Help is at hand for managers struggling to consider the various diverse backgrounds of their crews; from personality, to age and skill levels.
As the world has become smaller, crews on board ships have become more multicultural. SEAHEALTH has developed a leadership tool to support the process of managing diversity and multiculturalism on-board.
The name of the new publication is ‘Leading Diversity’, and it has been developed by SEAHEALTH’s psychologists, Mads Schramm and Søren Diederichsen.
Competences are strengthened
"’Leading Diversity’ gives a series of specific, simple and action-oriented ideas on how to strengthen leadership skills on a range of dimensions.
"For example, if the employees lack motivation, or conflicts often arise, there are tools in the guide designed to tackle these managerial challenges.
"Some of the tools are already in use, while others may provide new inspiration. The task of leading diversity is a challenge. By being aware of the factors critical for multicultural crews the leaders on board can ensure well-being, high levels of efficiency and crew satisfaction," Mads Schramm says.
Building trust
‘Leading Diversity’ provides extensive guidance which can be used by managers to investigate their relevant strengths and weaknesses when it comes to creating trust and leading diversity.
Managers use the self-assessment tool to become aware of areas that are especially important to focus on when aiming for a high level of trust from and among their employees.
Background
Mads Schramm reports on the background of ‘Leading Diversity’:
"Most people think it is exciting to work with people from different cultures. When we meet seafarers, a recurrent theme is cultural differences and associated challenges.
"With ‘Leading Diversity’, we want to get away from the idea that cultural differences are the only challenge in relations between seafarers. Differences for example in gender, age and personality play an equally important role.
"’Leading Diversity’ is a tool that can be used to tackle all aspects of human diversity."