Italia Boninelli
Executive Vice President, People and Organizational Development
AngloGold Ashanti LTD
What have you enjoyed most about your role in the industry?
I have spent more than a decade in the mining industry and have seen significant changes and challenges. I have dealt with building new mining projects and running operations in countries that are not mining friendly, or are politically unstable or under high risk of executive kidnappings and civil war.
I have seen natural disasters such as floods, to outbreaks of diseases like Ebola. I’ve witnessed labor unrest and strikes in some of our African countries, with the invasion of our mining pits by hundreds of illegal miners. So the role has never been boring and has always stretched me.
What do you consider the most successful aspect of your mining leadership to date?
I was part of a team that supported and coached an executive team through a significant organizational crisis a couple of years ago. Our team took the company through a huge expansion phase for a few years on the back of a very favorable gold price. We were faced with huge skills shortages at a time when many companies in the mining industry and neighboring industries were going through a similar expansion phase, and so we were highly focused on the recruitment, development and retention of key skills.
I led the team that redesigned and restructured the entire global business in a completely transparent process involving redefining for each function and area what work was transactional and what was strategic and how the work would be delivered at operating unit, regional or corporate level. Within a year we had achieved both our cost-saving and our restructuring objectives.
Why do you think there is such a big gender gap in the industry? What is needed to create change?
Mining can be perceived as dirty and dangerous and with the potential to create significant environmental damage if not managed ethically. As such, the industry struggles to attract not only women but also young talent.
The mining industry needs to do more to attract women into core technical roles, and to put in place clear talent management and coaching programs to help accelerate women into more senior roles and provide more flexible working arrangements. This includes policies around bursaries and scholarships, maternity leave, and equal pay for equal work.
But it is not only the companies that need to ‘lean in’. This is a phrase coined by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook where she describes how women sometimes sabotage themselves and settle for less. She urges women to lean in, be more ambitious, stand up for what they deserve, and actively drive their own careers forward.
Claudia Diniz
Head of IP and Technical Information
Anglo American Plc
What made you join the mining industry?
I was doing my master’s and had the opportunity to work for Vale S.A. and visit one of its mines. I became fascinated with how we can transform “dust” into “metals”, and make a difference in the economy of a country.
What do you enjoy most about your role in the industry?
I enjoy thinking that we can make a difference, bringing more life to the world by discovering some of its technical challenges, and showing some strategic and innovative ways of solving them. I believe women in the industry can bring a kindness and delicacy to a harsh environment.
What do you consider the most successful aspect of your mining leadership to date?
The creation of a different and more strategic way of managing technology in a big mining company, which urged significant leaders of the company to work together and care about technology and strategy and the matching of both.
Why do you think there is such a big gender gap in the industry?
I believe this gap starts at university. The main university degrees that are requested by the mining companies are very technical—mining engineering, geology, metallurgical engineering, and so on. These courses are largely filled by males, even nowadays.
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