Job-sharing in the Yachting Industry as a Partial Solution to Staffing
A thirty-two year career in the yachting industry has given me the opportunity to participate in and to observe “full time” Captain and Crew positions on several yachts. Throughout this process, I have been searching for a way to implement and retain a high performance level in all Crew members creating professionals that are confident inspired problem solvers with longevity. Longevity seems to be the operative word. The yachting industry has a notorious turn over of professionals.
The high level of proficiency needed to maintain a yacht for maximum performance and five star Guest service is difficult at best on a daily basis. Yachts demand this perfection around the clock with the same staff. This sometimes stressful situation can create discord among the Crew and pose the personal need for privacy. However, it isn’t possible to “go home” after a tough day at work as you would in the private sector. On a yacht, the Crew is already home when the day’s work is finished. Twenty four hours per day seven days per week positions with small personal living quarters are not conducive to longevity.
The United States Navy ran a study on why people leave the Navy. The number one reason that people quit is because of an employer’s lack of respect for the position that an employee holds and the work that the employee performs. It would seem curious that salary or benefits wouldn’t rank as number one. Respect for a person should be the easiest commodity to generate. Sadly, the cost of replacing a discontented employee can be as much as one and one half year’s salary of that lost employee.
Work/life balance issues and the respect of that balance might best be facilitated by the effective tool of job-sharing to retain employees and stop the loss of organizational knowledge. It allows two individuals to share a single “full time” position creating a new flexibility and freedom while still maintaining their benefits and salary on a pro rata basis. The ultimate profit in retaining highly skilled employees is immeasurable.
New ideas or ideas that have yet to be perfected and do not have a sound fiscal policy attached, many times are not launched due to words like “incalculable” and immeasurable”. However, it is also difficult to put a price on words like education, information, facts, data, familiarity, awareness, understanding, and flexibility.
A recent study compiled by John MacIntyre states that 53% of working Fathers appreciated a flexible schedule more than any other benefit (Monster.com). Interestingly, there are Captains and Crew members that are Fathers. Job-sharing to accommodate the need for a flexible schedule has become popular in a wide range of disciplines. Noteworthy, our counterparts in the commercial marine industry all job-share.
Job-sharing permits time for vital continued education even with the rigors of a full charter season or Owners that prefer to live on board or visit frequently. Information can be passed freely between two sets of Crew for the benefit of the vessel. Facts and data regarding the idiosyncrasies of the vessel are shared between professionals to increase performance. Familiarity with the Owner’s expectations and habits are known by two elite groups instead of one so that the level of service never falters. The awareness and the understanding of the Owner and their vessel are increased by two fold. Owners want and deserve to see familiar faces. Job- sharing gives a recognizable pool to draw from while maintaining superior service.
Work/life programs with generous benefit packages and flexibility in major corporations globally are not given just to be nice guys. In 1995, DuPont surveyed its’ employees who job shared. Those employees felt more supported, more respected, less stressed, less burned out, less likely to leave and more likely to go the extra mile. The yachting industry is ready for this type of loyalty.
Work/life issues such as sick or unhappy family members, job stress, burn out and destructive personality problems provide reasons to opt out of a position. Job- sharing
provides an alternative to termination. The troubled employee’s counterpart can be contacted, momentum is maintained, and the gap is bridged for retention of knowledge of the yacht and her Owner.
Upon initial examination a job- sharing program may seem less cost effective with double the paper work, possible higher salaries, greater benefit participation and increased transportation expense. However, further exploration reveals that the yacht industry labors under that high cost of training then retraining, hiring then rehiring, loss of continuity of care to the vessel, loss of knowledge regarding the vessel, neglected maintenance schedules and breakage due to lack of information, and Owner discomfort from the ever changing faces of Crew.
It has been my personal experience that all Crew members make mistakes including the Captain. Many of those mistakes are made due to a temporary employee acting without knowledge of the vessel’s unique idiosyncrasies. These mistakes can be costly in time and money. For instance, on one of my vessels, a tender crane had a small hydraulic leak that needed to be attended to at the next yard period. To check the leak, a hydraulic valve was turned on and off during use. A new Crew member didn’t know about the problem and used the crane when the valve was in the off position. Hydraulic seals were blown, hydraulic fluid damaged the immediate area and living space, the crane became inoperable, and weeks of lost use resulted. This mistake was preventable if the Captain or the Engineer had communicated the problem to the new Crew or if job-sharing was the modus operands’. This is only one example of the myriads of mistakes that are preventable with a good flow of written and spoken information.
Possible job- sharing scenarios of Crew rotation would be dependent on the number of Crew members needed to man the vessel and would also be dictated at intervals by Crew emergencies. However, it is my belief that in a given period, all Crew members should be rotated to work with all other Crew members rather than dealing with two entirely separate full Crews. This type of constant rotation would help to facilitate continuity of care. Accurate record keeping and excellent communication would complete the cycle of successful job- sharing between all employees.
Captain Ted Sputh
USCG 1600T Oceans
MCA CoC 3000T Oceans
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