JUMPING FROM SHIP OR SHOP FLOOR

Even since those comparatively recent times, the global terminal operators have continued to expand. And the pool of available staff – especially mariners, historically the source for trained maritime professionals – continues to dwindle.

Management in many ports and terminals today average nearer 50 rather than below 40 years old, so what is the industry doing about succession planning?

Roles ashore have changed dramatically in the last 10 years.

Managers today have to be able to gather, manipulate, exchange and interpret large amounts of data, understand insurance and legal issues when making decisions and cope with the stress of almost constant travel and changing time zones. Unlike computer data, it’s not possible today just to drag and drop staff from sea-based careers straight into management roles ashore and expect them still to float, as it were.

The switch to a shore-based role is not easy. As this correspondent knows from personal experience, it takes time to get to grips with the new management style that includes the need to negotiate common priorities for the production of work rather than just be able to issue and order and expect it to happen.

According to Tom Falknor at ICTSI, the move from the shop floor into management doesn’t happen as often as it should as there are now fewer qualified marine personnel available to make the transition.

An interesting example of their solution to this problem is their approach at the Baltic Container Terminal Gdynia. With the help of Gdansk University ICTSI has been running a selection programme to screen, test and select candidates for a two year degree programme.

This is helping stimulate those that felt their way ahead was blocked in what was a very stagnant management environment and has also generally raised morale.

IN-HOUSE TRAINING Dick Grenville, general manager SSA Marine at Tampa, sees himself as someone that made the transition, having joined the organisation as ship superintendent, after we studied for our second mates’ tickets together some years ago. Grenville has done well and has since gone on to become general manager. He explained that managers within the SSA organisation are mostly trained in house.

They usually start life as stevedoring superintendent trainees, progressing to vessel operations, yard and rail shift superintendents.

Their company policy is to promote from within and over the years, he has seen people that started as clerks rise up through ranks to be junior and senior managers.

One of the problems Grenville sees today is with bulk and general cargoes. As these vessels call less frequently the job training is not sufficient for shore staff to get acquainted with the work. There are also issues on the liner side where frequently he encounters marine superintendents, who despite many years experience on container vessels, are like fish out of water ashore. This, Grenville suspects, “is due to the role at sea today being more akin to that of a bus driver under severe pressure to get from A to B and remain on schedule. It just doesn’t prepare you for the management issues one faces ashore, ” he says.

At P&0 Ports where the approach to training is one of lifelong learning, Margaret Pickworth, HR director explains that the development of staff from shift worker into manager has been one of the traditional routes of development within the group. Nevertheless, she notes that one of the barriers is remuneration, as shift workers with their shift bonuses and overtime can initially earn considerably more than their management counterparts and this may make the prospects of a management role less attractive for them.

Speaking to colleagues from our recently formed Ports and Maritime Consulting Group (PMCG), Alan Holland, who has been involved in training for many years, explains that “much depends on the quality of staff recruited in the first place. If they are available, they can be stimulated by setting up effective communication systems so that staff at lower levels fully understand what the company objective is and can develop their own ideas accordingly”.

Also from PMCG, Philip Lacey notes that “the jump into management roles is often held back by hierarchical thinking which needs to be broken down. The older managers need to become mentors and groom and encourage their subordinates. Such a transition must also be worthwhile for the individual and a management development programme must be in place to demonstrate continuous opportunity.”

ON MENTORING In a previous training review for PS 15 months ago, we reported on Associated British Ports (ABP) who had just starting a mentoring programme. They had recognised that as senior managers began to retire the company’s skills bank comprising decades of experience was going to dwindle to nothing in the next 10 years.

Since then they have found the process to be extremely positive for ‘mentees’ and mentors alike. ‘Mentees’ have been able to obtain a better understanding of the business and in particular their own roles, and move onto new ones. Mentors have found the recognition of their own experience and skills has been very positive and their ability to make a contribution to someone else’s career extremely rewarding.

Also the opportunity of having existing business processes challenged by someone young and enthusiastic has lead to some challenges, improvements to these processes and some creative opportunities.

This is borne out by our own satisfaction from mentoring and career planning as we provide these services to our clients.

One such graduate we have been mentoring echoes the comments of Philip Lacy when he says that in his limited but recent experience “the ports industry has a very hierarchical structure with not enough empowerment for lower grade employees. Too many decisions are deferred upwards to managers who are either not available or just don’t have the time to deal with the bottleneck of decisions that get stuck on their desks.” To break this grip of the control and command culture, he suggests that HR departments can stimulate change if they provide managers with a tangible plan to achieve this. Clearly defined authority levels by management, regular reporting back coupled with mentoring and open-door policies provide a framework to stimulate more delegation in a sufficiently controlled manner to avoid mistakes.

DO SPECIALIST DEGREE COURSES WORK FOR THE REAL WORLD?

P&O Ports’ Margaret Pickworth who’s experience must make her one of the leading authorities on port related training and HR issues, says that “although there are some extremely good maritime colleges they do not appear to place enough emphasis or depth on container terminal operations.” She continues:

“P&O have been developing their own programmes covering an extensive range from equipment operator to operations management”. She adds that “all graduates have to carry out supervisory roles and are deliberately placed in roles that will expose them to difficult labour situations and new cultures.”

Our own ‘mentee’ graduate explained that from his experience, “standard degree courses do not equip you for the rough and tough environment of global port management”. He expands on this by suggesting that “any port management course should include a six month internment at undergraduate level. As well as learning the obvious skills of relationship building and people management, one also needs to learn how in the real world, to do research fast and pull data whilst working towards a very specific result.”

Another colleague at PMCG comments: “On their own these courses are not sufficient. There must be exposure to the real world of the quay-front with structured time-out and placement with sponsorships.”

WHERE FROM HERE?

Many senior ships officers looking to transfer ashore recognise the need for training for their new roles. They invest time and money enrolling in maritime-related degree courses to help them make the transition. Unfortunately, after two or three years study expecting their hard won qualification to unlock the door to a shore-based role, they may still be turned down because they don’t have the shorebased management experience employers are looking for.

So whether maritime-related degree courses are for young or mature students, they need to have a structure that employers will recognise has given them enough experience to be of value when they step into their new management role.

If the ports industry is to attract the brightest and the best, it needs to raise its profile and do more to market the benefits it provides to world trade and the career opportunities of an exciting global business. Given the continued industry expansion, employers need the freedom to recruit employees globally and not face the arcane visa restrictions that stop the recruitment of well trained professionals who are available from developing world regions. And finally if accountants, lawyers and shipbrokers have professional associations that safeguards and promotes their professional standing, then why not the ports industry too?

Steve Cameron is principal of Cameron Maritime Resources. See www. cmrsupport. com, and www.Ports-Maritime. com for more information.

Table 1: Examples of Maritime Courses available

College Location Qualification Details

Deflt University of Technology Rotterdam Equivalent Master’s Degree Ports, Transport & Logistics<$>Hogeschool Rotterdam Rotterdam Equivalent Batchelor’s Degree Ports, Transport & Logistics<$>Institut Portuaire d’Enseignement et de Recherche Le Havre Various Port; Management, Finance, Planning, Ops Institute of Transport and Maritime Management Antwerp M.Sc. and Ph.D Transport and Maritime; Management or Economics<$>U.S Merchant Marine Academy New York M.A Transportation Management – Logistics and Intermodal<$>World Maritime University Malmo Master of Science Port Management, Port Equipment Management PSA Institute (Port of Singapore) Singapore Various Port Management, Port Equipment Management