Let’s talk about human factors: Key considerations to move forward

Starting the discussion, Dr. William Moore, Senior Vice President & Global Head of Loss Prevention, American Club, noted that ‘’safety is a huge priority but we see that compliance with the environmental regulations is currently at front, which means that resources and funds are dedicated towards.’’ In that regard, ship owners are interested in focusing more on safety and seafarers’ training.

‘’The human element rests at the heart of all shipping operations. For GasLog, human element is actually the pinnacle of our operations and remains a key priority in our agenda.’’ said Antonios Liappis, Marine HR Manager, GasLog Ltd.

Considering that the majority of accidents is attributed to human factor, to enhance maritime safety and security we need to focus on human factor, to train and educate people, stressed Dr. Christos Patsiouras, Dean of Maritime Academy, Metropolitan College.

From the P&I perspective, we have seen changes over previous years in the way that lessons are learned. There has been a sort of plateau in the advancements of safety particularly and the traditional safety measuring methods, i.e. KPIs. Therefore, we have turned our attention to human behaviour, trying to understand how the behaviour and the human factor can make this plateau end and increase safety

.. commented John Southam, Loss Prevention Executive, North P&I Club.

Continuing, Rear-Admiral Bill Truelove, Managing Director, CSMART Arison Maritime Training Center, reminded that when we talk about human factors we need to consider both people onboard and ashore. ‘’What hasn’t changed is that the global economy relies on the shipping industry to move products every day and so that it’s business imperative against a challenging HR market where transitory workforces are becoming the norm and diversity is still important’’.

Heading towards 2030

The industry is currently considering an additional issue; that is associated with the next generations and ways to attract young people to join shipping. For example, Gen Z is much visual, used to quick information that needs to get their attention and familiar with new technologies. What is more, now people have many tools to get informed, i.e. google, youtube, social media, and broad wifi-connection.

In that regard, as Dr. Moore explained: ‘’At the American Club, we are trying to get back to basics and keep loss prevention information simple in order seafarers to focus their attention on what is important to know.’’ Commenting on the different generations that co-exist carrying different mindsets and skills, Mr. Liappis pinpointed that:

What we need to do is to showcase the best that every generation can provide, to identify their skillset, strong and weak points.

While in the past, we used to concentrate on issues such as employee recruitment, retention, performance management or the proper training and development, over the last years, and especially during the pandemic, we see a transition of focus, noticed Dr. Patsiouras and highlighted that technology entity is one of the emerging issues for consideration.

’’We now focus on issues such as employ relations, interpersonal conflict management and talent management to exploit the talents of our employees. Overall, there is a transition from the previous principles of human resource management to the new ones; for smooth transition, proper training is needed in order people to get ready for the demanding working environment Dr. Patsiouras added.

As we are heading towards 2030, the focus is shifted from crew to other issues, such as decarbonization, Mr Southam mentioned. ‘’In the end of the day, it is not particularly attractive to go to the sea anymore. To me, the young generation seems to be in a big rush to get to the top, as quickly as they can. We need to give them tailored goals and focus on their training’’.

What remains same in 2030 is the harsh maritime environment, commented Rear-Admiral Truelove in turn. ‘’We have to keep our eye on safety; the global economy will always rely on shipping, so we got to make sure that this industry is sustainable. ‘’

Another thing that will not change is that this industry will continue to evolve technically; now it is only getting more complex so the price to train and prepare our seafarers is going up. So, retaining them is important and we need to make sure that when we recruit and sign individuals, we retain families. It is not about money, it is about all the rest

…he added.

Performance vs motivation: Key challenges ahead

‘’I think motivation for the older generation is little less of a challenge as it is for the newer generation.

‘’Nowadays, we are talking about building performance, behaviour and competence for retention. In that regard, instead of a career, we are talking about job levels and staying interested and focused on the job. That’s what generates the final product, which is operational excellence. In 2030, we are talking about a really technologically savvy generation going into a very dull – challenging wise- era; how do we motivate these people to stay in the job is important.’’ Mr. Liappis said.

According to Dr. Patsiouras, the challenges for human resources management for the next decade are:

1.       How to make talent management more attractive

2.       Training and development of young people linked to specific targets

3.       The retention of people

4.       DEI (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion) in the workplace

5.       Seafarers’ health and wellbeing

‘’Motivation is a key word and we cannot say that one thing only motivates the whole crew’’ stressed Mr. Southam. highlighting that the challenge is to identify that there are different motivational factors for consideration to retain all crew and provide them with proper training to gain confidence and experience.

Concluding Rear-Admiral Truelove said: ‘’We can train all day but we can’t make up for the years of experience on deck place. So, that’s why I increasingly believe in the concepts of coaching and mentoring.’’ adding that young people are incredibly motivated with high competence level that they want to be challenged.

In terms of motivation, I think that the seafarers of the future are interested in the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ but they are way more interested in the ‘why’ and having a voice.

…Rear-Admiral Truelove stated.

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