Crew retention is a major issue facing the highly competitive shipping industry. Companies need to ensure key perks in an attempt to retain experienced and loyal staff. The impact of a happy crew on retention addresses the following issues:
- Half of employees want to have better contact with friends and family. 90% of cruise crew members have experienced problems keeping in touch with friends and family while on board.
- Many crewmembers consider the communication facilities offered on board to be key factors in their decision.
- About a third of crewmembers find keeping in touch with friends and family while on board to be inconvenient. Their friends and family have had difficulty contacting then while they were working on board. A quarter of them have missed some important news because their friends and family could not contact them easily due to them being on board.
Not So Happy Crew’s issues on board
During a recent survey of crew member complaints we noted these following examples:
- It can be hard to email and there is no mobile phone reception
- Calls can be hugely expensive
- Phones do not accept incoming calls
- The internet often goes down and is expensive to use and email can be unreliable
- Friends and family have to wait until I can contact them to share news
- Friends and family are all we’ve got. They are the most important people in our lives. You are going to be away for a long time so it is nice to hear their voice.
- Missing work related information such as visa details and important financial information.
While operational and technical aspects are usually set as a top priority on board many vessels it is often noted that many crew members do not have the facilities other higher ranking colleagues have, nevertheless they are your lifeline and get all your day to day chores done, with a smile.