the culture of the company,” says Top Employers Institute South Africa regional director Samantha Crous.

Commenting on the certification, Kumba human resources executive head Virginia Tyobeka explains: “Given the robust and thorough objective research that has been undertaken – we are delighted to have been selected. This is an excellent accolade, as it provides us with important insight. We must, however, guard against being complacent about our achievements and continuously strive to improve the way we do things.”

Meanwhile, Kumba’s public service communication in September received global recognition for its Kolomela mine fatigue management community project, in Postmasburg, Northern Cape, after receiving an award of distinction for public service communication at the Global Alliance COMM PRIX awards, in Madrid, Spain.

The project was entered by Kolomela GM Nelmarie Schutte under the title, ‘Using kids to manage employee fatigue’, which aims to help address operator fatigue among shift workers – a major contributor to mine accidents – by teaching their children about the importance of rest and a healthy lifestyle for their family members. This is done through a series of specially developed, age-appropriate guides introduced to local schools as part of the life orientation syllabus. More than 1 000 children and teachers have been taught to date, empowering the children to look out for their parents and to help keep them safe.

The Global Alliance is the confederation of the world's major public relations and communication management associations and institutions, representing 160 000 practitioners and academics worldwide. Entry to the COMM PRIX awards is limited to projects that have previously won an award in a regional, national or international competition. Only 13 projects received awards in September out of hundreds entered from around the globe.

The Kolomela Mine fatigue management community project was recognised twice by the International Association of Business Communicators with gold quill awards – in 2013 and 2014.

The COMM PRIX awards coincided with the World Public Relations Forum attended by 700 practitioners from more than 60 countries.