Issue Escalation

When mining companies provide issue escalation avenues for employees, they successfully facilitate the early detection of potential issues. The earlier frontline employees report concerns or difficulties they encounter during their daily tasks, the faster management can intervene before problems escalate, leaving a greater negative impact.

The two most common elements to trigger that escalation process are the severity of the miss, or the frequency of the miss. In the first instance, missing a plan by 30% clearly requires escalation. However, missing a plan by only 2-3% may also trigger the escalation process when that lesser miss becomes a recurring event.

A structured issue escalation process ensures that communication channels are clear and well-defined, allowing employees to contact and report issues promptly without fear of reprisals from upper management. This avoids delays in raising concerns and ensures that the right people are informed to take appropriate actions promptly, before the issue impacts mine performance negatively.

However, an effective issue escalation mechanism is only sustainable by fostering a culture where problems are proactively reported and where employees feel comfortable raising issues through the right channels. Without leadership taking the first step and embracing the new systems and processes in place to build transparency and trust, long-term change is unlikely to happen.

Key Client Challenges:

1. How do we design an effective issue escalation process that allows frontline employees to comfortably report issues without fear of reprisals?
2. What technologies or tools can facilitate seamless and efficient communication during the escalation process?
3. How do we strike a balance between escalating issues promptly and resolving them at the local level to avoid unnecessary delays?
4. What metrics should we use to measure the effectiveness of our issue escalation process and overall performance management efforts?
5. How can issue escalation be integrated with existing safety management systems to enhance safety performance?
6. What training and resources should be provided to employees to ensure they understand the issue escalation process and its importance?
7. How can we promote a culture that encourages proactive reporting of issues rather than waiting for problems to escalate?

By promoting early detection, streamlined communication, cross-departmental collaboration, and continuous improvement, safer, more efficient, and productive mining operations are possible.

Our Unison Mining experts work with your team to ensure that a culture of transparency and trust is built by implementing the systems and mine processes needed for effective issue escalation at every organization level – along with the behavior changes and routines necessary for long-lasting change.