Many natural resources exist outside of the metropolitan areas that depend on them. This distance drives mining and energy sector organisations to establish operations in remote locations, investing significantly in the development of infrastructure, communities and people to do so.
“Major projects are challenging to deliver in any sector, but remote mining and energy projects have a leadership requirement that is far more complex and vastly different to ‘leading at a distance’,” explains Paul Howard, a Partner for Gerard Daniels. “Projects in these sectors demand a high level of experience and a unique combination of leadership skills to navigate a range of diverse risk, operational, logistical and talent challenges.”
Despite strong demand for experienced leaders that can optimise remote mining and energy operations, many organisations report increasing difficulty in attracting, retaining and developing this type of talent. “Clients cite a lack of interest in site-based leadership roles as one of the reasons for growing skills and experience gaps and disruptions to the talent and succession pipelines,” says Paul.
Here we explore the unique leadership requirement for remote mining and energy operations and consider strategies for effectively developing senior site-based leaders.
Building leadership effectiveness: The opportunity
Remote operations will always have a need for appropriately skilled and experienced leaders. This requirement will continue to grow as mining and energy organisations address the complexity of:
- Rapid digital transformation, integration and automation;
- Growing pressure for risk reduction, cost reduction and productivity gains;
- Ambitious decarbonisation targets;
- Heightened ESG scrutiny and stakeholder expectations; and
- Competition for talent in tightening labour markets.
Given the substantial change and transformation that lies ahead, building capability is as much a strategic opportunity for mining and energy organisations, as people and operational challenges.
“In varying degrees, we know that commodity prices will continue to fluctuate; regulation will shift; and geopolitical factors will shape the global mining and energy markets. But leadership effectiveness is a success factor that can be determined by design,” says Paul. “With an intentional and consistent approach, talent development can become a performance multiplier that drives adaptability, capability and significant competitive advantage.”
Building leadership effectiveness: The challenge
Professional development is a critical factor in leadership effectiveness, but the nature of working in remote locations can make it difficult to achieve in a consistent and effective manner.
Developing time poor leaders
“Roles like Project Director, Site Manager and General Manager carry a broad leadership remit, with responsibility across areas such as production performance, safety outcomes, people development, and employee and local stakeholder engagement,” says Paul. “This breadth and intensity makes leaders in this environment particularly time poor and professional development even more challenging.”
Building human connection in virtual teams
In many larger organisations, virtual teams are increasingly used to target issues across multiple geographic jurisdictions. This approach is highly time effective, but it can limit the people-centred discussions that build trust and support deeper relationships.
“To address this challenge – and allow leaders to apply more of their EQ capability in supporting team members – employers must proactively and purposefully enable face-to-face time between remote leaders and their teams,” says Paul. “While there is a cost involved, these interactions provide vital employee support and create learning opportunities to develop remote leaders.”
Out of sight, out of mind
Working in geographically isolated locations also increases the likelihood of flying under the radar within the broader corporate context and thus missing out on important development opportunities – a dynamic commonly referred to as ‘proximity bias’.
“Where leaders in corporate settings benefit from close proximity to more senior decision makers, these opportunities are often less visible and available to people working in remote locations – especially for the most senior individual in that project environment,” says Paul. “Therefore, while remote roles allow individuals to build vital operational expertise, a lack of structured development can limit broader growth and restrict future performance for many site-based leaders.”
Complexity at scale
Site-based roles in mining and energy are undoubtedly challenging, but as leaders progress to more senior corporate leadership roles, such as Vice President or Regional Head of Operations, the complexity continues to scale up. “These roles, particularly in large international organisations, often oversee multiple projects and remote operating sites,” says Paul. “The broad remit of these roles also involves substantial travel across different locations and time zones, making it even more challenging to find time for personal and professional development.”
A structured approach to developing current and future leaders
To combat these challenges, employers can move beyond an ad-hoc approach toward more structured and intentional strategies to support capability building and career progression for regionally located leaders and professionals.
“Smaller operators in mining and energy can struggle with the cost and infrastructure of sustaining formal development programs, which leads to an approach that is largely reactive and dependent on individual initiative,” says Paul. “However, site-based leaders benefit more from the more structured approach that typically exists in larger organisations.”
There are a range of strategies that support more targeted and consistent capability building for senior leaders in remote roles, such as structured mentoring and development programs; formalised leadership development pathways; and a proactive and transparent approach to succession planning.
Other strategies for building core leadership capability, include:
- Facilitating people-centred discussion: Creating opportunities to share personal insights and concerns in virtual team meetings, allows leaders to expand their management influence beyond purely technical or operational issues. “Additionally, this strategy helps to build a deeper level of trust, which is a critical factor in becoming an effective leader,” says Paul.
- Prioritising in-person interaction: At times of heightened stress or conflict, organisations must also support regular face-to-face meetings with all team members and relevant stakeholders. This ensures group and project leaders also develop critical conflict resolution skills.
- Building leadership breadth: Cross-functional exposure is a highly effective strategy for developing leadership breadth. “Supporting leaders and encouraging lateral moves across different areas of functional and operational leadership, helps to cultivate the commercial experience and cultural awareness required to lead effectively at more senior levels,” says Paul.
- External education partnerships: Structured internal development and on-the-job experience can be supplemented with external education partnerships. Leaders are increasingly moving away from traditional MBA pathways toward shorter, more intense development initiatives offered by institutions like the Australian Institute of Management, Harvard Business School and INSEAD.
“Taking a more structured development approach ensures that site-based leaders don’t fall between the cracks,” says Paul. “Combined with a genuine commitment to people development, these strategies play an important role in consistently developing leadership capability, building resilience, driving retention and ultimately sustaining competitive advantage.”
To discuss new leadership opportunities or develop the capability of your site-based leadership teams, connect with Paul or your local Gerard Daniels team.
