MPi News provides short sharp ideas on management, leadership and communication in the workplace.

AS WE SEE IT: People who accept personal responsibility for their actions, efforts and lives, contribute the greatest to those around them. The best employers accept responsibility for urging people along a path to their fullest potential. The best employees accept responsibility for adding value to that organisation. Therefore, the most effective work environments are those in which all participants recognise it is a two way street. Much of the information presented hereafter is governed by these ideas.

FEEDBACK:If you have an idea to share, email info@miningpeople.com.au and mark the heading ‘Feedback MPi News’. If we’re happy that the item supports our broad editorial policy, then we might use it directly, or as the basis for an inclusion into a future edition.

OUR EDITORIAL POLICY IS: We aim for these articles to be current, personal development focused and to talk to individuals rather than corporations. They must also represent a positive slant on life. Why is that? Because the media would have us believe the world is more negative than positive, and so MPi News is our small attempt to balance that up. The articles should also not shirk from generating debate.

What is MPi News about?

A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 | E D I T I O N 88

Continued to page 2 …

MINING PEOPLEINTERNATIONAL

N E W Sminingpeople .com.au

The mining sector is experiencing a perceived over-supply of workers.

We’re in no doubt this WILL change and quickly, if it’s not already.

Having witnessed many supply/demand cycles over 35 years, it’s obvious the period between supply/demand peaks and troughs, are usually only of short – medium term duration. Intense negativity surrounding these demand low points, usually cause reduced graduate production and a generation of people giving up on the industry permanently.

Our opinion, based on watching these cycles and reading research into global talent and recruiting trends generally, is that as more jobs specialise, it will get harder to find the people needed for new roles that are being created every day.

This will again cause employers to question whether the technically brilliant misfit, has a home inside their business. Our view is YES, however, we appreciate that managing them can be difficult.

Based on an article by Professor James Heskett of

Harvard Business School. The full article can be found

at hbswk.hbs.edu Type ‘jerk’ into the search cell.

*The original article used ‘jerk’ which

we switched to ‘misfit’.

So who is the technically

brilliant misfit?

• The annoying employee who makes his numbers while alienating those around him.

• The high-performing employee; ‘star’ or ‘destructive hero’ who generates heaps of business while creating problems for colleagues.

• The employee who demands to the point of being abusive.

• The team member that takes too much personal credit for success.

• The employee who is unable to adhere to shared values of the organisation.

So should you make effective

investments in brilliant misfits?

One contributor posed the idea of the brilliant misfit being another form of psychopath who clearly has no place in the workplace. The other extreme asked if Steve Jobs was a brilliant misfit and by extension is innovation stifled by eliminating the uncomfortable individuals?

Some suggested that most misfits are created by the very systems that are designed to improve performance … that is, about 70% are bred … because organisations create systems that encourage emergence of high flyers at the expense of team goals.

Another suggested the presence of brilliant misfits is a warning sign of an environment where mediocrity is prevalent, therefore creating great frustration.

Perhaps the true misfit then, is the manager who is unable to fuse this talent into the organisation …

Continued to page 2 …

Follow us on instagram

@miningpeopleinternational

and check out #facesofmining

Photo courtesy of @rachmatmusa

Can a Technically Brilliant Jerk Misfit be managed

EFFECTIVELY?

This Year Mining People International celebrates …

AUSTRALIAN BASED GLOBAL NETWORKS miningpeople.com.au PERTH • KALGOORLIE • BRISBANE • ADELAIDE

Top Tips Stats & Facts… Continued from page 1

That’s a tough call, however wouldn’t management be a doddle if only compliant people had to be managed.

By their own admission, managers are often reluctant to rock the boat as long as the numbers continue to be good.

One contributor mused that many companies are run by misfits with many successful projects having been accomplished by them.

In the mining context:

Technical teams are often in remote environments and in close contact with each other where everybody affects everybody. We pose the question then:

“If your super star delivers 50% more than anyone else, but causes 20 others to contribute 10% less because of dissatisfaction with your handling of the misfit, are you happy to lose the discretionary effort of 1.5 people, even after counting the out-performance of the star?”

How do we tap into the value of these people?

• Listen closely and broadly.

• Talk about their behaviours. Are they aware?

• Intervene early and provide opportunity for attitude improvement, possibly with a counsellor or coach.

• Make peer appraisal part of their review/bonus process. Perhaps you are giving them the wrong numbers to hit. Before you sack them ensure they’re upsetting things for the wrong reason rather than for the right reason.

• Load them up with big projects and lots of interpersonal feedback scores.

• Eventually, perhaps you will figure out how to use their skills and abilities to create training materials to share their best practices.

• If none of this works and the employee is unable to change, terminate quickly.

Obviously the best course of action may be not to hire them in the first place. As Richard Fairbanks, CEO of Capital One, is fond of saying,

“At most companies, people spend 2% of their time recruiting and 75% managing their recruiting mistakes. However, it’s hard to avoid the occasional hiring mishap.”

If we find ourselves with one though, we need to be asking if there is some way of salvaging the brilliant misfit and preserving the energy, ideas, and performance they can bring to an organisation. In larger organisations, is reassignment a solution? Will a job with fewer interactions with others help? Can a different boss make a difference?

The mining engineering equivalent:

We’ve represented a number of technically brilliant people with only C grade people skills and ZERO interest in cultural integration. In all cases we would describe them to our clients for what they were:

“XX will do everything you want before lunch time and more accurately than anyone else, however don’t expect them to walk around engaging in quality personal time, getting to know their team mates and building deep cultural bonds. It won’t happen, however if you don’t have that expectation and coach others not to expect it, but make it clear the value they ARE adding, they can deliver in spades.”

Sometimes just say it as it is.

Conundrum: A confusing and difficult problem or question often with a pun in the answer.

Contradiction: A combination of statements, ideas, or features which are opposed to one another.

Life is full of conundrums and contradictions and will usually grow richer by spending occasional purposeful time pondering them.

Some of these were found with no obvious source however clearly someone else wrote them before us. Some were found and we added our own twist. Some are originals.

Use (and ponder) them as you wish …

1. Complain about a bad night’s sleep or celebrate the fact that you woke up – you decide.

2. ‘What will next year throw at me’ or is a better question; ‘what will I throw back’?

3. Before you buy a $1,000,000 home or a $250,000 motor car, ensure you can afford to maintain and run a $1,000,000 home or that $250,000 motor car.

4. Some lawyers reckon ‘everything matters’, whereas two funerals I recently attended reminded me that actually ‘not much matters’.

5. That act of ignoring your passion has parallels to the act of suicide.

6. The reason you must let things go, is because they are heavy.

7. We’re all extremely convincing and will believe most things we tell ourselves.

8. Have you ever noticed how negative people seem to have a problem for every solution?

9. Don’t worry when I fight you. Worry when I stop because it means we have nothing left worth fighting for.

10. One second of patience in a moment of rage, will likely save hours (or potentially a lifetime!) of regret.

11. In business, competition sucks. Do something no one else is doing!

11 CONUNDRUMS

AND CONTRADICTIONS

Follow us on instagram

@miningpeopleinternational

and check out #facesofmining

Photo courtesy of @davefray13

2 AUSTRALIAN BASED GLOBAL NETWORKS miningpeople.com.au PERTH • KALGOORLIE • BRISBANE • ADELAIDE

Continuing the celebration of MPi’s 20th birthday this year, we again travel back in time and share some stories (in their own words) of some of the longer term MPi-er’s.

Gary Kearns

In August this year I will have been with MPi for 17 years. I joined MPi in 1998 after a 20 year career in the Royal Australian Air Force and 20 months with another consulting

company. During my time with MPi I have worked on practically every professional discipline from Graduate to Management level, but in more recent times I have been

developing a niche focus on the Safety, Training and Environmental area.

Gail Rogers

I started with MPi 13 years ago after 15 years of working in residential and FIFO positions as a Metallurgical Technician and Laboratory Supervisor. During my time at MPi I have

worked on Operational through to Executive Roles in the areas of Processing and Maintenance. I’ve recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Career Education and Development and I look forward to using this qualification and expanding the service offering from MPi.

Nicole Reweti

I started with MPi 12 years ago – one year out of high school! After starting as a Receptionist/Administrator, I moved into a Workforce consulting role where I spent eight

years recruiting for every blue collar role you would find in a mining environment! Not to mention having had the opportunity to work on some great start up projects with

some fantastic clients. I’ve recently joined our dedicated Business Services team and am enjoying gaining experience within the HR, Admin and Supply disciplines.

Along with those previewed last month; The Old Boys: Steve, Tony, Brad and Shane. The Young Guns: Sarah, Steph, Sam, Scott, and Sam …

We think MPi’s clients and candidates are in great hands. Check out all the current photos on the back page, or visit

‘Our Team’ page at miningpeople.com.au to learn more about them.

Nicole Reweti

Gary Kearns

Gail Rogers

BACK IN THE DAY… SOME MPi HISTORY

3AUSTRALIAN BASED GLOBAL NETWORKS miningpeople.com.au PERTH • KALGOORLIE • BRISBANE • ADELAIDE

MPi News is printed using vegetable based inks on paper that is chlorine free and manufactured from pulp sourced from plantation grown timber.

Mining People takes care of our Environment

Alida van der MerweConsultant Workforce & Labour Hire

Brad ThorpManager Recruitment Operations

Carly KohlerPayroll Officer

Gail RogersSenior Consultant Professional Technical

Gary KearnsSenior Consultant Professional Technical

Jasmine ColeConsultant Candidate Services

Jasmine HargreavesRecruitment/ Office Administrator

Jess KerrManager Special Projects and Recruitment Administration

Keeli RobsonSenior Accountant

Michelle Glossop Senior Office Administrator

Nicky O’BrienManager Business Support

Nicole RewetiManaging Consultant Business Services

Phoebe PleskoConsultant Client Services

Samantha McCarthy Consultant Workforce & Labour Hire

Samantha WareConsultantClient Services

Sarah FelminghamSenior Recruitment Administrator

Sarah PiscioneriConsultant Workforce & Labour Hire

Scott DeakinConsultant Professional Technical

Shane MooreManager Workforce Operations

Stephanie LoganSenior Consultant Workforce & Labour Hire

Steve HeatherManaging Director/Principal Executive Search

Sue HeatherBusiness Services Manager

Suz ThorpSupervisor Commercial Accounts

Tony TurtonPrincipal Consultant Professional Technical/Executive Search

WHAT WE PROMISE OUR SPECIALTY SERVICES

JOB SEARCH SERVICE

WE PROVIDE AN ONLINE JOB SEARCH SERVICE TO OUR

CANDIDATES

SALARY RESEARCH

WE PROVIDE TARGETED SALARY RESEARCH AND MANAGE

THE SPECIALIST PORTAL MININGSALARIES.COM.AU

JOB ALERTS

WE PROACTIVELY DELIVER JOB ALERTS

TO OUR CANDIDATES

INDIGENOUS RECRUITMENT

WE DELIVER INDIGENOUS CANDIDATES ACROSS ALL MINING

DISCIPLINES

INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT

WE PLACE CANDIDATES EITHER PERMANENTLY OR

TEMPORARILY, ON AUSTRALIAN 457 VISA’S, ACROSS A BROAD

RANGE OF MINING DISCIPLINES. WE CAN ALSO FILL SENIOR

AND TRADE/OPERATOR POSITIONS IN MANY LOCATIONS

AROUND THE GLOBE.

THE MPi PEOPLE: PUT A FACE TO A NAME OUR RECRUITMENT AND CONTRACT HIRE SERVICES

MINING PEOPLE INTERNATIONAL PERTH | KALGOORLIE | BRISBANE | ADELAIDE

miningpeople.com.au

EXECUTIVE SEARCH

General Manager Operations/COOManaging Director/CEOChief Financial OfficerBoard Members

WHOLE PROJECT RECRUITMENT

For new companies and new mines we will create an integrated partnership and help you get started

MINING AND RESOURCES

Geology Surveying Mining Engineering Mining Management Site Supervision

PROCESSING, MAINTENANCE AND ENGINEERING

Minerals ProcessingMaintenance and Engineering

BUSINESS SERVICES

WORKFORCE AND LABOUR HIRE

TradesField StaffUnderground and Surface MiningProcessing and LaboratoryDrillersDrillers Offsiders

WE WORK ACROSS ALL MINING COMMODITIES

SupplyAccountingHealth and SafetyHuman ResourcesManagement

Information Technology

Environmental Services

Administration/Clerical

CoalCopperDiamondsGoldIron OreManganese

NickelPhosphateUraniumVanadiumZincand many more …

• WE WILL RESPOND TO EVERY PERSON, EVERY TIME THEY REGISTER WITH US.

• WE ADVISE CANDIDATES, EVERY TIME, BEFORE REFERRING THEM TO A CLIENT.

• WE KEEP CLIENTS INFORMED, WHETHER WE’RE WINNING OR NOT.

• WE ADVISE CANDIDATES OF THEIR OUTCOME; WE DON’T LEAVE THEM WONDERING.

• IF WE PLACE SOMEONE WITH A CLIENT, WE DON’T APPROACH THEM AGAIN UNLESS THEY SAY THEY WISH TO MOVE.

• WE’RE UP-FRONT WITH RATES, HOURS AND OTHER DETAILS. WE DON’T MISREPRESENT JOBS OR COMMUNICATIONS. WE HONOUR OUR COMMITMENTS.

• IF WE MAKE A MISTAKE, WE ADMIT IT AND FIX IT.

• WE HAVE FOUR CUSTOMERS, TO WHICH OUR PROMISE APPLIES EQUALLY:

• CLIENTS

• CANDIDATES

• SUPPLIERS

• STAFF

SUCCESS. PROGRESS. RESPOND. INTEREST.