Extraordinary times

Hello fellow bloggers…

The summer break is almost over, and I still am not sure where the time has gone?
I started my three month placement in December, and it is hard to believe there are only a few weeks left.

My placement is with Rio Tinto Iron Ore, in the Communications and External Relations Department, working primarily with the Community Investment team.

The work is fairly standard, but it is the current business environment that is making my placement a once in a life time work experience opportunity.

There have been more “D” days in my time at Rio Tinto than I think most people would have (or want!!) in their entire careers.

The first was December 10, when the global head office announced there would be 14,000 job cuts world wide. With the global operations for Iron Ore in Perth, the local threat was immediately felt.

I think our department was a text book example of how you deal with the nasty business of retrenchments.

A team meeting was held within an hour of the global announcement to ensure employees understood what it meant for them, and we were given any information that was available. Job cuts would be made after Christmas, and people were encouraged to think, but not worry, about the situation over the Christmas break.

On going meetings ensured the team was briefed. While Community Investment focussed on cost cutting – which will be another blog – Media Relations went into over drive.

Gervase Greene, the Rio Tinto Iron Ore Manager for Media and Communications, was on the phone non stop following the announcement. And after every “D” Day, his phone cord would tie him to his desk for another day. He is fantastic at his job.

When we returned from the Christmas break, there were rumours about when the retrenchments would start. They started about two weeks in (“D” Day #2), and lasted for two weeks.

January 15 was the biggest announcement, especially in terms of media coverage. The under ground operations at Argyle Diamonds, a Rio Tinto business unit, were stopped indefinitely and hundreds of contractors and employees lost their jobs.

I was at the airport, with the television film crews (7 and 10) when a number of the redundant workers flew into Perth. It was interesting to see the employees react to the film crew. Some avoided them, some wanted to make their voice and story heard. The TV crew sought out workers that were carrying their children to get a more emotive shot. Most workers understood why the retrenchments had occurred, and although they were not happy with losing their jobs, accepted that the boom and bust cycle was just another part of the mining industry.

That night the shots were on most of the local television stations, and we got a lot of media in the following days.

I think it is interesting to note that as a team, we felt we weathered the media storm very well. While we had big presence, it was a fair coverage of the situation. Negative by the subject
nature, but fair in the way the company was positioned.

A former employee who was interviewed on 720 the following day shared the sentiment that while he was in a bad position, it is part and parcel of working in the industry. We have also been approached by radio stations to do a feature on the positive things we are still working on in the affected mining towns, offering a positive slant on the company despite the situation.

However, a week later BHP Billiton retrenched hundreds of workers, particularly in Nickel operations at Hopetoun and Mount Keith (where my father works). In the lead up to this announcement, BHP Billiton played down the possible retrenchments, saying it was unnecessary because they did not have Rio Tinto’s high level of debt.

Employees at Mount Keith were not supposed to, and did not, have any idea of the scale of retrenchments that were planned. As a result, when the axe did fall, BHP Billiton was given a very hard time by the press, and the employee sentiment did not reflect the same understanding as Rio Tinto’s. They were berated in the media, both state and national, for days. Issues surrounding the Hopetoun operations continue.

What did I learn?

Be open and honest with all stakeholders, including the media, but importantly employees. An expected and well managed issue will be received far better than one that is unexpected. (i.e. Rio Tinto retrenchments vs. BHP Billiton)

Employee relations are paramount – if employees wanted to get in front of the Channel 7 camera to complain about the company, the media could turn it into a frenzy. If an employee can stand there and say the situation is terrible, but the company did its best, the media will report it on the first night, and look for another story the next day.

At Ravensthorpe for example, there was out cry from a range of stakeholders (state, local and national government, media, community, etc.) about the situation. A week later BHP Billiton announced some compensation would be available. Stakeholders are grateful but still want more. Had BHP Billiton announced these compensation packages with the original announcement of closure, this would have positioned their company as far more compassionate and community aware, and I believe they would have been better presented in the media.

On a personal note, one of our team members was retrenched. She left this week, and was one of the younger team members who had only been here a few months. While the first round of job cuts is over, there is a strong feeling there is more to come in February or March. No one feels “safe”, but the shared feeling is the best way to safe guard yourself is to keep working hard.

That’s all for now, will post again soon!

Amanda