Page 40: of Marine News Magazine (April 2020)

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TRAINING

All images: American Seafoods Company

Lance Camarena, Director Training & Organizational Development for American Seafoods Company

By Eric Haun ance Camarena recognized from a young age that he tated by regulation, policy and perhaps the last incident that wanted to work in the learning and development arena. mandated training as a part of a solution moving forward.”

But his plans changed while studying in college to become These days, training is recognized for what it brings to a

L a public school music teacher and a job working a swing shift at maritime organization, training professionals are part of every

Intel led to a new path of study and a career in the IT world. maritime group, and companies are investing to ensure its em-

Still, after graduating and securing full-time employment with ployees are trained effectively. “Our senior leadership has been another IT ?rm, he knew training was still his calling. “I man- absolutely great in supporting training efforts without signi?- aged to switch roles and became one of the ?rst people in the cant pushback on resources. There is no question I can bring

U.S. to start training this new software package that was just hit- any well-thought and planned proposal to the leadership team ting the market called Microsoft Word. So, I ended up spending and I will get a fair and balanced hearing,” Camarena said.

a career in the IT world ?rst as a trainer and then managing vari- “American Seafoods is working hard to create what we call ous aspects of the training function throughout the company.” a Learning Ecosystem. Like any ecosystem, this means that

Camarena said he eventually “hit a goldmine” when he land- training needs and training activities be clearly de?ned for ed a job in Seattle working for a cruise line, and from there each onboard position, easily accessible no matter whether on started a second training career which lasted more than 20 years land or at sea and encouragement provided at each step of the and expanded to cover every aspect of the maritime world. career journey no matter the spot on the chain of command.”

Today, Camarena is Director of Training & Organizational Camarena believes every company operating on the water

Development for American Seafoods Company, a ?shing com- should perform hands-on training and look for ways to make pany which runs six factory trawlers ranging from 256 to 341 it more assessible and enjoyable, but he said the role and value feet. The company employs approximately 1,300 seafarers from of digital e-learning technologies is growing. 52 countries, with about a 7% turnover in our key of?cer posi- “We see some tremendous advancement in technology with tions and a 25% turnover in our entry level processor positions. simulators that can make you as seasick as if you were actually

A lot has changed since Camarena ?rst entered the maritime on a vessel,” Camarena said. “These solutions give even the world, he said. “In many maritime groups, there wasn’t a train- most experienced seafarer the chance to practice and live out ing professional in charge, and in many cases, training wasn’t simulated events that we hope we will never see.” centralized at all. Each group was more or less responsible for American Seafoods has also implemented a Marine Learn- managing its own training needs and without a single con- ing Systems learning management system (LMS) e-learning centrated focus on training. Only the greatest training needs solution and created the American Seafoods Knowledge Acad- would get met. Generally, it was just those training needs dic- emy (ASKA), which can be accessed from almost any device

April 2020 40 MN