6
to reassure the business that employees will not neglect
their substantive duties in favour of more ‘interesting’ work
accessed via the aTN.
3. RioExcelTM
Like most organisations with a large population of techni-
cal experts, Rio Tinto has a subset of the technical work-
force that seeks career progression but is not motivated
to become a ‘people’ leader, instead preferring to focus
on technical work. The RioExcelTM program provides a
structured mechanism to assess and provide recognition
and career advancement for deep technical experts while
remaining an individual contributor. Candidates for this
recognition need to demonstrate not only the quality of
their work and contribution to business outcomes, but to
demonstrate their effectiveness at sharing their technical
expertise through the communities of practice or as a men-
tor to the next generation of experts.
Individuals that have been successfully recognised via
RioExcelTM are referred to as RioExpertsTM, and these
individuals are considered the custodians of the culture
of technical excellence at Rio Tinto. There are currently
~150 RioExperts distributed globally and representing the
full spectrum of technical activity and a significant human
capital asset for Rio Tinto. RioExpertsTM are expected to
become a source of internal expertise that can be accessed
via an internal expertise directory, helping to ensure that
Rio Tinto is fully leveraging these unique skills for maxi-
mum advantage.
Additionally, the RioExcel program has provided
improved attraction and retention of technical experts with
attrition rates typically less than half the rate of the broader
technical population.
CONCLUSIONS
While traditional forms of learning and development such
as classroom and e-learning will continue to play a role,
increasingly modern mining and metals organisations
need to consider learning methods that are agile, scalable
and adaptive to a fast changing social, technological and
regulatory landscape. In response, Rio Tinto has invested
heavily in creating a networked technical organisation both
through the establishment of vibrant technical communi-
ties of practice and the creation of an internal expertise mar-
ketplace through the agile Technical Network. The strength
of the networked technical organisation has been enhanced
by linking the RioExcelTM technical expert program as an
incentive for candidates to provide leadership for the tech-
nical communities.
In addition to being relatively cost effective, this
approach offers the benefit of being:
• Adaptive to a vast diversity of learning needs – some-
thing for everyone
• Available to a global audience with different cultural
and language needs
• Accessible across different work environments and
accommodates assorted demanding work schedules
• Able to draw upon the vast expertise contained with
the large global workforce of technical professionals.
Measuring return on learning investment is tricky the
ultimate measure is the quality of technical advice inform-
ing better decision making and business outcomes. Rio
Tinto undertakes employee engagement surveys every 6
months and collects data across a number of parameters
including personal growth, which has steadily improved
by approximately 15% in the past 5 years. This improve-
ment is at least in part attributable to the three initiatives
described in this paper.
Figure 8 The RioExcel pathway for recognition and career progression
to reassure the business that employees will not neglect
their substantive duties in favour of more ‘interesting’ work
accessed via the aTN.
3. RioExcelTM
Like most organisations with a large population of techni-
cal experts, Rio Tinto has a subset of the technical work-
force that seeks career progression but is not motivated
to become a ‘people’ leader, instead preferring to focus
on technical work. The RioExcelTM program provides a
structured mechanism to assess and provide recognition
and career advancement for deep technical experts while
remaining an individual contributor. Candidates for this
recognition need to demonstrate not only the quality of
their work and contribution to business outcomes, but to
demonstrate their effectiveness at sharing their technical
expertise through the communities of practice or as a men-
tor to the next generation of experts.
Individuals that have been successfully recognised via
RioExcelTM are referred to as RioExpertsTM, and these
individuals are considered the custodians of the culture
of technical excellence at Rio Tinto. There are currently
~150 RioExperts distributed globally and representing the
full spectrum of technical activity and a significant human
capital asset for Rio Tinto. RioExpertsTM are expected to
become a source of internal expertise that can be accessed
via an internal expertise directory, helping to ensure that
Rio Tinto is fully leveraging these unique skills for maxi-
mum advantage.
Additionally, the RioExcel program has provided
improved attraction and retention of technical experts with
attrition rates typically less than half the rate of the broader
technical population.
CONCLUSIONS
While traditional forms of learning and development such
as classroom and e-learning will continue to play a role,
increasingly modern mining and metals organisations
need to consider learning methods that are agile, scalable
and adaptive to a fast changing social, technological and
regulatory landscape. In response, Rio Tinto has invested
heavily in creating a networked technical organisation both
through the establishment of vibrant technical communi-
ties of practice and the creation of an internal expertise mar-
ketplace through the agile Technical Network. The strength
of the networked technical organisation has been enhanced
by linking the RioExcelTM technical expert program as an
incentive for candidates to provide leadership for the tech-
nical communities.
In addition to being relatively cost effective, this
approach offers the benefit of being:
• Adaptive to a vast diversity of learning needs – some-
thing for everyone
• Available to a global audience with different cultural
and language needs
• Accessible across different work environments and
accommodates assorted demanding work schedules
• Able to draw upon the vast expertise contained with
the large global workforce of technical professionals.
Measuring return on learning investment is tricky the
ultimate measure is the quality of technical advice inform-
ing better decision making and business outcomes. Rio
Tinto undertakes employee engagement surveys every 6
months and collects data across a number of parameters
including personal growth, which has steadily improved
by approximately 15% in the past 5 years. This improve-
ment is at least in part attributable to the three initiatives
described in this paper.
Figure 8 The RioExcel pathway for recognition and career progression