Exxaro convened a skills debate in March 2008, with panellists from Business Unity South Africa, the Chamber of Mines and its own business units. Key points from the debate included:

• Companies must focus on employment branding as opposed to company branding
• Businesses must look internally – skills theft is a reality and companies that don’t invest in skills will steal them
• Companies can achieve much through short-term measures, such as adopting a school, while macro issues are being addressed at government level
• Mining companies must identify and promote role models who can raise the industry’s profile at schools, and promote it as an exciting career opportunity
• Public-private partnerships are essential. The only way to change the current landscape is for schools, academia, business and government to join forces
• Businesses should second their experts to academic institutions to meet the need for top-quality training, rather than luring academics through lucrative positions
• Mining companies must attract more women to the industry
• Industry needs a better database of available skills, wasting undue time looking for talent in the wrong places
• National bodies, SETAs and industry must co-ordinate their efforts to avoid the mismatch between what these bodies do and what industry actually needs.

We must adopt a country, not company, approach. The war will not be won by companies working individually, especially when they are all fighting for the same skills.