A robust focus on skills development by the South African office of Canadian-based SNC-Lavalin, one of the world’s leading engineering and construction groups, has resulted in several milestone successes along a transformation journey that began in 2009, shortly after the office’s first local managing director was appointed. The SNC-Lavalin South Africa project office was established in Johannesburg in 2006 with 12 employees. It has since grown rapidly to become a full-fledged operation with a staff of just under 500 people. The office provides technical expertise, project and construction management and procurement services, primarily for mining and metallurgical projects throughout Africa.

“Our office’s transformation vision includes becoming a level 4 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) contributor,” said Eddie du Rand, managing director of SNC-Lavalin for Sub Saharan Africa. “We have now achieved a level 5 compliance, and we’re committed to achieving our target by incorporating transformation into our business model.” Transformation is an important business imperative for SNC-Lavalin South Africa and integral to its objective of being a good corporate citizen for stakeholders and to becoming an employer of choice in the industry. Its goal is to accelerate the integration of B-BBEE into its day-to-day business priorities. Black Economic Empowerment will facilitate economic growth, development and stability in South Africa.

The company is taking a five-pronged approach to transformation: Visible Change (Employment Equity), Visible Difference (improved B-BBEE scorecard), Integration with Customer Service, Visible Synergy (becoming a Partner of Choice to all stakeholders) and Visible Relevance (being distinctly global with a South African touch). SNC-Lavalin continuously monitors its B-BBEE status through registered verification companies, and has engaged Global Business Solutions on a consultancy basis to boost its B-BBEE score and expedite its overall transformation.

The ongoing challenge of the lack of suitably qualified employees has prompted SNC-Lavalin to continue to prioritise skills development. The company’s learnership programmes have, over the past two years, identified 28 learners who have been integrated into the working environment or identified for further bursary assistance, for an overall success rate of 90%. “The learnership programmes serve not only as an entry point for young people in South Africa to find employment in the EPCM industry, but also provide an opportunity to assess the potential of future permanent employees together with developing mentorship and coaching skills among our employees,” said Cathy Williams, HR manager for SNC-Lavalin.

  Earlier this year, SNC-Lavalin organised a Graduate Engineers Week, exposing a group of 12 final-year engineering students from various local universities to the world of work, with a particular focus on gaining an understanding of the EPCM environment.“Our aim was to provide them with insight as to what is required to develop into well-rounded engineers, who are challenged to grow and gain broad experience in our industry,” said Williams. “From this cross section of young talent, eight candidates were identified who will embark on a new Engineer-In-Training Programme to be launched in 2013.”In addition to scoring full points in the Skills Development section of the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice, SNC-Lavalin also scored highly in Preferential Procurement, which gives preference to black women-owned businesses; Socio-Economic Development, where employees are encouraged to identify and support education-focused community initiatives and Enterprise Development, where the company provides financial support and business guidance to micro enterprises.