Finding and retaining maritime professionals is no easy feat. In fact, figures today show that there’s an estimated shortage of around 26,240 STCW-certified officers and by 2026 we can expect to need an additional 89,510 officers to operate the world merchant fleet¹.

Competition for talent in this niche industry is fierce. Skilled professionals are in demand but companies often struggle to meet the standards they require due to the scarcity of competent personnel.

Furthermore, the introduction of increasingly sophisticated technologies onboard ships is adding pressure on seafarers to rapidly acquire new skills and competencies to operate them.

Poorly trained or unmotivated individuals present a huge risk to organisations. Whether through action or inaction, they are less likely to run a safe, well-maintained ship or to have the same goals as the business.

Ultimately, this leads to an organisation with a high turnover. In time, a revolving door of people coming and going creates risks that are both hard to define and hard to control.

So, what’s the answer?

Recent research undertaken by maritime research firm Thetius and commissioned by Ocean Technologies Group (OTG) has found that deploying an effective Human Capital Management (HCM) strategy is critical to securing a talented and loyal workforce, reducing organisational risk and minimising turnover.

In a nutshell, HCM takes a holistic approach to managing people, the human capital. It encourages leaders to treat people as critical assets of the organisation that need to be invested in and considers their long-term development married with a data-driven approach with the culture and values of an organisation.

HCM requires finding and recruiting talented people, supporting them with an effective onboarding process, providing them with the opportunity to learn and develop their skills, managing their performance, and rewarding excellence. This ensures that the right people are selected for the right roles and that they are motivated and engaged in the work that they do, ultimately securing and retaining top talent.

While many elements make up a successful HCM strategy, there are three key points that are worth noting:

1. HCM is about finding the best talent and working hard to keep it
   A good HCM strategy first finds and recruits the best talent available and then ensures the talent is harnessed and retained. It’s hard work to source the right people with the necessary skills, but it’s even harder to then lose them because you didn’t maximise their potential. When employees leave they take with them valuable knowledge and skills they have learned. Neglecting to secure these intellectual assets can have costly repercussions.
   
   An effective approach to HCM facilitates skills development alongside performance management. This enables seafarers to understand not just where they need to improve, but how to get there. Furthermore, a good HCM strategy ensures that employees feel valued. This includes factors such as paying crew their salaries on time and in a currency most useful to them. Those that are happy in their work, will also be loyal. Ultimately, this reduces the risk of costly and disruptive turnover.

2. It’s not all about money
   An HCM approach to retention is about more than just throwing money at seafarers. While no one is going to turn down a pay rise, money is not the silver bullet. Instead, what is required is a culture of continuous learning and personal development. Invest in your people to unlock their full potential. By doing so, you will create a future-proof workforce that has the skills and expertise to navigate complex situations and maintain the highest standards of safety and compliance.
   
3. Creating value from data
   Using data to understand how different parameters interrelate is part of a good HCM strategy. Good quality data should be used to create true value and lasting impact. For example, combining port state control performance data with training data to better understand how learning management affects port state control performance. In research conducted by OTG in 2023, it was found that operators with a data-driven approach to learning management were 49.5% less likely to receive port state control deficiencies, and 33% less likely to be detained.

Where to begin

Once you’ve decided that an HCM strategy is for you, where and how do you start? Thetius recommends visualising the organisation you want to be and the employee experience you want to shape. Crucially, this vision must be communicated to your employees to ensure alignment of the vision and values across the organisation.

Regular check-ins with your people to gauge the overall mood, engagement, morale, and well-being of employees are also recommended. This will help to determine if your vision and messages are landing with the people who are performing the work.

Winning hearts and minds is also key. With the implementation of any new tool or process, there is likely to be some reluctance from employees. By preparing and readying those who will be affected by the change, the chance of achieving organisational-wide buy-in, and therefore successful deployment, is heightened.

If you’d like to know more about HCM and how an effective strategy can help you achieve your business and performance goals, download The Bottom Line.

1. BIMCO, ICS (2021) Seafarer workforce report ↩︎

It is hard to overstate the profound impact that ESG and sustainability have had on the business landscape in recent years. Unprecedented public awareness of climate change, coupled with leading financial institutions conditioning access to capital on companies demonstrating strong ESG standards, has brought these issues from a specialist area into a priority for boards and leadership teams across nearly every sector.

The Backlash Against ESG

However, all is not well in the realm of ESG and sustainability. A growing backlash has been building for quite some time, fuelled by rampant greenwashing, a realisation that the presumed link between ESG practices and profitability may have been overstated, and a sentiment — particularly in the United States — that business is becoming ensnared in “woke” politics.

Rethinking Our Approach to ESG

ESG has veered off course. This view may surprise some who know me as an “ESG pioneer” and have heard me advocate for industry’s role in resolving pressing global challenge at forums like COP and the World Economic Forum. However, business cannot solve these issues alone. It has to operate within confines of market economics and regulation. To unleash the innovative force of business, we must refocus the ESG debate on areas of material impact, and policymakers and regulators must step up, take difficult decisions, and create the right incentives. The US Inflation Reduction Act serves as an example of proactively shaping those dynamics, leading several of the world’s most successful green companies to gravitate toward the US. To maintain competitiveness, Europe must follow suit. In the words of a friend and European finance minister, “We have already solved much of the climate crisis, technically. We just can’t seem to solve it politically.”

The Future of ESG: More, but Different

Despite the backlash, claims that “ESG is dead” should be taken with a big pinch of scepticism. ESG has catalysed a real paradigm shift, and there’s no turning back. The future will see more ESG, not less, but it will be different. Business leaders who wish to remain competitive in this evolving landscape must adapt with a sense of urgency to stay ahead of the curve. Looking ahead, three critical shifts can be anticipated:

From Voluntary Standards to Mandatory Compliance

The proliferation of ESG standards has been overwhelming. A 2021 study by E&Y identified 600 different standards. With such a vast smorgasbord of pickings, it has been far too easy to superficially create the appearance of “good ESG” by merely signing up. This will consolidate into fewer, better, and mandatory rules. Initiatives such as the EU’s CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation) will enhance transparency and focus, level the playing field, and shift the perception of ESG from reputation management to compliance and risk management.

Increased Focus on Behaviour and Specific Impact Targets

As an advisor I often meet leaders committed to making a constructive contribution but unsure where to start or focus. Surveys reveal that up to 75% of CEOs lack confidence in their ESG strategies being fit for purpose and aligned with long-term objectives. I often recommend shutting out all the external noise by re-articulating ESG from “Environmental, Social & Governance” to “Environmental & Social Governance.” This shift is not mere semantics; it is a powerful tool to crystallise the critical question: “What are our primary environmental and social impacts as a business, and what governance tools can we deploy to minimise undesirable impacts and
maximise desirable ones?”

ESG should not primarily be about what you do, but how you do it. The oversimplified notion that certain sectors constitute “bad ESG” has proven disastrous. It has forced companies with worldclass environmental stewardship to sell off ‘dirty’ assets to less prudent operators to not be excluded from access to capital, and has led to underinvestments in the energy sector that have contributed to European cost- and energy-security crises. Any business that demonstrates genuine commitment to identify and optimise environmental and social impacts, and does its best to move the needle in the direction of a more sustainable future should be encouraged, not penalised, and should pass the “ESG red-face test” with investors, policymakers, and civil society.

Stakeholder Management as a Priority

As ESG becomes more disclosure and compliance oriented, competitive edge will increasingly lie in how businesses manage stakeholder relations. How well they articulate value propositions, attract resources, and build “political and social license” with stakeholders more demanding and better equipped to scrutinise impacts. The transition to a more sustainable future promises increasingly complex relationships at all levels. Especially in sectors with significant geopolitical, environmental, and social impacts, such as the maritime, energy, and infrastructure sectors where failing stakeholder relations frequently constitute primary reasons for delays or failure.

Final Remarks

Today represents an unsettling race against time in many aspects, yet it is also an exciting period for business leaders. Competitive advantage is increasingly less about financial and operational resources and more about mindset and strategic clarity. Companies that embrace this complex and ambiguous landscape by adopting new ideas and methods, and successfully integrate diverse experiences and expertise into their leadership ranks will punch far above their weight. They are more likely to turn prevailing risks into real opportunities for growth and value creation.

Blog written by Rikard Scoufias

Rikard Scoufias is a board advisor and the non-executive chairman of Greece’s national energy resources company. During his tenure, the state oil & gas company has undergone a significant transformation into a diversified group involved in gas exploration, offshore wind, decarbonisation, and infrastructure. With over 20 years of international experience in strategic and operational roles, Rikard has managed high-stakes political and stakeholder relations on five continents, and is widely recognised for his contributions to handling “license to operate” risks, ESG, and the energy transition. Previously, he served as Country CEO for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, and was before that a member of BP Plc.’s senior leadership team responsible for BP group’s Government & Corporate Relations in Europe and several of the company’s most challenging global assets.