Sustainability

Social Performance

Learning and development

The principle of 'learning for growth' remains a key in PPC's success: our group needs the right people, with the right skills, doing the right things. That is why training is such an important building block of our strategy for growth. Accordingly, the learning and development function is primarily aimed at ensuring that PPC team members have the opportunity, the resources and the means to fulfil their career ambitions and their highest potential.

Our diverse training programmes have produced substantial benefits for both PPC and participants. PPC's commitment to the principle of learning for growth has been entrenched throughout the group, with the academies growing from strength to strength.

Average hours of training per category

On average, a PPC employee spends around 78 hours or over nine days on training per annum.

Employee levels	Average training hours
Executive	10,0
Senior management	6,6
Middle management	16,9
Professionally qualified specialists	53,6
Skilled (upper) supervisors	70,5
Skilled technical employees	70,0
Semi-skilled employees	62,7
Apprentices/trainees	486,4
Unskilled employees	97,5
Overall average	77,6

Cost of training (RSA only) (R000)

African		Indian		Coloured		White
Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
R11 483	R1 566	R3 930	R656	R263	R76	R3 198	R671

Percentage of payroll invested in skills development

During the review period, PPC spent 6,4% of its payroll (ie leviable amount) on skills development for employees; 80% of this was spent on previously disadvantaged employees at a total investment of R33,7 million, compared to R31,5 million in 2009.

Leadership development

We believe developing leadership at PPC is a valuable investment in guiding the mindsets of our leaders and equipping them for their respective roles.

Leadership development initiatives during the year were diverse but focused on guiding and aligning leadership to the new vision and business strategy. This included a review of PPC leadership values and behaviours, mentoring and coaching initiatives and ongoing emotional intelligence profiling and coaching for new and current managers. All initiatives were targeted at executive and senior management levels.

By continuously reviewing and aligning all our leadership development initiatives, we ensure they remain relevant and appropriate for the intended business purpose.

Academies

PPC is focused on building sustainable competence to remain globally competitive. Our academies were developed to support this need. Where appropriate, PPC aims to align its development initiatives to the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

The PPC Academy consists of five legs:

• Sales and marketing
• Operations
• Mining
• Leadership and management
• Technical skills.

PPC sales and marketing academy

In April 2010, the third intake of seven learners from PPC and 20 from Barloworld's Plascon began their course at PPC's sales and marketing academy. In November, the second group of learners graduated with a level 4 qualification in customer management accredited by the NQF and recognised by the European Marketing Federation.

In developing this academy, PPC and Plascon carefully identified their own needs and integrated these into a registered qualification hosted by the Services Seta.

PPC operations academy

In November 2010, 27 learners of the original 40 graduated from the 2007 and 2008 intakes to the operations academy. Fifteen learners were enrolled in each of the 2009 and 2010 intakes.

All learners are working towards further education and training certificates in carbonate materials manufacturing process on NQF level 4. PPC is the only company offering this 18-month programme, which is accredited by the MQA and registered with SAQA.

PPC mining academy

PPC adapted its rock-breaking: quarrying qualification to align with new explosives regulations in 2009 and retain its status as an industry leader among accredited training providers.

In total, 26 learners are at various stages of completing this NQF level 3, 18-month course. Practical training is clearly a critical component in developing rock-breaking skills and PPC is working closely with major suppliers such as Stefanutti Stocks civils division, Shawroc Trading and Videx to ensure learning takes place in situations that resemble the real-life experience as closely as possible.

PPC leadership and management academy

Launched in May 2009, the aim of this academy is to develop the ideal balance of leadership and management skills, resulting in globally competitive leaders who are also high-performance managers addressing our business requirements. At present, there are 16 leader/managers participating in the senior management programme.

The PPC leadership and management academy is unique in that learning material is customised for PPC, and includes case studies from the group. Participants also benefit from the combination of PPC subject-matter experts and best-of-breed facilitators and lecturers, while group work enhances cross-functional learning across the value chain. In addition, applying new knowledge is customised for each participant and integrated with coaching, while on-the-job evaluations link to performance. Participants are carefully selected from high performers, succession candidates and newly appointed technical specialists.

PPC technical skills academy

The technical skills academy (TSA) completed another successful year, operating above capacity for most of the time. During the period, TSA maintained its MQA accreditation, its ISO 9001:2008 certification, and received a clean audit report from the SABS. After a recent audit by Merseta, it was recommended that TSA receive full accreditation to provide training and conduct trade tests as a decentralised trade test centre for the next five years.

Facilities were upgraded during the year to accommodate up to 100 delegates at a time. By year end, 28 of the current learners had successfully completed their trade tests.

Technician development programme

Ten candidates embarked on the pilot technician development programme launched in early 2009. This is aimed at attracting, retaining and developing technicians from within and outside PPC, with two routes towards technical development: the first offers external students at universities of technology the opportunity to complete their in-service training with PPC; the second route enables PPC employees - current technicians or those who want to develop in this area - to develop their existing competencies or follow the technician route by developing their knowledge, skills and experience. Both routes of development feed into technician succession pipelines.

Six trainees continued with their second-year training in the past year, specialising in specific PPC competencies. Some of these candidates have already been appointed to permanent positions in the company. The next intake of trainees is in January 2011.

2010 development initiatives

		African		Indian		Coloured		White
Programme	Comments	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	Total
Sales and marketing 2008 intake	All graduated in November 2010	3				2	1	1	3	10
Sales and marketing 2010 intake	Started in April 2010	5				1		1	1	8
Operations 2007 intake	Graduated in November 2010	4	2			5		8		19
Operations 2008 intake	Graduated in November 2010	7				7		6		20
Operations 2009 intake		8				3		4		15
Operations 2010 intake	Started in June 2010	6				5		4		15
Mining 2008 intake		5				6		3		14
Mining 2009 intake		5				3	1	3		12
Management and leadership		2		2	2	1		8	1	16
Electrical learnership		14	4	4				3		25
Fitter and turner		18	4			9		2		33
Plater welder		18				4				22
Diesel mechanic		13						3		16
Bridging programme		32	1			43	1	18	4	99
Total		140	11	6	2	89	3	64	9	324

Case study - Trainee technician programme builds skills In 2008, PPC approved a pilot programme to train electronic technicians for the group and to give candidates with S4 qualifications the work experience (or in-service training) they need to receive national diplomas. In addition to 12 months of work experience, we included a second year of training on PPC-specific competencies. The first nine trainees were enrolled in January 2009, moving through a generic engineering skills programme to practical and theoretical courses at PPC's technical skills academy (TSA) and their respective sites. An important part of the learning experience was the need for each candidate to complete a mini project on a plant simulator at TSA and present this, together with their total learning experience, to a panel of experts in November 2009. Following positive feedback from both the panel and candidates, the trainee technician programme is being integrated into the total learning experience offered by the academy.

Graduate development programme

The PPC graduate development programme was initiated two years ago, in response to the need to establish a structured and focused learning programme that addresses the growing shortage of graduates with a strong technical foundation.

The programme is driven by the business needs for bench talent (multiskilled people who can fulfil several job specifications) in several critical disciplines such as engineering, production and process services, mining, quality and environment, and sustainability. It is reviewed annually.

MQA rewards PPC's passion for learning PPC's commitment to skills development at all levels was recognised by the Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) and the Department of Mineral Resources during the year. In October 2010, PPC received the 2009 sectoral good practice award in skills development (cement production category) from the MQA. For this achievement, we received a prize of R84 000 to be used for skills development in the group. In addition, our application was submitted to the Department of Labour to be judged against submissions from companies in other Setas on a national level.

Developed by PPC specialists, with the correct balance between theory and practical, hands-on application, the programme facilitates learning in an open and supportive study environment in the context of the workplace. Graduates are site-based and regular quality assurance in the form of site visits, individual and focus group interviews, ensures continuous growth and improvement of the programme.

All eight candidates recruited in the first intake in 2008 successfully completed the programme and were promoted in their respective disciplines at various factory sites where their skills were required. Subsequently, two graduates joined the programme in 2009 and three in 2010.

Assessors on site

PPC conducts assessor training programmes for team members to ensure our people are evaluated by competent assessors, ensure the correct competencies are imparted to do our work effectively, and that all training has the desired outcome in terms of skills enhancement. This training also ensures PPC academies maintain the required number of assessors to retain their accreditation.

Adult basic education and training

Adult basic education and training (ABET) is a cornerstone of learning and development in PPC, reflecting the company's commitment to lifelong, outcomes-based learning. With most of the workforce now assessed for ABET training, a concerted effort is under way across all sites to get as many team members as possible through level 4 of ABET training. Achieving this level in communication and numeracy will give employees the best opportunity to fast-track their careers through the various PPC academies.

In the review period, 169 PPC employees graduated with level 4 in communication and literacy and 549 learners are completing ABET level 1 to level 4 programmes in South Africa.

PPC bridging programme

The accredited bridging skills programme, launched in 2007 to help learners obtain the relevant entry requirements for the academy's programmes, continues to operate successfully.

As part of the continued talent pipeline, learners currently exiting the ABET programme are enrolled in the bridging programme in preparation for entry to learnerships in the respective academies.

Case study - ABET training levels climbing In Port Elizabeth, the Ikhwezi ABET programme has reached 98%, a stretched target that reflects total commitment across all levels. Translated, this means 98% of PPC's workforce has completed ABET in full. Although most people in the Port Elizabeth team never had the opportunity to attend normal schooling, this programme enables them to apply their new knowledge in their workstations and in their lives in general, from interpreting bank statements to responding and interacting in English conversations. All Invocoms have now been converted to English as the communication medium.

Dinaledi bursaries - building educational capacity

We believe a vital element of sustainable development is strengthening the educational capacity of historically disadvantaged South African communities. By supporting education programmes, PPC helps to empower young people, in turn enabling them to participate in mainstream economic activity.

Through our Dinaledi programme, PPC has invested almost R4 million in the futures of these young people. During the review period, PPC spent R1,6 million supporting 18 Dinaledi bursars selected from disadvantaged communities throughout South Africa for tertiary study in disciplines related to our business.

Four years since investing in the first group of bursars, the programme is now bearing fruit with six Dinaledi bursars completing their university studies and joining the PPC graduate development programme in 2011. These six include two female mining engineers.

All bursars had the opportunity of completing eight weeks of vacation work a year over the past three years, and this has been extremely helpful in realising their careers and achieving academic success. The Engineering Council of South Africa encourages engineering students to get practical experience - PPC Dinaledi bursars have the advantage of linking academic work to the experience developed during vacation work. They also develop a fuller understanding of the competencies and character required in the workplace, and experience PPC's organisational culture.

Six more students will be recruited for the 2011 intake, with special focus on students from child-headed homes and orphanages who show great interest in pursuing engineering as a career.

Case study - Jupiter ABET programme During the year, Jupiter's ABET graduates proved that perseverance and determination pay off. Some 96% of eligible employees are attending literacy training. A new training centre can accommodate more people, and includes a separate computer room with access to PPC's intranet.