Nurturing leaders
Many businesses have discovered that even with the best strategy in the world, they are unlikely to succeed if they do not have the right leadership capacity.  As Murray & Roberts gears up to take on the challenge of globalisation, a key strategic imperative is to ensure that its human capital is positioned as a competitive advantage.

Craig Lawrence, recently appointed human capital director, has been given the responsibility of aligning the Group’s human resource (HR) programme with its business strategy. With support from Group executives and his HR colleagues, Craig has developed a Group HR strategic framework that reflects the most recent global practices used by high performing organisations and focuses on issues that have the greatest impact on the Group’s ability to achieve its strategic objectives.

These issues are diversity, capacity, performance, reward and risk & relations. Each is driven by an objective and supported by practical initiatives and related metrics which allow for measurement and assessment.

Due to the diverse nature of Murray & Roberts, individual business entities are encouraged to tailor their HR plans to their specific needs, but they are also required to align their plans with the Group strategic framework.

Diversity
Murray & Roberts embraces diversity and considers it an opportunity. While its strategy complies with prevailing employment equity and skills development legislation, the emphasis is on enhancing diversity to maximise the talent pool, strengthen the Group’s capacity and increase innovation by introducing different ways of thinking. One of the key initiatives currently underway is an assessment of the Group’s South African employment equity status and the development of focused metrics and targets.

Murray & Roberts has in recent years attracted a growing number of historically disadvantaged executives who see in the company a long-term career rather than a short-term opportunity. The Group currently has four black directors (25 %) on its main Board, two of whom are women (12,5%), while a significant number of management and supervision in the South African operations are black and 13% female.

Capacity
Building world class leadership and individual and organisational capacity is crucial to Globalising Murray & Roberts. The main initiative driving capacity-building is a talent management process underpinned by a system called e-Talent.

E-Talent allows Murray & Roberts to identify individuals defined as “Group talent” and manage their motivation, development and retention more effectively than before. For example, by using information captured on a database, a talent review forum comprising senior executives and the Group CE, can assess the level of job satisfaction of their top talent and introduce measures to remedy areas of dissatisfaction. The forum can also identify capacity gaps and the type of skills needed to fill them. “This process improves the effectiveness of succession and retention and it also identifies specific recruitment and employment equity gaps,” says Craig.

To expand the number of young black recruits, Murray & Roberts awards the majority of tertiary education bursaries to previously disadvantaged candidates. The intake for the Group’s 2005 graduate development programme includes 62% black candidates and 23% female candidates. The programme includes induction and is a launch pad into the Group.

Existing employees are offered learning opportunities, including skills development programmes, from adult basic education to leadership programmes.

Performance
Murray & Roberts is establishing a competitive performance culture with exacting performance standards, balanced criteria and a focus on delivery. “Delivery is no longer limited to financial performance but the full spectrum of activities required of a sustainable business, including health, safety, environmental management and community development,” says Craig.

The key initiative used to instill a performance culture is a performance management process that links individual performance to the business strategy.

The process encourages a balance between behavioural and technical performance, as well as reinforcing the desired behaviour and culture and linking reward to performance.

Reward
In a competitive business environment, Murray & Roberts recognises that the incentives of recognition and reward are crucial to retaining and motivating existing talent and gaining the status of a preferred employer. The Group’s incentive process is currently being refined to enhance its effectiveness.

Risk & Relations
The Murray & Roberts risk management process encompasses all aspects of the business, including people issues which have the potential to influence the Group’s future viability.

Initiatives to facilitate the management of risk in this category include implementation of a human capital risk management plan, review of human capital policies and contracts to ensure compliance, risk management and best practice and refinement of the corporate social investment plan.

A human capital forum meets regularly, providing HR executives from across the Group with an opportunity to share information, develop as professionals and discuss HR issues of Group-wide importance. Craig visits the operations and interacts with individual HR executives to provide mentoring and support. As a director of Murray & Roberts Limited and an invited member of the remuneration & HR committee and the health & safety and environment committee of the Group’s main board, Craig is able to ensure that human capital development remains a top strategic priority. By Lesley Lambert

Keeping business honest
Against a background of the collapse of global companies that did not abide by sound corporate practices and increasing regulation of the business environment, the role of the company secretary in matters of corporate governance is more important than ever before.

Recognising this, Murray & Roberts appointed Sandi Linford as company secretary when the position became vacant in November 2004.Sandi developed her early career with Frame Group under the guidance of Mervyn King who was chairman of Frame at the time and then became group secretary of Altron, where she had overall responsibility for six listed companies.

This depth of experience, combined with a no-nonsense approach and total commitment to her work, makes Sandi a valuable resource to Murray & Roberts as the Group enters one of the most challenging and complex phases of its strategic transformation.

Murray & Roberts has had a corporate governance framework in operation for many years which is constantly reviewed to ensure compliance with the latest corporate governance practice in South Africa.

In 2004, the Group introduced a charter and code of conduct for its main Board and directors and undertook a further independent evaluation of the performance and effectiveness of the Board and directors which guided the nominations of a number of new director appointments.

This year, Sandi has established an induction programme for directors which has already facilitated the introduction of new non-executive directors to the Board and will provide ongoing education and support to executive and non-executive directors. The process will now be rolled out to the boards of the business entities.

“When I arrived at Murray & Roberts, the Group had reached a stage where it complied substantially with the Code of Corporate Practices and Conduct embodied in the King Report as well as with the listings requirements of the JSE Securities Exchange. My current role is to refine aspects of the Group’s compliance and work on areas that need attention.”

Her current focus is on rewriting the Group’s articles of association, rationalising the structure to ensure that it represents more clearly what Murray & Roberts has become, tidying the register of properties, reviewing the

intellectual property portfolio and ensuring there is an understanding that trademarks, patents and designs are assets to be protected. She is also reviewing the Group’s investor relations disclosure policy.

Sandi’s approach to compliance is practical rather than prescriptive. “Governance is not a check-list exercise. It is only a guide. Rather than make compliance an onerous chore, I try to facilitate an environment where governance works for a business,” she says.

“There is often a fine line between commercial activity and unethical behaviour. I understand that the primary aim of business is to be profitable and my advice to executives is simple: Would your business withstand scrutiny?”

A future challenge facing company secretaries is the increasing regulation of business. The South African Department of Trade & Industry has announced that it intends to rewrite the Companies Act and there is concern that this will lead to a highly regulated environment, with penalties for non-compliance. Globally, Murray & Roberts may be required to comply with the requirements of Sorbannes Oxley in some global markets.

Sandi says she has encountered a high level of awareness and tolerance of the principles of corporate governance within Murray & Roberts and this bodes well for the future. By Lesley Lambert