South Africa’s leading diversified resources company, Exxaro, has been voted as the second most sought after mining company to work for in the Mining and Metals category by thousands of tertiary students in the GradStar Students’ Choice Awards of 2020.
The Absa GradStar Awards, operated by BlackBark Productions, identifies and celebrates the most employable tertiary-level students across the country, based on their leadership qualities and career readiness. Every year, the programme attracts over 8 000 candidates who are then narrowed down to the top 100 and top 10.
However, this year’s awards were a bit different – the event organisers asked the students to list their top five preferred employers on their entry form, without any suggestions or outlined sectors. After receiving almost 5 000 responses and over 23 000 unique answers, the data was mined and the largest survey of its kind – the GradStar Students’ Choice Awards 2020 – was created.
The results were announced by the students in a webinar hosted on 17 November 2020, revealing their top choices of employers across industries. Exxaro’s second placing in the Mining and Metals category reaffirms the organisation’s position as a top-of-mind brand for South African students, despite a challenging year. And considering these young people are the future leaders of the country, their opinions hold even more weight.
In more good news for the mining group – Exxaro’s Growth Manager, contributing to our Strategy and Business Development deliverables, Mohloana Magwai was recently awarded the Accenture Rising Star award in the Mining and Minerals category at the 9th annual awards which took place on 3 December.
“I am honoured and humbled to be recognised through this award. I think it’s a recognition of not just of my own contribution, but also of the amazing organisation I work for, Exxaro Resources. I am grateful to have had this opportunity. It’s been an incredible experience,” says Mohloana.
The Rising Star Programme recognises and connects young talent across all sectors in South Africa. The awards are targeted at young employees between the ages of 28 and 40 who excel in their roles and inspire others to make a positive difference. Over the past eight years, the programme has built a network of over 400 of the most talented young professionals and entrepreneurs in the country. These ‘Rising Stars’ are constantly mentored and developed, enabling them to become opinion leaders and role models for young South Africans everywhere.
To assess future leadership capabilities, each candidate is judged on five criteria: vision and the ability to create, team effectiveness and collaboration, trust and ethics, communication and listening, and motivating and committed attitude.
“We are incredibly proud of Mohloana, his work ethic, passion and dedication to our organisation is exceptional and his peers already view him as an inspirational leader and role model,” says Vanisha Balgobind, Exxaro’s Executive Head of Human Resources.
“We are also honoured to be named as one of the most sought-after employers for graduates in South Africa. This is testament to Exxaro’s ingrained culture and values and all the work we have done to enhance the lives of not only our workforce but for our communities and greater society,” adds Balgobind.
She concludes that Exxaro is committed to driving real growth and change in Africa and will continue to nurture and develop young talent as part of this vision.