Foundation of Progress

The current business environment is intertwined with intense competition and significant transformations. This has made it essential, more than ever, for organizations to not only maintain their position but also to grow and advance by adapting to changes and updating approaches and processes. Enhancing education and expertise and developing competencies are among the factors that organizations need to focus on more than ever. Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company (SSMIC), a major player in the country’s steel value chain, has also made significant efforts in enhancing education and competency development for its employees and has never halted this process.

Human Capital Development and Competency Enhancement

Training and developing human capital competencies directly enhance employee skills and capabilities, leading to improved organizational performance and driving growth and advancement. Therefore, adopting effective strategies and comprehensive actions to improve expertise and develop competencies is not a choice but a necessity to maintain and enhance an organization’s position in today’s competitive world. This approach is particularly crucial in the mining and mineral industries, where activities are highly interconnected and sensitive, and largely depend on the skills and expertise of human resources. Hence, SSMIC, a key player in the steel supply chain, has placed education and competency development as a cornerstone of its transformation and development journey and has taken significant steps in this direction.

Strategic Shift

The crucial role of trained and capable human capital in organizational success and achieving set goals is well recognized. In recent years, approaches to human resource development and empowerment have shifted from traditional training to competency management. Competency management involves adopting strategies and actions that ensure an organization possesses the necessary skills. Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company (SSMIC) has embraced this modern strategy and has taken significant actions in this regard. It is worth noting that the comprehensive training and development system for employees at SSMIC was re-engineered in 2021 based on the requirements of the ISO 10015:2019 standard for training effectiveness in organizations. Since then, the company’s policy and planning for human resource performance evaluation have been based on this standard. One of SSMIC’s strategic actions in developing human capital competencies, recognized with the Best Practice Award at the 11th National Conference on Human Resource Training and Development, was the job analysis project and the development of job descriptions and competencies based on the process management model. Job descriptions are one of the main prerequisites for the success of other human resource management processes, including recruitment, training, job evaluation, compensation, promotion, succession planning, performance management, job rotation, and more.

Comprehensive Training System

SSMIC has developed its human resource training management roadmap based on the Hay Group model, covering recruitment, development, and retention of human resources. In this model, human capital competencies are analyzed both broadly and in detail, and a specific job description is not considered in isolation from other jobs and organizational structure. Based on this model, a five-year roadmap has been drawn to evolve the performance evaluation management system in four main areas: coaching, evaluation, program analysis, and presentation. The company also continuously evaluates its training programs using the “CIPPTOO” model to align human capital training and development with overarching goals. This model systematically and comprehensively assesses the impact of programs provided to employees, facilitating management decision-making and future training program development.

Key Actions in Competency Development

One of SSMIC’s key actions in this area was holding a competency assessment center (for all employees from the expert level and above). The competency assessment center aims to identify competencies and opportunities, assess potential, and use the results for training needs assessment and employee development programs. Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company (SSMIC) employs a simulation method for this process, reviewing the general competency model at three levels: expert, supervisory, and leadership, through benchmarking, in-depth interviews, and considering organizational expectations for achieving goals. Competency evaluation and management and development models are then defined and implemented at the specified levels. Other significant actions include designing and implementing the employee performance management system, establishing the internal instructors and coaches club, developing and revising the employee competency model guidelines at various levels, conducting three performance evaluation cycles, training needs assessment based on performance evaluation results (16 courses), and preparing and distributing study packages for employee development (including 15 book titles in 471 volumes).

Beyond Averages

Technological advancements and the emergence of new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are currently transforming societies and industries, playing a crucial role in shaping the future world. The extensive impact of new technologies makes it essential for organizational managers to be familiar with these technologies. In this regard, SSMIC held a course on AI technology and digital transformation in managing major mineral industries for its managers and heads this year. The course aimed to enhance knowledge and keep up with global changes, develop managers’ perspectives on digital transformation, and explore AI applications in the mining and mineral industries. Topics covered included AI from inception to future, the role of metaverse and digital twin in future management, the position of industrial IoT (IIoT), aspects of the fourth industrial revolution from a digital tools perspective, AI’s role in enhancing safety and transitioning from preventive industrial maintenance to AI-based predictive maintenance, and tools for creating industrial productivity and reducing mineral industry emissions with AI tools.

Performance Management Metrics

Statistics related to performance management at SSMIC demonstrate the outstanding performance and high effectiveness of training and competency development for human capital. Based on the 34000 human resource model, the average evaluation penetration rate, one of the performance management metrics, is 90%, while this rate was 97% and 96% at SSMIC in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The average employee performance score based on this model is 60%, while at SSMIC, this parameter was 70.74% in 2022 and 71.01% in 2023. The ratio of employees with low performance, another performance management metric, averages 5% based on the 34000 model. However, this parameter was 0.4% at SSMIC in 2022 and zero in 2023. Other strategic metrics at SSMIC in human capital training and development include employee competency ratio, per capita training for employees and management levels, training course effectiveness, employee and management competency rate, and the ratio of management positions with approved successors. Additionally, Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company (SSMIC) values employee engagement and satisfaction, recognizing their significant role in learning and productivity, and includes these parameters among its strategic metrics for human capital training and development, continuously striving to enhance them.

Achievements and Recognitions

SSMIC’s progressive actions have led to numerous achievements, including receiving three-star and four-star commendations and the Bronze (C1) Award in the Human Resource Excellence Award evaluations based on the 34000 model, from 2021 to 2023. SSMIC continued its growth by receiving the Bronze Human Resource Award last year, placing it among the top 10 companies in the country for human resource excellence. In its second participation in the Human Resource Excellence Award in 2023, SSMIC received the Crystal Award. However, it seems that SSMIC is not content with its remarkable achievements in human capital competency development and aims for further development in this area, with important programs and projects, such as designing and implementing succession planning, leadership development, mentoring systems, talent management, and employee performance manag