Increasing women in mining is imperative, says Anglo American CEO

Increasing the number of women in the workforce is a critical business imperative for resource industry organisations, according to one of Australia’s leading mining CEOs.

Speaking at the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA) Conference, CEO of Anglo American Seamus French said attracting more women employees is a top corporate priority for the world ‘Top 3’ coal exporter.

With more than 2000 new jobs in its Queensland project pipeline alone, French told the packed room at Melbourne’s Crown Conference Centre that women are a source of fresh ideas, innovation and skills for Anglo American.

“Traditionally, finding people for our future projects would mainly focus on the very competitive and limited Queensland underground coal mining pool and this approach just isn’t going to cut it anymore,” French said.

“Diversity gives us the opportunity to grow the resourcing pool rather than fishing it dry and, to make this happen, we are creating an inclusive culture which embraces all employees, no matter their gender, ethnicity, age or religion.”

Anglo American’s Metallurgical Coal business employs 4500 in Australia and, under French’s leadership, has improved the representation of women in its total workforce by 32% since 2010. Today, 12% of its mine-site employees are women and the target is to grow this to 20% by 2018.

“There is not one quick fix so our diversity action plan has covered educating our leaders, setting targets for the number of women we recruit, building partnerships with schools and universities and supporting the women we already employ through mentoring and development opportunities,” French said.

The 2013 AWRA Conference is the first-ever national event dedicated to increasing women’s participation in the resource industry.

With the industry’s collective goal being to increase the proportion of women in resource employment from 15 to 25% by 2020, presentations from leading resource companies and diversity experts explored practical solutions to the attraction and retention of women and issues surrounding workforce practices and organisational change.

AWRA is an initiative facilitated by national resource industry employer group AMMA (Australian Mines and Metals Association) in partnership with the Australian Government.