How to navigate through the crisis. Interview with Bente Boa, Torm.

Written by Gesine Stück  |  Tuesday, 22 September 2009  | 

Dialogue with employees and cost-efficient competency development strategies in focus during the current economic crisis.

At the beginning of July 2009, maritime HR and business strategy researcher Maria Anne Wagtmann (Associate Professor, PhD, University of Southern Denmark) had the opportunity to interview Ms Bente Boa, who is a senior marine HR manager in the Danish ship owning firm TORM A/S. Bente Boa is also chairwoman of “The Sea Serpent” (in Danish: “Søslangen”), a Danish maritime HR network for professionals in maritime firms that meets around 4 times annually. Danish-language information about the meetings and activities of the “Sea Serpent” network.

MAW: Torm A/S has received national acclaim for its strategies concerning retention and motivation of its personnel. What is being done in this area during the current economic crisis?

BB: The “Great place to work” programme, in which we ask our employees for opinions and suggestions to ensure an optimal working environment through mutual trust and dialogue, has been extended so that it now encompasses not only personnel groups ashore but all categories of employees at Torm.
However, other than this, similar to almost all other companies in maritime transportation, we are of course having to deal with reduced budgets and curbed spending. This means that there is not that much room for new initiatives.

MAW: How about your current policy concerning the development of employee competencies?
BB: At the moment, we are primarily focusing on ensuring that various staff categories fully meet all competencies required by law or by specific customers. However, when we replace technical equipment, e.g. IT-systems on shore or something on a ship, of course we also ensure that the personnel who will use the new equipment receive the necessary education to be able to use it correctly and optimally.
Other than this, we have made cuts in our budget for external courses; this means that we are sending fewer staff to external courses.

MAW: How about your level of activity? Are their instances when some personnel groups are working a bit less than previously, allowing space for more internal learning and dialogue?
BB: No, it is not my impression that the work burden has generally decreased at Torm. We seem to be working as hard as previously. However, Torm is engaged in a specific dialogue with its personnel about how it may best navigate through the current economic crisis to ensure its market position for the future.

MAW: Can you make a more general statement on the general pattern in Danish maritime industry firms, based on your work and contacts as chairwoman for the Danish maritime HR network “The Sea Serpent”? In other words, what is your general impression of how Danish HR professionals in firms that work with HR have adapted their employee competence development policies to the current economic crisis?
BB: I believe that generally most firms are focusing on optimizing daily operations to the crisis situation and adapting their workforces to the business that each respective company is able to acquire during the crisis. Generally there is a tendency to cut external courses and to make internal arrangements on a reduced budget. This also means that activities in Danish maritime firms concerning, e.g. firm-internal international network experience groups may be reduced substantially – as is the case at Torm.

MAW: Concerning external courses, are there staff groups in Danish maritime firms who in your opinion would benefit from educational offerings in the field of maritime business administration, e.g. logistics, finance, organisation, strategy and marketing, economics and politics etc. or from entire study programs?
BB: Here I believe that there is always a need for such offerings – also in crisis situations. I would also argue that the need for competence development may even be more important during a crisis situation – due to the increased level of competition.
However, during an economic recession, the financing of employee participation in such programs is much more difficult for companies to meet. In cases where companies find it absolutely essential for current needs to send one or more employees to a course or a program, they will of course still do it.  However, the tendency is to send fewer people to such courses – or to choose less expensive types of course delivery, for example distance learning or part-time education about which it is negotiated with the employee that he or she should use his or her free time for these activities.

MAW: Do you have an opinion about whether there are specific maritime business administration sub-disciplines, e.g. maritime economics, maritime finance, logistics and supply chain management, organisation, HR either on land or in relation to ships, strategy or marketing, in which courses are especially needed by the Danish maritime sector?
BB: No, unfortunately I do not have such an overview. Things are usually decided locally, based on the individual firm’s competitive segments and other circumstances. However it is clear that needs vary; for example, in the segment of passenger ferries, it is obvious that there is a special need for educating the crew and the ticket sales and booking staff in how to deal with the passengers in a service-minded way, while also providing passengers with the necessary information to optimize safety, security and comfort on board.

MAW: What about levels of part-time continuing education? Do you see more need for Bachelor or Master Courses, a combination of both – or yet other offerings?
BB: Here I maintain that there is a need for a broad spectrum of educational offerings so that a firm in its continuing education and competence development policy can meet each employee at his or her level of education. Thus I would argue for courses at both levels and specially tailored courses to specific needs – and for the distance learning alternative as one of the options.

MAW: What about the issue of sending staff abroad versus to courses and programs in Denmark or Northern Europe? Do Danish maritime companies generally look in the local Danish market first, at a Northern European or European market first – or do they think globally?
BB: This is also difficult to answer in generally terms – it depends on the level of education. A staff member who already has strong Masters’ degree qualifications may need some very specific course which cannot be found locally. However I think generally that one looks at the nearer markets for many position levels, yet expects the education there to be sufficiently international, for topics where this is relevant. Moreover I believe that most companies are thinking an extra time before they send staff off to very far away countries for further education, and that they are doing this only when it is absolutely necessary, due to the extra costs that this entails. So I presume that there is probably more focus on Danish and local Northern European education market during the crisis situation.

MAW: Thank you very much, Bente Boa, for granting me the time to ask you these questions on behalf of the Northern Maritime University.
BB: My pleasure.