Diversity, including gender diversity,
and inclusion are key focus areas for
Barloworld Equipment’s HR strategy.
Speaking of the company’s plans in
the areas of growth and diversity, HR
executive Francis Graham says, “As an
organisation, Barloworld Equipment has
recognised that there has to be a journey
plan to get to inclusivity; running a few
programmes isn’t enough. The inclusive
culture will only come about as a result of
the degree to which there is integration in
the organisation and when people have
adopted that as a way of life.
“What we have done is focus on
instituting support programmes at every
level of the organisation, as well as outside
the organisation — at the school level
through our Techno Girls Programme,
and in the community. We work to create
greater awareness of the support bases
that they will need as they come into an
organisation like ours. We talk through
the various levels of programmes, from
them choosing a non-traditional field, like
an artisan programme for young girls,
all the way through to them taking up
more sophisticated and senior leadership
roles within the organisation. And these
programmes all feed into each other.”
Barloworld Equipment also works
with youth employment company
Harambee, which takes experts out into
the communities to assess young people
and find those with an aptitude for a
career in the industry. “This assessment
process helps us to understand what
an individual’s aptitude is and how they
would like to progress in their career,”
Graham explains. “For young people
from disadvantaged backgrounds,
this is a way for them to get hold of
information, as well as to get feedback
on their abilities, and to help channel
their careers.
16
NOVEMBER 2017
Barloworld Equipment southern Africa CEO, Emmy Leeka.
Focus on inclusivity
“For people who want to go the university
route, we also have our Graduate
Development Programme, which is a
24-month programme that introduces
graduates from various fields to our
key operational areas, giving them an
in-depth understanding of the workings
of each business unit,” he adds. “We
are committed to increasing the number
of female leaders and employees in our
company to 40% of our workforce by
2020 — our 40/20 strategy — and to
growing the number of female engineers
and artisans in our ranks,” he explains.
The Graduate Development
Programme is one of several initiatives
created to achieve just that, with 14 of
the 15 graduates (93%) comprising the
programme’s 2017 cohort being women:
12 engineering graduates and two BCom
marketing and economics graduates. In
2016, it was 80% (eight out of 10).
And the training and support does
not end once a person joins Barloworld
Equipment. “We have 21 tiers within the
organisation, running all the way from
entry level to executive level, and at each
tier there are programmes designed to
help people develop,” says Graham. “Our
goal is to help individuals who come into
the organisation from the bottom to work
their way up.”
Barloworld Equipment also runs
a number of Women in Leadership
development programmes across all 21
tiers, where women in the organisation
who both show potential and aspire to
move to a higher level are put through a
coaching and mentoring programme, with
mentors who can support them as they
make their way up the corporate ladder.
“Mentorship and coaching is an
intrinsic part of our operations, and is
built into the culture of our company
from the executive level downwards,” says
Graham. “We believe that the Barloworld
Equipment leadership has to invest heavily
in coaching and mentoring because their
job is about helping people achieve the
organisation’s goals, while at the same time
helping those individuals to achieve their
own aspirations.
“When we select mentors and
coaches for our Women in Leadership
Programme, the aim is not to tell women
how to behave like men in order to
climb the corporate ladder. We need to
Barloworld Equipment executives with the 2017 cohort for
the Graduate Development Programme.
“The product quality and superior
after-sales support that Caterpillar and
Barloworld Equipment deliver is second
to none in the industry. Our people
take great pride in this shared drive
for excellence, innovation, continuous
improvement, an intense focus on
customer needs, and a dedication to meet
those needs with a sense of urgency,”
said Sewela.
BUSINESS
Minister Susan Shabangu with Barloworld Equipment CSI
manager, Judy Vilakazi, and other award recipients.