In 2018, a development project was initiated for the purpose of improving onboard management through training in leadership skills. The Seafarers’ Pension Fund pursues to enhance the management of well-being at work. According to the StayOnBoard survey, onboard management is one of the reasons why people leave onboard work, and, in a final project for a sea captain’s degree, the conclusion was that there is a significant need to develop onboard management.
Upon the initiative of the Seafarers’ Pension Fund and the Finnish Seamen’s Mission, a working group was set up with representatives from the following maritime organisations and shipping companies: the Finnish Seamen’s Mission, Seafarers’ Pension Fund, Finnish Seafarers’ Union FSU, Finnish Engineers Association, Finnish Ship’s Officers’ Union, Finnish Shipowners’ Association (Finnlines, Tallink Silja, ESL-Shipping) and Aboa Mare. The working group’s task was to develop and optimise training in leadership skills for maritime management.
Initially, the pilot project in 2019 provided coaching in maritime management and leadership skills for a group of 15 participants. The coaching was arranged by the Finnish Seamen’s Mission, Seafarers’ Pension Fund and Finnish Shipowners’ Association with content produced by Deep Lead Oy, a company that has offered leadership training for thousands of individuals, for example, within the Defence Administration.
On the basis of the results and positive feedback, the project continued with two groups, each of which was comprised of 15 persons. For these groups, coaching started in autumn 2020 and will continue in early 2021. In 2021, two more groups will be set up, one of which will be in Swedish.
Collaboration with the institutions of maritime education also started successfully in autumn 2020. In the first phase, the aim is to include a new study module on maritime management in the maritime officer education. For this purpose, a Deep Lead coach will be trained specifically for each educational institution and support will be provided for the development of the module. Later on, the intention is to offer the module as online education for the officers who are already graduated and in working life. All institutions providing maritime education at different levels are involved in the project.
The Seafarers’ Pension Fund has a representative in the project steering group, and the Fund provides those officers who are insured under MEL with funding to cover part of the coaching.
