Chcteistics of n effective selfdiected wok tem in the gold-mining industy by A. Nel* nd J. Pien* J o u n l Synopsis The gold mining industy in South Afic stnds to benefit much fom the implementtion of the self-diected wok tem concept. Its intoduction implies fltte hiechicl stuctues, empowement of the wokfoce nd incesed pticiption. Resech indictes tht hlf of the inititives to implement self-diected wok tems, howeve, fil, nd it is theefoe impetive fo compnies to be we of the fctos impcting on the effectiveness of self-diected wok tems in ode to focus on these ely in the implementtion phse. The objective of the study ws to qulittively detemine these fctos. Semi-stuctued inteviews bsed on the phenomenologicl method wee cied out. The smple included membes of, nd individuls involved with, self-diected wok tems (N = 26) fom lge gold mining compny in South Afic. Results show tht most espondents ted the vilbility of esouces to do thei wok s the most impotnt fcto ffecting thei effectiveness. Intoduction The concept of self-diected wok tems (SDWT) s leding wok pctice cn be tced bck minly to chnges in wok methods in Bitish collieies nd Jpnese fctoies. The ide sped lte to the United Sttes, whee it ws populized by Kimbll Fishe nd othes1. Intentionlly, compnies hve lent tht the key to poduction effectiveness lies in the bette utiliztion of thei own employees. They ecognize tht those closest to the wok know best how to pefom nd impove thei jobs nd hve found tht to emin competitive mens tpping into the vst, unde-utilized esouce of knowledge within thei wokfoces1. Fom the ely 1990s, SDWT stted to eceive ttention in South Afic, nd viety of expeiments ws initited, minly in the pivte secto. These inititives wee usully ssocited with multi-skilling, tem-building nd wok goup empowement, esulting t times in wokfoce downscling nd chnge in the ole nd powes of mid-mnges nd supevisos2. Most ogniztions e we of the powe of temwok. A lot of esech hs gone into the subject, yet vey few ogniztions elly get it ight so tht tems nd the individuls within tems pefom t thei optimum levels3. Thee is gowing weness tht the ggegte of ll the skills, competencies nd knowledge tht esides within the individuls of n ogniztion does not necessily tnslte into collective ogniztionl knowledge nd wisdom4. Self-diected tems e smll goups of employees who hve esponsibility fo mnging themselves nd thei wok. Tem membes typiclly hndle job ssignments, pln nd schedule wok, mke poductionelted decisions, nd tke ction on poblems. Self-diected tems equie miniml diect supevision. The tems opete with fewe lyes of mngement thn tditionl ogniztionl stuctues. They equie tem membes to len multiple jobs o tsks nd to tke on mny tsks tht wee once eseved fo supevisos o mnges, including hiing, fiing, conducting ppisls, discipliny ction nd scheduling tsks4. Accoding to McNm2, self-diected wok tem cn be defined s multi-skilled o cossfunctionl wok tem whose membes e empoweed to egulte thei own ffis nd e jointly ccountble fo deliveing defined vlue-dding poduct o sevice to the ogniztion. Fishe1 defines SDWT s goup of employees who hve dy to dy esponsibility fo mnging themselves nd the wok * WokWell: Resech Unit fo People, Policy nd Pefomnce, Fculty of Economic nd Mngement Sciences, Nothwest-Univesity, Potchefstoom. The South Aficn Institute of Mining nd Metllugy, 2006. SA ISSN 0038 223X/3.00 + 0.00. Ppe eceived Aug. 2005; evised ppe eceived Jn. 2006. P p e The Jounl of The South Aficn Institute of Mining nd Metllugy VOLUME 106 NON-REFEREED PAPER MARCH 2006 179
Chcteistics of n effective self-diected wok tem in the gold-mining industy they do with minimum of diect supevision. Membes of SDWT typiclly hndle job ssignments, pln nd schedule wok, mke poduction nd/o sevice-elted decisions nd ct on poblems. A ecent study on self-diected wok tems in the gold mining industy in South Afic found tht the concept hs not been puely pplied when comped with the bove intentionl definitions5. It ws found tht hybid foms of the concept hd been intoduced s quick fix to boost stgnnt efficiencies. Two of the mines in the study mnged to double thei efficiencies fte the intoduction of the selfdiected wok tem hybid, but the effects of the intoduction of wok tems e confounded by the intoduction of new incentive schemes tht wee intoduced t the sme time. Compnies committed to the SDWT concept hope to stemline pocesses, gin poductivity, flexibility, qulity, employee commitment nd custome stisfction. Opetionl efficiency is enhnced, poduction cycles e educed nd thee is n incesed bility to espond swiftly to chnging needs of the envionment4. Tems e empoweed by eceiving the uthoity to mke decisions, the esouces to effect them, the infomtion to justify them nd the ccountbility fo thei decisions outcomes. Stydom5 efes to the coe dvntges of SDWT s stemlining of the opetion, impoved flexibility, qulity nd sfety. Appently, the benefits nd esults of successful SDWTs e impessive6. They include highe poductivity, impoved sevice qulity, lowe unit costs, fste cycle times, continuous pocess nd systems impovements, flexibility to meet pidly chnging mket demnds, gete employee stisfction levels, highe tem motivtion nd commitment to the ogniztion s success, nd fltte ogniztionl stuctues. Numeous impovements tht might be nticipted following the successful implementtion of SDWT hve been identified7. Successes include poductivity nd qulity impovements, incesed custome volume nd educed tunove nd bsenteeism. Repots fom ogniztions with the wok foces ognized into self-mnged tems lso indicte tht job clssifictions hve been stemlined, nd eltionships with unions hve impoved, following implementtion. Futhe epoted impovements include bette employee nd mngement mole, qulity of poducts/sevices nd impoved custome sevice, poductivity nd sfety8. Executives ttibute impoved poductivity nd qulity, educed wste nd n incesed level of job stisfction within thei compnies due to the use of tems. In 1991 poll, executives fom 340 diffeent compnies indicted tht fo the thee most seious poblems custome sevice, cost eduction nd poduct qulity impoved temwok is consistently cited s one of the most impotnt solutions9. In South Afic, mining opetions e undegound due to the ntue nd loction of the oe eseve. Mining tkes plce t up to fou kilometes unde the sufce, which mkes gold mining in South Afic dngeous nd especilly lbou intensive nd costly. Fo South Aficn compnies to cope with pessues nd emin competitive, they need new nd impoved pctices nd pocesses tht encompss employee pticiption, empowement, temwok, decisionmking powe nd democcy. The intoduction of SDWT could ddess this by diminishing lyes in the ogniztion, incesing flexibility nd cutting cumbesome bueuccy10. In the South Aficn business context the mining industy hs to del with fctos such s pid technologicl developments, incesed involvement of nd dicttion by the govenment in the mining secto, low litecy level of the wokfoce nd ffimtive ction. Added to this is divese nd divided wok foce in which mole nd wok ethics e lmingly low, pessues fom the wold en fo impoved qulity nd dheence to globl stndds, nd most impotntly, the huge mount of unutilized potentil11. The nd-doll exchnge te nd fluctuting gold pice e fctos influencing gold mines in South Afic, which e out of the contol of the industy itself. Cost continment nd incesing poductivity levels e pmount in ode to incese the lifespn of cuent opetions nd the vibility of explotion ctivities. The lbou intensiveness, nd its high cost, mkes poductivity levels vey impotnt in the oe extction pocess. Wok tems need to be multi-skilled, self-diected nd s smll s possible, to mximize poductivity levels, efficiencies nd to minimize costs. The ole of the tem lede nd mine e especilly impotnt in the self-diected wok tem, since they hve the potentil to influence diectly the poductivity levels of the tem nd to minimize costs by effective plnning nd usge of mteil. Findings bout self-diected wok tems elsewhee in the wold could not unciticlly be pplied to South Afic becuse of widely diffeent cicumstnces. The implementtion of self-diected wok tems equie extensive top-down commitment, nd often is costly execise, with tems tken out of thei wokplces to undego tining nd pocess nd job edesign inititives. It is theefoe impotnt to detemine the chcteistics of n effective self-diected wok tem, in ode to ensue these fctos e sufficiently ddessed in the implementtion phse, nd subsequently yield pid etun on investment. The gold mining industy stnds to gin much in tems of poductivity inceses, should the concept be effectively pplied. Vey little South Aficn esech hs evluted the concept, implementtion nd effectiveness of self-diected wok tems5. In get tems, woking togethe involves get del of ovet communiction but lso substntil subliminl nd intuitive communiction mong tem membes. This is something tht cnnot be esily tught nd cetinly not something tht hppens quickly. It is fculty tht develops ove time, nd equies focus nd hd wok to inculcte into ech membe nd the tem s whole12. This is lso not typiclly infomtion tht cn be ssessed vi self-epot questionnies o quntittive esech. A thoough qulittive investigtion is needed to identify tem membes peceptions of fctos contibuting to thei effectiveness in the gold mining industy. The objective of this study ws thus to qulittively investigte fctos elted to SDWT success, s expeienced by membes of such tems in the gold mining industy. 180 MARCH 2006 VOLUME 106 NON-REFEREED PAPER The Jounl of The South Aficn Institute of Mining nd Metllugy
Chcteistics of n effective self-diected wok tem in the gold-mining industy Method A qulittive esech design ws pplied in this study. The qulittive esech ppoch is one whee the pocedues e not so stictly fomlized, is moe widely pplied, nd whee one woks moe in philosophicl tems. The gol of qulittive esech is to undestnd, whees the gol of quntittive esech is to explin13. In the qulittive design single goup of subjects is obtined. The eson fo this ppoch is tht the phenomenon in question is bsed on the peceptions nd obsevtions of people o fctos tht led to the high pefomnce of tems. It will theefoe be up to the eseche to ccutely descibe peson s obsevtions nd peceptions nd nlyse them fo specific themes o tends13. Pticipnts The smple consists of membes of high-pefoming selfdiected wok tems. Individuls contcted fo inteviewing include mine ovesees (Pteson D-lowe), shift ovesees (Pteson C-uppe), mines (Pteson C-lowe), tem ledes nd tem membes (Pteson B). A totl of 26 individuls ws inteviewed (N=26). The chcteistics of the study popultion e epoted in Tble I. It cn be seen fom Tble I tht most of the pticipnts e fom Pteson A-B level nd tht only mles pticipted in the study. This is due to the fct tht, t the time of the study, vey few women wee employed in undegound gold mining. It is lso noticeble tht the pticipnts e mostly olde thn 36 yes nd most hd sevice in the gold mining industy of moe thn 11 yes, which shows tht the pticipnts wee genelly expeienced undegound wokes. Whee vlues do not dd up to 26, it is due to missing vlues. the theme list. On completion of the coding, the impotnce of theme could be evluted by the numbe of inteviewees who mentioned the theme in the inteview sessions. The themes tht hve the lgest mount of suppot bsed on the numbe of times they wee mentioned by inteviewees wee then identified in ode to nk the theme list. Results The following themes wee identified s the most impotnt Tble I The chcteistics of the pticipnts (N = 26) Item Ctegoy Numbe of espondents Pteson level A-B 14 C-Lowe 4 C-Uppe 3 D-Lowe 2 D-Uppe 3 Gende Mle 26 Femle 0 Age 18 25 0 26 35 3 36 45 15 46 55 6 56 65 1 Length of sevice 0 3 yes 1 3 10 yes 4 11 20 yes 11 21 30 yes 8 31 40 yes 1 Rce Blck 16 White 10 Indin 0 Coloued 0 J o u n l P p e Dt collection nd nlysis Semi-stuctued inteviews bsed on the phenomenologicl method wee used to estblish the fctos peceived to significntly ffect the pefomnce of SDWT. The inteview guide is designed to be n unstuctued question fomt, which is open-ended enough to let the inteviewees intoduce ny ides tht they think might be petinent to the discussion nd to llow the inteviewe to exploe concepts intoduced by the inteviewee. Questions e woded to elicit esponses fom the inteviewees in thei own wods tht would cptue wht they felt wee key fctos ssocited with SDWT success. Inteview dt fom the 26 inteviews wee used to develop mjo goupings, o genel clssifictions of bod ctegoies of themes, whee theme is ecuent topic of discussion o often-mentioned key fcto ffecting on the success of SDWT14. Ech bod ctegoy ws boken down into themes, which povide clssifiction lbel fo common ide o issue ticulted by the inteviewees. Inteview dt fom the 26 inteviews wee then coded onto Tble II Themes identified by espondents nd fequency of epoting of themes Fcto Numbe of Pecentge of espondents totl smple Logistics 19 73.08 Ledeship 17 65.38 Intepesonl eltionships 15 57.69 Communiction 14 53.85 Temness 11 42.31 Incentives 11 42.31 Plnning 10 38.46 Absenteeism 10 38.46 Mining stndds 6 23.08 Gound conditions 5 19.23 Skills/expeience/physicl effot 5 19.23 Suppot systems/ infstuctue/tnspot 5 19.23 Sfety 4 15.38 Wok-life blnce nd ovetime 4 15.38 Night shift peptions 3 11.54 Tining nd development 3 11.54 Job stisfction 2 7.69 Pesonlity pofile 1 3.85 Technology 1 3.85 The Jounl of The South Aficn Institute of Mining nd Metllugy VOLUME 106 NON-REFEREED PAPER MARCH 2006 181
Chcteistics of n effective self-diected wok tem in the gold-mining industy fctos ffecting on the wok pefomnce of self-diected wok tems. Tble II summizes the themes nd the numbe of espondents tht efeed to ech, wheefte the min themes e defined in the context of the study popultion. Ech of the themes identified is defined below within the context of the cuent popultion. Exmples e given of wods used by espondents to identify themes. Logistics In the context of tems woking undegound in the gold mining industy, logistics efes to the timeous vilbility of tools, mteil nd explosives, to enble the tem to cy out thei tsks. Mteil includes, fo exmple, pipes, pcks nd ils. It is the esponsibility of the mine to pln popely with the tem, detemine the kind nd mount of mteil tht will be needed, nd to ode it so tht it is vilble when needed. It is lso pt of the mine's esponsibility to follow up, ensue timeous delivey nd ovesee the tnspot of the mteil to the wokplce. Most of the espondents (73%) indicted this fcto to be the most impotnt ffecting the pefomnce of selfdiected wok tem. In eview of the litetue on selfdiected wok tems, only two efeences could be found elting to the vilbility of esouces s n impotnt fcto5,6. Genelly, this fcto is not pominent in the pefomnce of self-diected wok tems. Fctos such s ledeship nd intepesonl skills wee found to be moe significnt in the mentioned studies. Inteviewees hve descibed this fcto by using teminology such s getting ll equipment ; shotge/vilbility of mteil ; woking mteil (to be) vilble. Ledeship Supevision (ledeship) of poduction tem in the mining industy is hiechicl, with thee min supevision levels between uppe mngement nd the poduction tem itself. These e the shift ovesee, the mine nd the tem lede. Ledeship in the context of this study efes to the tem lede. Typiclly mine is plced in chge of moe thn one tem, whees ech poduction tem hs its own tem lede. It must be pointed out tht the self-diected wok tem concept descibed in litetue4 s smll goups of employees who hve esponsibility fo mnging themselves nd thei wok ; tems equiing miniml diect supevision nd tems opeting with fewe lyes of mngement, hs not been pplied fully in the South Aficn mining industy. The elity is tht cetin business units hve embked on SDWT tining inititives, but the ogniztionl stuctue nd suppot systems hve not been dpted to suppot the pdigm shift tht ws supposed to tke plce. Tems e lso not empoweed to tke decisions on thei own without involvement of the mine, shift ovesee nd mine ovesee. Stuctues emin multi-level, hiechicl nd the mngement style emins uthoittive5. Sixty-five pe cent of the espondents felt tht the ole of the tem lede is n impotnt fcto. This is definitely suppoted by pevious esech findings15 17, which identified the tem lede s n impotnt contibuting fcto in self-diected wok tem success. It would be vluble to identify the chcteistics of successful tem lede of self-diected wok tem, nd futue esech could ttempt to isolte those chcteistics. This infomtion could be pplied in the ecuitment nd selection of tem ledes, s well s in thei tining nd development. Respondents hve descibed ledeship s supevisos hs to be sobe-minded t ll times: this shows esponsibility nd good imge ; good tem ledes will stop wsting mteil undegound nd educe expenditue ; tlks in ight wy with his tem. Intepesonl eltionships Good intepesonl eltionships between tem membes, the tem lede, mine, shift ovesee nd uppe mngement, mens hving espect fo one nothe, nd the bility to mnge conflict in the tem constuctively, cing bout one nothe nd teting ech othe with dignity. Of the totl smple, 57% of espondents cited intepesonl eltionships s n impotnt fcto ffecting the pefomnce of self-diected wok tems. Effective intepesonl eltionships in successful self-diected wok tems e chcteized by tust, openness nd cceptnce17. These vlues e eflected in the cuent dt by wods nd phses such s Respectful to othes, tustwothy, be suppotive, open minded nd feeling fee to she n ide o poblem with the supeviso. Communiction Pope communiction is impotnt within the tem, s well s mong the tem lede, mine, shift ovesee nd mine ovesee (up nd down the line of supevision). In the mining industy, people fom diffeent cultul nd ethnic oigins wok togethe, nd lnguge poses bie to pope communiction. It is lso impotnt fo mngement to clely communicte gols nd objectives down the line of supevision, to the tem. Moe thn hlf of the smple (54%) sid communiction is n impotnt contibuting fcto towds tem success. Resech studies hve confimed the finding tht communiction within the tem, s well s between mngement nd the tem, is n impotnt fcto in the pefomnce of the tem5,7,15. Respondents descibe this fcto s follows: tem hs to undestnd the vision of supevision nd the objectives ; to chieve common gol the tem hs to communicte nd pticipte nd be suppotive ; communiction between cew membes nd line mngement up to top. 182 MARCH 2006 VOLUME 106 NON-REFEREED PAPER The Jounl of The South Aficn Institute of Mining nd Metllugy
Chcteistics of n effective self-diected wok tem in the gold-mining industy Temness Temness cn be descibed s goup of people hving the sense of woking togethe towds common gol, nd the tem hving n identity of its own, diffeent fom tht of othe tems. It encompsses the mngement of intenl conflict nd the suppot of tem membes. Foty-two pe cent of the smple felt tht the concept of temness ws n impotnt contibuto to tem success. Temness hs been defined s the positive effect of synegy on tem esults, nd the moe mtue tem seems to disply gete mount of synegy thn newly fomed tems7. Successful tems inevitbly mke use of itul, ceemony nd celebtions, which einfoce tem spiit17. Tem tlk nd discussion on dily pefomnce nd how to chieve tgets set ; Woking s tem ; No co-opetion mongst the tem (mkes tem pefom pooly) ; The mind fme of wokes woking in tem, good (positive) ttitude ; wee some of the phses used by espondents. Incentives Incentive schemes (bonuses) wee cited s n impotnt fcto impcting on the wok pefomnce of poduction tems. Fctos such s the numbe of tem membes, numbe of times the tem blsts pe month nd the sfety ecod e tken into ccount when woking out bonuses of employees. In this egd it would be impotnt tht the tem lede nd tem know nd undestnd the fctos impcting on thei potentil bonus enings, s this ws fequently cited s point of concen. Of the smple, just less thn hlf (42%) felt tht incentives wee impotnt fctos ttibuting to tem pefomnce. The self-diected wok tem concept cn only be successfully implemented in the gold mining industy in South Afic if it is bcked up by incentive schemes5. Respondents efeed to Good bonuses ; Bonus pyments (incentives); Don t undestnd how the bonus is clculted ; No ewds fo excellent job done ; Bonus mkes the tem pefom good o bd ; Good bonus nd ovetime pyment motivte the tem to pefom. Plnning Plnning in the context of this study efes to the mpping out of the mining e o section whee mining ctivity is to tke plce, nd usully tkes plce on monthly bsis. It lso involves the setting of the monthly tget in tems of sque metes of gound to be mined, the methods tht would be pplied, nd the mteil, tools nd explosives tht will be needed by the tem to ccomplish this. Plnning fo section is done by the mine ovesee in conjunction with the input fom suvey nd geology deptments, nd is elyed to the mines nd the tems. Of the smple, 38% felt tht plnning ws n impotnt contibuting fcto to tem success. In the context of this study, plnning is unique fcto elevnt only to the cuent study popultion. The impotnce of plnning is pointed out in pevious esech studies, but the concept efes to pope plnning of the implementtion pocess of tems. In the cuent study, plnning diectly efes to the plnning nd execution of mining ctivities. Respondents efe to mteil hs to be vilble t ll times nd peptions should be done by night shift ; good tem lede involves the tem in plnning nd job plnning contibutes to job pefomnce in tht it mkes the job done esie. Absenteeism Undegound gold mining is n extemely lbou intensive ctivity, nd one of the biggest contibutos to the high cost of mining, is lbou costs. Becuse of this, tem sizes e kept s smll s possible. Theefoe, if one tem membe is bsent unexpectedly, it ffects the wok plnned fo tht dy by the tem, nd often blst is lost due to bsenteeism o poo timekeeping. This ffects the tem s pefomnce negtively nd hs negtive impct on the bonus enings of ll tem membes. Existing esech studies do not efe to bsenteeism s specific impotnt fcto ffecting the pefomnce of selfdiected wok tems. Due to the lbou intensiveness of undegound gold mining, howeve, it is n impotnt fcto in this context, nd 38% of espondents cited bsenteeism s hving n impct on the pefomnce of self-diected wok tems. Possible esons fo bsenteeism in the mining industy could be the pevlence of HIV/AIDS nd Tubeculosis, the physicl duousness of the wok (the ftigue fcto), lcohol nd substnce buse, o it could indicte fctos such s low levels of employee motivtion. Respondents mke mention of the impotnce of being punctul t wok, othewise thee is long dely in chieving objectives ; bsenteeism mkes tem pefom pooly ; wokes must not be bsent fom wok nd knocking-off lte: you ll find tht the next shift the people didn t hve enough time to est which esults into not being ble to pefom the duties s expected. Mining stndds Undegound mining ctivity is stictly egulted by legisltion. Vey specific mining stndds wee developed, which define specificlly how mining ctivities should be pefomed. All employees e tined in tems of mining stndds nd egultions, elevnt to the specific jobs they pefom. Twenty-thee pe cent of the smple mentioned the ppliction of mining stndds s n impotnt fcto contibuting to tem success. This fcto is unique to the cuent popultion. Respondents mention tht they should pply ules nd egultions: tem hs to bide to stndds J o u n l P p e The Jounl of The South Aficn Institute of Mining nd Metllugy VOLUME 106 NON-REFEREED PAPER MARCH 2006 183
Chcteistics of n effective self-diected wok tem in the gold-mining industy nd wok ccodingly to chieve objectives ; tem hs to stick to instuctions given nd bide by ules nd egultions of the compny ; committed to sfe wok pocedues ; we must know wht type of technology to be used ccoding to the gound, s well s wht type of suppot will be needed. Gound conditions Gound condition (geologicl stuctue) detemines whethe n e cn be mined o not, wht mining methods nd technology e to be used, nd the type of suppot to be instlled. It sometimes hppens tht tem mines specific e, only to discove geologicl obstuction (fult o dyke), which delys the pocess of getting the gold out. Smple dilling is done befoehnd in ode to mp out the geologicl stuctue of piece of gound. Of the smple, 19% of the espondents nmed gound conditions s n impotnt fcto influencing tem pefomnce. This fcto is unique to the cuent popultion. Respondents identified the fcto of gound conditions by teminology such s geologicl stuctue impcts on tem pefomnce. It is hd physicl wok nd employees must know the gound conditions ; the fcto tht impcts most on the wok of my tem is the gound. We must look t it befoe we stt stoping nd know bout them nd use technology depending on them (gound conditions). We cn use n open type stope, o not, nd wht fom of suppot will be needed. Skills nd expeience Woking undegound tkes cetin mount of getting used to, nd expeience plys big ole in the pefomnce of individuls nd tems. Although ll employees undego foml job tining pio to plcement undegound, it tkes time to get to know gound fomtions, to identify sfe nd unsfe wok es, nd the unwitten ules of woking undegound. Technicl skills e eqully impotnt, nd employees often become poficient in pticul skill only fte pefoming on the job fo n extended peiod of time. Of the smple, 19% of the espondents felt tht the skills nd expeience of tem membes significntly ffect tem success. Skills nd expeience e lso cited in pevious esech18 s impotnt, but hving undegound expeience is fcto unique to the mining industy. Dille competency is n impotnt fcto impcting on the wok pefomnce of tem ; it is hd, physicl wok, nd employees must know the gound conditions. Novices do not mke the gde ; we must know the gound conditions nd choose technology depending on it, lso wht fom of suppot will be needed, e some of the phses used to identify this fcto. Suppot systems/infstuctue/tnspot In the context of this study, suppot systems efe to the pocesses tht suppot the min business pocess (which is oe extction nd development), nmely oe tnspot, shft engineeing, humn esouces nd finnce. Twenty pe cent of the smple cited this fcto s impotnt. Sfety Mining undegound is dngeous due to the immense pessue exeted by the tons of gound on the mined-out es fom bove. Seismic events cuse the flling of gound in the mined-out es nd cuse injuy nd deth of mines nnully. People woking undegound e lso exposed to high tempetues nd dust-filled i. The oe extction methods still used tody e lbou intensive nd equie hd, stenuous physicl ctivity, which induces ftigue nd futhe inceses the possibility of injuy. Mining is theefoe stictly egulted by legisltion in n ttempt to ensue the sfety of undegound wokes. Despite the dngeous ntue of undegound mining opetions nd the numbe of ftlities in the industy evey ye, only fifteen pe cent of the espondents felt sfety ws n impotnt fcto influencing tem success. The fcto ws identified by phses such s sfety hving sfety equipment, ensuing tht the pope clothing nd equipment is being used ; wok to be done in sfe e ; sfety meetings t the beginning of the shift, committed to sfe wok pocedues ; the tem must mke the plce sfe without hzds. Wok-life blnce nd ovetime The objective of undegound gold mining tems is to blst ock dily. A lot needs to hppen on dily bsis befoe blsting cn tke plce, nd sometimes tems wok ovetime in ode to get blst fo the dy. Excessive ovetime distubs peson s blnce between wok nd othe pstimes, nd it ws mentioned s hindeing fcto by fifteen pe cent of the pticipnts. Night shift peption Twelve pe cent of the espondents nmed night shift peptions s n impotnt fcto influencing tem success. Mining is cyclicl pocess nd ttining the month s poduction tget entils epetition of the sme set of ctivities in sequence nd on dily bsis, with the min objective being to ttin qulity blst pe shift. The ctivities e split into mking the e sfe, chging up, dilling nd blsting the e, nd emoving the boken ock fom the e so tht the pocess cn be epeted. The emovl of blsted ock is typiclly done by tem of night shift employees, who e supposed to pepe the e fo dy shift employees to pefom thei duties. If this does not hppen, dy shift employees spend thei time clening the e nd blst is lost fo the dy. 184 MARCH 2006 VOLUME 106 NON-REFEREED PAPER The Jounl of The South Aficn Institute of Mining nd Metllugy
Chcteistics of n effective self-diected wok tem in the gold-mining industy Night shift cews hve to get full peptions done in ode fo the tem to pefom thei duties ; night shift wokes hve to do ll the peptions ; night shift wok till lte (not finished in time), e some phses identifying this fcto. Tining nd development In the smple popultion, ll self-diected wok tems undego specil tining pogmmes designed specificlly to tin employees on how to wok togethe s tem, business undestnding, plnning, nd vious othe skills necessy to enble them to pefom s self-diected wok tems. Expeientil lening ctivities e lso included. The business units lbelled these specil tining pogmmes diffeently on ech mine ( Powe Tem Tining, Supe Tem Tining, Self-diected Wok Tem Tining ), but these pogmmes hd bsiclly the sme objectives nd the content ovelpped to get extent. Follow-up o efeshe tining nomlly took plce six months to ye fte the fist tem tining inititive. Twelve pe cent of the espondents nmed tining nd development s n impotnt fcto contibuting to tem success. Pevious esech hs ttibuted much moe impotnce to tining nd development thn the cuent esults, nd hs identified tining nd development s highly impotnt in the implementtion of successful selfdiected wok tems1,7,16,18. Respondents hve mentioned the following bout tining nd development s fcto ffecting on the pefomnce of self-diected wok tems: Fo the fist time in thei lives they e exposed to business pinciples, get tught conflict mngement skills, the pinciples of temwok e explined. They e shown the bigge pictue nd whee thei tem fits in ; They e shown how to tke chge of thei own destiny s f s bonus enings e concened, nd hving this undestnding empowes them. Job stisfction Undegound gold mining is physiclly duous nd the wok envionment is dngeous nd unplesnt to most people. Job stisfction could be deived fom the chllenging spect of the wok. Eight pe cent of the espondents nmed job stisfction (o the lck theeof) s fcto ffecting on the success of self-diected wok tems. Pesonlity pofile Pesonlity pofile efes to the pesonlity chcteistics of tem membes, nd suggests tht cetin pesonlity pofile will be moe suited to this type of wok thn othes. Fou pe cent of the pticipnts felt tht this fcto ffecting on the success of tems. Technology Although undegound gold mining is extemely lbou intensive, cetin technologies e lso used in the oe extction nd development pocesses. Fou pe cent of the espondents cited the ppopite use of technology s n impotnt fcto. Discussion The most significnt esult of the cuent study is tht it evels diffeent fcto s the most impotnt one in the wok pefomnce of self-diected wok tems thn which is suggested in the litetue. Futhemoe, numbe of fctos tht e elevnt only to undegound gold mining in South Afic wee identified. The highest numbe of espondents felt tht logistics (vilbility of esouces to do the job) is n impotnt vible in self-diected wok tem success, nd indicte the impotnce of this fcto in self-diected wok tem pefomnce. The esults lso suggest tht poblems in the e of mteil nd esouces supply might exist, nd futue esech could be conducted to exploe this. The impotnce of fctos such s tem lede chcteistics, communiction, intepesonl eltionships, temness, incentives, skills nd expeience nd tining s deived fom the litetue study, wee confimed by the esults of this study. These esults lso confim the impotnce of the humn fcto when implementing self-diected wok tems, in tht the significnt dives of success e often the unseen fctos such s eltionships nd tem synegy. Fctos unique to the gold mining industy in South Afic tht wee identified include plnning (seen in the context of dily mining ctivities), bsenteeism, mining stndds, gound conditions nd night shift peptions. It is theefoe dvisble to keep these fctos specificlly in mind when self-diected wok tems e implemented in the gold mining industy. The plnning pocess is impotnt nd elevnt in the undegound mining context becuse tems need to mp out thei piece of gound in eltion to the whole, nd pln thei wok fo the following month. Tditionlly tems wee not involved in this pocess nd it ws pefomed by the mine ovesee, shift ovesee nd sometimes the mine of the section, nd instuctions wee elyed to the tem. The implementtion of self-diected wok tems in the mining industy lso sw the inclusion of tems themselves in the plnning pocess, which empowes them nd gives them owneship ove thei tsks nd objectives. Becuse of the lbou intensiveness of undegound gold mining in South Afic, the chievement of poduction tgets ely hevily on the pefomnce of the tem membes themselves. Tems usully hve just enough membes to pefom ll the tsks equied fo the dy in ode to blst, becuse lbou is n expensive component of the cost of mining. Absenteeism ffects negtively on poduction output, s the unfoeseen bsence of tem membe often esults in the tem not being ble to ech its tgets o woking excessive ovetime in ode to ech its tgets. J o u n l P p e The Jounl of The South Aficn Institute of Mining nd Metllugy VOLUME 106 NON-REFEREED PAPER MARCH 2006 185
Chcteistics of n effective self-diected wok tem in the gold-mining industy Ech mine hs diffeent geologicl stuctue nd theefoe hs cetin set mining stndds ccoding to which tsks e pefomed undegound. This is egulted by legisltion19 22. Mining stndds ffect the pefomnce of tems becuse it equies wok to be done in cetin wy, mostly fo helth nd sfety esons. This often inceses the difficulty fcto of the wok nd complictes the pocess tht needs to be followed befoe blst cn tke plce. Gound conditions influence the pefomnce of tems in the sme wy, s cetin geologicl stuctues mke it ext difficult to mine specific e, nd complicte the mining pocess. In this context night shift peptions is lso fcto unique to the mining industy, nd is impotnt becuse of the cyclicl ntue of undegound gold mining. Cetin tsks e pefomed by night shift cew (clening of the wokplce) nd peption of the wokplce fo the dy shift cew to pefom thei tsks. If the wok of the night shift cew ws not done to stndd, it hs negtive impct on the output of the dy shift tem nd often esults in lost blst fo the dy. The expecttion ws fomed fom the litetue eview tht incentive schemes e extemely impotnt in the success of self-diected wok tems in the mining industy in South Afic, with one study concluding tht incentives e the most impotnt of contibuting fctos. Studies concluded tht povety nd high levels of unemployment in South Afic contibute to monety needs being vey impotnt to employees. The fct tht less thn hlf of the espondents ted incentives s significnt fcto ffecting the success of self-diected wok tems is, howeve, supising s one would expect bigge pecentge. Stydom5 explins tht, in the South Aficn (thid wold) sitution, money is huge motivto wokes despetely equie physicl nd sfety needs to be stisfied. The esult is tht ny poduction-bsed incentive scheme will led to espective incese in poductivity. The self-diected wok tem concept in its pue fom is focused on higheode needs, such s self-ctuliztion, intecting with fellow-wokes, nd job impovement. But, unless the lowe level needs e met fist by monety gin, the concept will not ech its full potentil. The comments mde by pticipnts point out tht employees e often unwe of the method nd pocess of bonus clcultion, which cuses uncetinty nd suspicion. Refeences 1. FISHER, K. Leding self-diected wok tems: A guide to developing new tem ledeship skills. New Yok, McGw-Hill, 1993. 2. MCNAMARA, K. The tnsition to tems: Lessons fom South Aficn compnies. The Innes Lbou Bief, 1996, vol. 8, no. 1. 3. FROST, T. Is it ll the sme gme? People Dynmics, 2001, August, vol. 19, no. 7, pp. 26 29. 4. FELTS, C. Tking the mystey out of self-diected wok tems. Industil Mngement, 1995, Mch/Apil, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 21 26. 5. STRYDOM, C.F. An evlution of the self-diected wok tem concept s mens to impove ovell pefomnce on South Aficn gold mines. Jounl of the South Aficn Institute of Mining nd Metllugy, 2002, vol. 102, no. 2, pp. 93 100. 6. KATZ, M. Self-diected wok tems. People Dynmics, 1993, July, vol. 11, no. 9, pp. 34. 7. ATTARAN, M. nd NGUYEN, T.T. Design nd implementtion of self-diected pocess tems. Mngement Decision, 1999, vol. 37, no. 7, pp. 553 560. 8. Shives, C.H. Self-diected wok tems: Development nd sfety pefomnce. Pofessionl Sfety, 1999, vol. 44, no. 7, pp. 34 38. 9. FROHMAN, M.A. Do tems...but do them ight. Industy Week, Apil 3, 1995, pp. 21 24. 10. NDALA, R. Tems. Poductivity SA, 2000, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 24. 11. MCNAMARA, K. Tining nd empowement of self-diected wok tems. The Innes Lbou Bief, 1994, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 34 42. 12. GAGA, M. Developing wold clss tem ledes: cse study. People Dynmics, 1999, vol. 17, no. 9, pp. 40 44. 13. MOUTON, J. nd MARAIS, H.C. Bsiese begippe: Metodologie vi die Geesteswetenskppe. Petoi: RGN-uitgewes, 1992. 14. BJORKEGEN, D. It doesn t hve to be tht wy. Ppe pesented t the Ognistionl Behviou Teching Confeence, Columbi, 1989. 15. AMMETER, A.P. nd DUKERICH, J.M. Ledeship, tem building nd tem membe chcteistics in high pefomnce poject tems. Engineeing Mngement Jounl, 2002, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 3 10. 16. CAPOZZOLI, T. How to succeed with self-diected wok tems. Supevision, 2002, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 25 26. 17. WARNER, R. Hot Tems Wht is the secet of ceting mgicl tem pefomnce? Mngement Tody, Yebook, 2000, pp. 52 53. 18. WALTERS, H. Ledeship nd temwok in hostile envionment: A tue inspitionl chllenge. Mngement Tody, 1999, June, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 16 21. 19. South Afic. The Minels nd Petoleum Resouces Development Act, Numbe 28 of 2002. Govenment Pintes, Petoi, 2002. 20. South Afic. Mines Helth nd Sfety Act, Numbe 29 of 1996. Govenment Pintes, Petoi, 1996. 21. South Afic. Minels Act, Numbe 50 of 1991. Govenment Pintes, Petoi, 1991. 22. South Afic. Mines nd Woks Act, Numbe 27 of 1956. Govenment Pintes, Petoi, 1956. 186 MARCH 2006 VOLUME 106 NON-REFEREED PAPER The Jounl of The South Aficn Institute of Mining nd Metllugy