Exxaro, South Africa’s largest and foremost black-empowered resource company was recently recognised for their innovative way of engaging with their customers. The MyNexxt: Future-ready workforce at Exxaro video won Silver in the Service Design category at the 2019 Loeries - the highest award given in the category this year.
The Loeries are the Africa and the Middle Easts’ premier award that recognises, rewards, inspires and fosters creative excellence in the advertising and brand communication industry. Winning a Loerie is the highest accolade for creativity and innovation across the region.
Exxaro, in partnership with multi-national professional services company, Accenture, and WinWin developed MyNexxt to support, upskill and prepare Exxaro’s 15 000+ employees for a digital future. Accenture was Exxaro’s partner in completing the service design, and WinWin was a key player in developing the actual solution that brought the design to life.
“We take great pride in our recent achievement,” says Exxaro CEO, Mxolisi Mgojo. “While an award of this stature is hugely important to us, our focus remains on powering better lives in Africa and beyond through our investment in tomorrow’s leaders.”
With 71% of mining industry jobs at risk of automation in the next 20 years, Exxaro challenged the Accenture team to think beyond technical limitations of existing solutions, using service design to achieve visibility and to meet engagement criteria. The platform facilitated improved intuitive navigation with a first-time pass rate of 90% (including employees who were not computer literate) and reduced the time it took to cover the same learning goals by 75%.
Due to the success of the platform, Exxaro is now implementing the innovative learning and development platform at various business units, namely Grootegeluk Complex and Belfast Mine. By using new multimedia, rich video, audio and animation, the solution aims to empower the community to think more intuitively reducing the risk of job obsoletion.
"We must take the things of the future and bring them into the present by creating a culture of innovation. We must embrace innovation because it is part of who we are today, and who we have to be in the future," adds Mgojo.
To meet current and future skills requirements, Exxaro is investing in existing employees, future employees, and in the communities that provide labour. At present, 99% of Exxaro’s labour is sourced in South Africa and, at any operation, over 70% is sourced from host communities.
“Exxaro will continue to drive excellence in the communities we operate in and empower our people with innovation, allowing them to ride the wave of the Fourth Industrial Revolution into the future,” concludes Mgojo.
The Loeries, a proudly not-for-profit company, promotes and supports creativity by helping marketers, agencies and consumers appreciate the value of fresh thinking, innovative ideas and outstanding execution.