By Arjen de Bruin, Group CEO at OIM Consulting
In South Africa’s mining sector, the legacy of distrust between leadership and labour runs deep. It’s shaped by a long and painful history – one that still echoes today in strained workplace relationships, safety risks and a culture of fear and silence.
But this much is clear: rebuilding dignity in the mining workforce is vital for operational success. It’s not about being soft – it’s about being building bridges between people from various backgrounds and cultures. Because without dignity, you don’t get trust. And without trust, you don’t get performance.
Conflict has roots. So must culture.
At OIM Consulting, we’ve seen how quickly operations can spiral into conflict when grievances are ignored and communication breaks down. In some environments, the default mode is blame; a constant tit-for-tat between unions and management, supervisors and teams. This creates toxic environments where fear drives behaviour and mistakes go unspoken.
In these mines, people aren’t working with each other. They’re working against each other.
It’s not always overt – sometimes the culture just feels “off.” Teams start avoiding accountability, doing only what’s required, not speaking up. And when trust is broken, it doesn’t take much to tip operations into chaos.
Mindset change must come before performance.
That’s why we don’t start with output. We start with mindset. Because the real barrier to productivity often isn’t a broken machine – it’s a broken culture.
What we’ve found is that many of the so-called “operational” issues are actually human ones in disguise: misalignment on goals, low engagement, leaders who never learned how to lead. You can’t fix that with compliance checklists or productivity drives. You fix it by re-establishing trust, clarity, and mutual respect; in other words, dignity.
We work with mines to reset the culture, moving people from historical grievance to shared purpose. That starts with listening. It includes clear role alignment and structured coaching. And it centres on the belief that everyone, from the drill rig to the boardroom, wants the same thing: a better life.
Five building blocks for restoring dignity and performance.
Our approach to rebuilding dignity and performance is anchored in the following five elements:
- Set purpose and direction – Everyone must understand the bigger picture. When people know where the business is heading and how their work contributes to that journey, they start to find purpose and pride in what they do.
- Align role, performance and behaviour – The right people must be in the right roles, working at the right level and fairly recognised for their contribution. Accountability thrives in an environment where expectations are clear and meritocracy is part of the culture.
- Develop leadership and intellectual capital – Strong, consistent leadership is the cornerstone of a high-performing culture. That means building credible, values-driven supervisors and ensuring there’s depth and continuity in your leadership pipeline.
- Execute with discipline and excellence
When teams are well led and aligned, they perform. They hit targets, meet deadlines, and hold one another accountable – not because they’re being forced to, but because they care. - Drive process excellence
Dignity and discipline go hand in hand. Customer-centric processes, accurate data, and a culture of continuous improvement provide the structure needed to support lasting change.
One mine we worked with had experienced a violent strike and there was zero trust between leadership and labour. Through our culture alignment programme, we reset the tone; not by ignoring the past, but by focusing on the future. People realised their personal goals could only be met through company success. That mindset shift unlocked real change.
Culture is a lever. Dignity is the hinge.
You can’t coach pride into someone. But you can create the conditions where pride can grow: through structure, leadership, consistency, and care. We’ve seen it time and again: when supervisors are supported and dignity is restored, teams start to thrive.
This isn’t a quick fix. It’s a deep fix. And in today’s volatile mining landscape, it might just be the most strategic one you can make.
