Sustinable Times spoke to our Director of Talent, Transformation and Technology, Álvaro Escalante. He explained how cultural transformation goes beyond the proposed changes, as it adds to the business objectives.
• What is LinGo and why is it significant for Minsur’s business management?
LinGo is our cultural transformation program, our new way of doing things, with confidence, sense of urgency and promptly, promoting continuous improvement and putting people at the center of our decisions. With Lingo we will achieve, in a sustained way, our aim as an organization, while living our purpose.
It is based on the Shingo institute`s methodology, which has established the principles that guide us towards ideal behaviors, which produce exceptional results to achieve business excellence.
• Why is Shingo institute´s award relevant?
Shingo institute awarded us the bronze medallion, which is granted to organizations that have started their way towards business excellence. This award is crucial for us. Not only because we are the first Peruvian company awarded by the renowned program of the Utah University; but also because it proves that we are doing things right, and that encourages us to continue improving. Furthermore, it makes us proud, since it is proof that we are conducting world-class mining activities in Peru.
• Is it possible to improve business results through cultural transformation, and what impact does it have on the business? If possible, could you provide some figures?
Yes, it is absolutely possible. Moreover, it is highly strategic, since people -at the different levels of the organization- are the engine of continuous improvement, which gives us greater momentum and agility. It is the way of achieving sustainable results!
Thus, since we started the cultural transformation in 2019, we have improved both our business results and our employees’ and customers’ satisfaction rates. For instance, our processing capacity grew 41%, the plant´s annual downtime dropped 42% and metallurgical recovery grew 3%. These results were achieved with operational discipline and without additional investments.
As for people, one of our cornerstones, we went up 10 points in the culture survey, exceeding the 80% threshold to adhere to our values and achieve our staff’s satisfaction. We also doubled our female staff, as compared to 2021. In addition, in terms of sustainability, in 2022 and 2023 we achieved our objective of no high-potential events, we had an additional 32 tons of recycled or reused materials, and we scored 10 more points in our customer’s satisfaction survey. This are extraordinary and highly encouraging results.
• What are the lessons learned in this process and what are the possibilities for the future?
We´ve learned to do things in a new way, with people at the core of our decision-making process, and establishing challenging goals in three cornerstones: people, value generation and sustainability. We are migrating to a new leadership model based on wellbeing and results, and on 10 behaviors that have been defined within our culture.
We are sure that this evolution process we have undertaken will allow us to continue having great results, and adapting to a global environment that is rapidly changing; but always with a human focus that is conveyed in the purpose that guides our organization: we improve lives, transforming minerals into wellbeing.