Tubatse, a subsidiary of SamancorCR, is a three-furnace chrome ore smelting operation that begun in 1975. Prior to working with Schuitema, the operation was billed as the worst performing business unit by Samancor’s COO, Desmond McManus. Old technology, high costs, low productivity, and a high worker turnaround rate were just a few of the issues Tubatse faced.

By 2009, however, only two years after Tubatse began work with Schuitema, the unit had quickly evolved to become the best performing business unit among all of SamancorCR’s units. In this interview, HR Manager of Tubatse, Andries Nieuwoudt, shares with us the hot sauce behind Tubatse’s spectacular success.

His key ingredient? A people-centric view of management.

Tubatse’s Story in 2009

Before diving into Nieuwoudt’s solutions, we first travel back in time to understand Tubatse’s conditions and the challenges that Nieuwoudt had to face back in 2009:

1. Worst Performing Business Unit

Nieuwoudt shared that Tubatse’s plants first opened its doors for operations in 1976. More than thirty years later, the plant still operates using the same open arc furnaces that were in use then; old expensive technology that had high overhead costs that could not be avoided. Additionally, due to the way the machinery functioned, Tubatse’s operations required much more manpower as compared to its competitors in the same field, ones that had the luxury of modern technologies.

2. A Challenging and Competitive Environment

According to Nieuwoudt, working conditions were very hard for the employees due to the rural location of the plant. People from the city who came in often could not adapt their lifestyle to the conditions that living in rural areas required; many came, and many more left. And if that wasn’t challenging enough, Tubatse too faced the problem of competitors fishing for the employees that remained. Often, these other companies would dangle the opportunity of huge bonuses to Tubatse’s employees, who would then leave for “greener pastures”.

High turnover rates are never good for any company or organization, what more Tubatse, a plant that needed large numbers of employees to run its operations smoothly.

3. A Confrontational Workplace

Another factor contributing in a less-than-satisfactory working condition for Tubatse’s employees was the constant sense of danger in the workplace. Nieuwoudt shared that just six years ago, he would often have to intervene in confrontations that erupted all over the plant. In fact, things got so bad that it was not surprising to have blood spill on the floor.

The fact was that harsh working conditions in the smelting furnaces coupled with irate employees were the perfect boiling pot for a confrontational working environment.

4. Dissatisfaction with Leadership

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, a HR survey conducted by Tubatse in 2006 revealed that there was huge unhappiness with the leadership resulting from the various issues the employees faced. On top of all the above issues (which the employees blamed management for), Tubatse also faced high injury rates and low productivity; there was a resounding echo that the management perceived everything as negative, and in turn, employees viewed them negatively.

Tubatse, Today

Laden with such huge problems that were in some cases, unavoidable, even a slight improvement in the unit’s operation would be an extraordinary feat. Nieuwoudt, however, decided to instigate a major shift in how the entire plant operated — in 2007, he brought in Schuitema to assess the runnings of the plant, conduct coachings, and implement the Care and Growth programme throughout the plant.

The results?

1. Best Performing Business Unit

By concentrating on individual employee care and growth, Tubatse became the best performing business unit providing the cheapest smelter in South Africa despite using old expensive technology. Nieuwoudt was exceptionally proud of this exceptional fact as the plant competes against companies with better technologies — companies with much higher capacity, lower energy consumption, and lower labour ratio — but whose unique cost still ran higher than Tubatse’s since 2010.

In fact, Tubatse’s propulsion to the top led to SamancorCR — the organization’s main group — sending people to them for development. “If someone had a need in their career path, to maybe learn something about HR, then SamancorCR will tell them to go to Tubatse to grow,” chuckled Nieuwoudt.

2. Returning Employees

Additionally, turnover rates tanked as staff chose to remain loyal despite the lower pay that Tubatse was able to offer lower and senior level management as compared to other companies. In some cases, staff who left after being poached by the competition even chose to return!

According to Nieuwoudt, in the chrome business, two things have to be considered in dealing with employment: the scalability of the organization and thus, job security, (ie. you don’t want to work for a smelter that might retrench you in two years), as well as the the reputation of the management of an organization.

In implementing Care and Growth, Tubatse had successfully worked towards a good reputation in the industry, enabling them to recruit people at lower rates vis-a-vis the competition. Nieuwoudt shared that while other companies offered huge bonuses, their traditional style of management often led to people feeling jaded and used after two years, motivating them to leave.

3. A Collaborative Environment

Under Nieuwoudt and Schuitema, the Tubatse leadership evolved and developed an improved style of collaborating and dealing with team members and subordinates. Since implementing Care and Growth, not a drop of blood from fist-fights fell to the ground for more than six consecutive years, a miracle compared to how the situation was in the past.

“I can’t remember the last time it happened,” Nieuwoudt commented, “It’s made a remarkable difference.”

4. Contentment with Leadership

Lastly, from top talent to production staff, many employees of Tubatse chose to remain in the organization due to the overall improvement in leadership that amongst other things, had led to lower injury rates (0.5 as opposed to 1.5) and an increased productivity of 10%. A survey conducted showed a contentment with leadership never before seen since 2009.

“Just this morning, I met a shop steward who came in to office arguing. But by the time we finished talking and reached an amicable solution, he left while smiling… and I did not even have to give him anything!” shared Nieuwoudt, “When you deal with someone you must be sincere. I’ve learned that you must speak the absolute honest truth in a nice way, and don’t promise something you cannot deliver. Your employees will understand and sense that you are doing what you can, and they will be accepting of what you say.”

The Key Ingredient to Success: People-Centric Management

“I used to have a numbers approach,” confessed Nieuwoudt. By using the term ‘numbers approach’, Nieuwoudt is actually referring to the traditional model of leadership, where the leader’s only job was to provide the results, come what may.

While many would swear by the old system, Nieuwoudt believes that it actually locks potential and growth, and has a slew of side effects; many of which not visible until it reaches critical conditions.

“The numbers approach comes with a downside in terms of people growing. If a person gets comfortable in the position and they reach the results you require, two things happen. One, you want them to stay where they are. And two, they themselves have no motivation to go beyond what is required of them,” explained Nieuwoudt.

His alternative: Care and growth management, a form of management where the employees are the ends in themselves, and not the means to an ends.

“The basic thing about people is that people have potential — potentials which must be developed. Put yourself in their shoes: when someone is working to help you develop your potential, you become the person you can be. You become positive, you don’t suffer from depression, and best of all, you want to go to work,” said Nieuwoudt. “So if leaders like us start looking at it like that, then we can stop worrying that we are going to lose someone! Instead, we can spend that energy looking at how you can develop people so that they can be what they can be.”

According to Nieuwoudt, when a leader focuses on developing those under him, both the leader and the subordinate succeed; a win-win for all involved, “Your employees are happy because they accomplished and did for you what was required, and perhaps even more, and they can move on and up as their potential allows. They feel happy, and they are developing their potentials. And you, you become happy because your main intention was to develop them, which you have succeeded.”

Nieuwoudt highlighted that with Tubatse, he went from trying to manage the results and measuring every single thing, to looking at what his employees were doing and managing their development instead. This, according to him, led to the spectacular statistics that Tubatse has today.

“Today, I focus a lot on assisting the people who report to me. I coach them, rather than run a mechanical system of measuring them all the time. It’s about checking their behaviour, and focusing on improving how they can then develop the people below them.”

To Nieuwoudt, leadership is about understanding and caring for people, and not just managing them. For leaders and managers, the people under them are their responsibility, and it is important and crucial that they are cared for; the leadership and management role, in actuality, is all about the subordinates, and not the leader.

“If you look after the people, then the rest will look after itself. Doing this will pay for itself and there is no other way,” Nieuwoudt concluded.

Looking at Tubatse’s success today, we at Schuitema concur!