Going global = global workforce

Dutch maritime companies go global more and more. This also means the workforce becomes more and more international. How do Dutch maritime companies deal with this specific part of maritime globalisation? Maritime by Holland Magazine spoke to shipping company Flinter, electrical service provider Alewijnse and shipbuilder Damen to find out.

Several Dutch shipping companies work with Filipinos as crew on board. In former times, they only worked as ratings, but nowadays, the Dutch also hire officers from the Philippines. These officers are trained by the Netherlands Shipping Training Centre (NSTC), a cooperation between the Dutch education institute STC and the Palompon Institute of Technology (PIT), which was initiated by the Royal Netherlands Shipowners Association (KVNR) in 2001 because of the shortage of qualified officers for the Dutch merchant fleet. Every year in April, KVNR gives its member companies the opportunity to interview and hire graduates from the NSTC. One ofthe companies who make use of this initiative is the shipping company Flinter, based in the Dutch town Barendrecht. This year HRM administrator crewing Jetske Sleeuwenhoek went to the Philippines for the third time: ”We sail a lot with Filipinos; there is a shortage of officers in Europe, so we decided to look for some of our future officers in the Philippines. After graduating, the students do not have any experience at sea, so we offer them an internship with a salary and also pay for the exam to get the certification as officer. The graduates initially have a contract with the KVNR though.”

Investment for the future

Seafarers are admired in the Philippines, says Sleeuwenhoek: ”Also, they earn a relatively good salary, so failing is not an option. We train and support them as much as possible during their internship, which we see as an investment, as of course we want them to succeed and to stay with us. We are very happy with our experienced captains and officers, who are willing to familiarise the interns with the work and life on board. As third officer is the lowest rank at Flinter, we created the interim function junior officer to enable the interns to learn how to work independently after one year of traineeship.” This year, Flinter recruited 16 NSTC graduates in Palompon. Sleeuwenhoek explains the procedure: ”On the first day, the graduates do company specific tests. Flinter does not have such a test yet, but we are working on it. After that, the interviews start. Later that week, the graduates hear which shipping company hired them and on the fifth and last day, the companies give presentations about themselves, practical issues are handled and in the afternoon, the graduation ceremony takes place. We are very positive about this concept, I think it is a very good initiative.”

WMN No. 4 2013 62 1Operating with locals

Pieter Smit, general manager of Alewijnse Marine Galati, Romania (part of Alewijnse Marine Systems, headquartered in Nijmegen and present in eight countries, Romania, the Netherlands, China, Brazil, Qatar, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam) is a Dutchman working for a Dutch company abroad. He went to Romania in 1992, where he had his own company that arranged Dutch equipment for Romanian shipyards. This company joined the Alewijnse group in 1999, when Alewijnse was looking for a partner in Eastern Europe. Alewijnse Marine Galati now offers engineering, panel building, installing, commissioning and after-sale services. Smit states proudly: ”Nowadays we are the number one company for maritime electronics in Romania. I have to give credit to Damen, who paved the way for us. They open their own yards worldwide and we follow in their footsteps, not only in Romania, but also for example in Qatar. It is better to have local employees who can solve the clients’ problems than sending in Dutchmen all the time. It saves time and costs, which means a win-win situation. That is how we work: we go to a country where we have business, first with employees from another office, then we recruit locals, preferably people we already know, from our partnership with the yard for example. These people are sent to Romania for training and afterwards they represent us in their own country in a local branch office.”

No 4 MbH Juni 2013-Voor Website.jpg 64 2Smit refers to the Alewijnse Training Center Romania Association (ATCR), Alewijnse’s own training centre, which was established in 2006. In 2013, 51 people are being trained as naval engineers. But they do not only train engineers; in partnerships with local high schools, Alewijnse Marine Galati also trains naval electricians, this year 65 people. Some of the trainees are also being recruited and given a one-year training programme within the company. ”Education in Romania is very good, but very theoretical”, says Smit. ”There is not a lot of interaction between the universities and the working environment. Therefore we offer them practical training and afterwards they are offered a job in Romania or a detachment abroad at an Alewijnse office or a partner of Alewijnse worldwide. Our recruits from other countries also receive their training here.”

No 4 MbH Juni 2013-Voor Website.jpg 62 3Enrichment

He continues: ”Of course there are cultural differences between Romanians and Dutchmen, but Romanians work hard and are very motivated. Education is of utmost importance to them, technics is very popular and the higher educated Romanians mostly speak English perfectly. They are a bit more social than the Dutch and preferably approach a problem together. There is an explicit hierarchy and people like to be managed more than the Dutch. However, globalisation enriches. There are three ways to get knowledge in another country. Firstly, you can just buy a company there, but that is expensive and the company often does not work the way you want it to. The second option is to buy a small company and build it up, and the third way is to train the people and implement that in your own company. We do well by combining the last two options. Knowledge transmission is good, it always comes back to you. The Netherlands is a knowledge economy and a global touch only offers advantages. Trying to globalise only from the Netherlands doesn’t work. You need to invest in other countries to develop and expand. We do our best to globalise and it definitely pays off.”

No 4 MbH Juni 2013-Voor Website.jpg 62 4International recruitment

Damen Shipyards Group headquartered in Gorinchem, the Netherlands, truly is an international player. The company employs over 8,000 people in 35 countries and delivers its vessels to clients all over the world. Damen’s workforce reflects this globalisation. Director human resources Arold de Vries gives examples: ”Just take a look at our yard in Dubai, where 23 nationalities work. In the Netherlands, we traditionally used to employ mostly Dutch nationals, but this has been changing in the last couple of years. In Gorinchem, we nowadays employ about 15 different nationalities. In the Netherlands we have about 2,500 employees of which about 200 are not Dutch. Not enough, in my opinion. We look for people with experience and often find them abroad. In Romania, for example, we have a yard from which we recruit and train new employees to prepare them for a career in the Damen Group. In Poland, we have a recruiter who not only recruits for our Polish yards, but also for the whole group, and recently we have established contacts in Spain and the United Kingdom to keep an eye on the labour markets there.”

According to De Vries, the Dutch labour market for skilled employees is highly competivite. Therefore, Damen introduced the Damen Business Course in 2012 to find new talent for the company. ‘‘We had to come up with something new, as students have so many companies to choose from and it is a good investment”, says De Vries. ”Interested students can apply for this course to get to know Damen better and vice versa.” Several of these students are now interns at Damen. Well-educated project managers are especially difficult to find, according to De Vries, and therefore the company looks for them abroad. He also advocates a diversified workforce with various nationalities: ”Our clients are international, so having only Dutch at the other side of the table is not ideal. We can offer our clients something extra if we can converse with them in their own language. The society we live in is multicultural, but somehow it proves to be difficult to incorporate this in a company. It is important to expand your vision. A well-educated person is a well-educated person, regardless his passport. Global thinking is important and global thinking within a company can be achieved by hiring multi-national people.”

No 4 MbH Juni 2013-Voor Website.jpg 62 5Why go Dutch?

So, Dutch maritime companies are globalising their workforce. However, why should foreigners choose a Dutch company or the Netherlands as a working place? Sleeuwenhoek: ”Working for a Dutch company has many advantages. The Netherlands is a very progressive maritime nation, the Dutch fleet is young and modern and Dutch shipping companies offer good working conditions. The demands the Dutch government make of Dutch shipping companies are very strict, which means the quality is guaranteed and you can be proud to fly the Dutch flag. This all makes the Dutch maritime industry a frontrunner in Europe.” De Vries agrees: ”There is so much happening in the Dutch maritime industry. Dutch yachtbuilding takes a top 3 position worldwide, we have a lot of knowledge, good universities and worldwide possibilities. Working in the Netherlands opens the world for you.”

Gail van den Hanenberg