By the second quarter of 2018, the number of women working in senior departmental managers at Manzanillo International Terminal Panama (MIT) reached 41%. They work in yard operations, security and protection, gate operations and docker dispatch.
Namely, creating a gender competency plan is an effective method to assess, maintain, and monitor the knowledge, skills, and attributes of people with respect to gender equality in a shipping organisation. Gender Equality is amongst the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that supports IAPH’s World Ports Sustainability Program.
From 2012 IAPH runs a Women’s Forum which aims to empower women in the maritime industry through a scholarship program and other initiatives.
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Moreover, concerning quayside operations, female operators at MIT have shown an increase by 7 women, either operating or maintaining the 19 cranes at the terminal. Also, a majority of new positions to manage by hand the new fleet of auto-stacking cranes has been controlled by females. Specifically, these cranes work with RFID technology and high-tech software in order to optimise the containers’ location in the yard.
According to Susibel Perigault, MIT’s Training and Development Manager, discrimination of any form is against MIT’s values. It is of a big importance not only to emphasize on gender equality, but to support a variety in ethnic, social and religious backgrounds as well as giving chance to persons with disabilities. That’s why, the selection criteria for any job at the terminal is based on proper training, capabilities to meet the demands of a job and commitment by colleagues to support the selected candidate.
MIT also employs people from a wide-ranging background including Afro-Caribbean women from Caribbean nations such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Aruba.
According to a recent survey on employee engagement, 70% of the staff was either satisfied or very satisfied with the already existent working environment at MIT. The survey focuses on peoples’ jobs, leadership, trust, working atmosphere, communication, work conditions and satisfaction.
What’s more, examples of employee engagement include a recent Health Festival in which MIT celebrated the Safety Health and Environment Day on April. The event gathered employees and their families and offered them free medicals for blood pressure, BMI body weight and nutrition as well as massages and eye examinations. Also, informal sessions were held on injury prevention and recycling with recreational games for the kids, a small arts and crafts market and a comedy podium.
Finally, the highlight of MIT’s success is its application of its Code of Ethics in practice.
