Mentoring in the workplace can be crucial for fostering professional growth, enhancing skills, and building strong organisational cultures. It offers employees guidance, support, and valuable insights from people working either in the same business in more senior positions, or sometimes externally.
Several of Spinnaker’s Maritime HR Association members have mentoring programmes in place, some of which were entered into the inaugural Best HR Initiative award at Spinnaker’s Maritime People and Culture Conference.
The winner of the award in 2024 was Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement which was recognised for its comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programmes.
As part of the programme, BSM developed a Female Mentorship programme designed to give female cadets more confidence in navigating the challenges of life onboard ships, which can include social isolation, performance pressure and gender bias in a traditionally male-dominated workplace.
Irena Kyprianidou, Group HR ESG Officer, BSM said about the programme “The introduction of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programmes have been very well-received throughout the organisation and has had positive impacts on our employees”
The programme connects women at sea with women ashore: it assigns a shore-based mentor from within the organisation to women cadets as they join their first vessel. The Mentorship programme aims to establish an additional support system and safe space, empowering new women recruits to maintain regular contact, receive guidance, and openly share their experiences.
Another member of Spinnaker’s Maritime HR Association BW Epic Kosan introduced the Caring Hands programme across 62 vessels. Launched in collaboration with WellAtSea, the Caring Hands programme is meticulously crafted with the well-being of every crew member in mind, aiming to foster healthy lifestyles on board. Its primary objective is to enhance physical, mental, and social well-being.
The programme boasts a diverse range of activities, including individual challenges, educational module, exercise regimens, group engagements, and opportunities for crew generated activities. Monthly activities, thoughtfully curated by the WellAtSea team, are facilitated by programme coordinators to guide, and support the vessels and completing these tasks. To ensure the programme’s success, Programme Ambassadors, nominated by captains, assume these pivotal roles in spearheading the wellness agenda and motivating their peers to participate actively.
Expanding beyond the fleet, the Caring Hands programme extends its reach to the workforce in Manila, recognizing the importance of promoting wellness in office settings.
Another Spinnaker client Teekay, launched a formal mentoring programme many years ago, where the majority of the mentoring was completed within the same office. From this grew a Global Mentoring & Networking Programme in 2023, encouraging connection across the globe including offices in Mumbai, London, Houston, and Vancouver. The selection process was recalibrated in 2023 to encourage the employees themselves to take initiatives, tapping into their areas of interests. This includes, but not necessarily limited to, Commercial, Chartering, Ship Management, niche Ship-to-Ship Operations, Marine HR, Shore HR, IT, and Finance. Eventually, the interests would diverge to leadership, sharing of viewpoints, interpersonal relationships, and building connections.
It’s clear that mentoring encourages knowledge transfer, promotes innovation and problem-solving by pairing experienced individuals with those eager to learn and ultimately, workplace mentoring cultivates a collaborative environment, driving both personal and organisational success.
