Page 56: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2012)

British Columbia?s economy recently. It?s a challenge that Lisa Bumbaco, Vice President of Human Resources for Sea-span, has seen before. ?We?ve experi- enced [that sort of growth] already in Victoria with some of the naval work that?s going on there," she says. "So it can be a bit daunting to think about that kindof growth, but it is growth that we?ve ex- perienced in the past.? The current focus is on growing the leadership and management team to re-flect the shift towards new construction. This includes leadership in engineering,program management, supply chain andall the technical areas of shipbuilding, as well as all the support services in IT, HR and training. Although the yard growth won?t start happening until 2013, Sea- span is already working closely with the trade unions to ensure they?ve got accu- rate projections about what the trademixes are going to be and to make sure there?s going to be adequate staffing. Most of Seaspan?s production workers come through a hiring hall with a localunion group.ATTRACTIONS FOR EMPLOYEES When there?s a shortage of talent, em- ployers need to be creative with how to attract employees. Says Bumbaco, ?The fact that we?re going to have steady em- ployment for a long period of time is an attraction to this industry which hasn?t been quite so much like that in the past. Also, the fact that our economy is strong right now could be an attraction factor as well.? Vancouver itself is a huge draw. People familiar with the city know that it boasts metropolitan urban amenities andis surrounded by ocean, mountains andall the recreational opportunities they af- ford. But outside of Canada, there?s lim- ited awareness of the temperate climate found on the West Coast. Relates Bum- baco, ?We don?t get those harsh winters that they tend to get back east, which I think is a draw for a lot of people who are coming from climates where they?re not ready or wanting to move somewhere that?s going to have that as an issue.? While Seaspan is happy to reap the benefits of these external factors, they?re also taking matters into their own hands to shape the organization into a positive workplace. In addition to reviewing com- pensation and benefits offered, Seaspan has implemented health and wellnessprograms as well as strengthened itstraining programs, features that Bumbacobelieves set them apart from their com- petitors.GLOBAL SOURCING Management and technical employees are being sourced from both inside andoutside North America. Ann-BrittEverett, Manager, Talent Acquisition at Seaspan, says, ?There isn?t a lot of this type of skill set developed in Canada in the last few years. A lot of Canadians are actually out there looking to come backto Canada and continue their careers inshipbuilding. So that is something that we continue to work hard on ? getting that awareness out globally.? While there are Canadian expats work- ing in shipbuilding around the world, repatriating them is not Seaspan?s only focus. Says Everett, ?We have very strong collaboration from the province to bring in the right management skill set tosupport the project, no matter their na-tionality. So we?re feeling confident that we?ll find these people wherever they are.? Supporting people who are new to the region has been an area Seaspan has paid close attention to. ?We have reloca- tion and settlement consultants to helppeople choose neighborhoods andschools for their kids. We want to ensure that they?re really ready to come and have a smooth transition, because moving is always very challenging,? says Everett. CULTURAL FIT Seaspan?s core values are safety, effi- ciency and care, and as part of their re-cruitment efforts, they?re looking for people who fit in with and will reflect those values. ?We?re not just hiring for technical skills, we want to hire the right people who are going to be good leadersand that others will want to work for. Shaping the culture is as important to usas finding the people with the right tech- nical abilities," says Bumbaco." And so far we?re not compromising on that." In addition to emulating Seaspan?s core values, employees can expect to join a workforce that is infused with pride. ?Shipbuilding has been a traditional in- dustry on the west coast a long time andI think people who are here are very proud to be a part of that industry," con- tinues Bumbaco. "We?re going through a re-birth in terms of an industry where alot of people have had their fathers and grandfathers work in. So there is a sense of pride.? EMPLOYEE RETENTION As for keeping the employees they?ve already got, Bumbaco and her team arefocused on bringing up their apprentices,streaming them into the right areas andsetting them up for a positive career pro- gression. Succession planning has alsobeen a key area that Bumbaco has tar- geted. ?We?re not looking at the same sorts of layoff cycles as maybe we?ve had in the past, and that allows us to do a lot more things around growing peoples? ca- reers in-house,? Says Bumbaco, who her- self has been with the company since 2003.A COMPANY IN TRANSITION With the NSPS contract comes both op- portunity and change, and in this case,both are enormous. Brian Carter de-scribes their approach as ?very disci-plined.? Building the right team is their first priority, next allowing that team to develop the right processes and then fi- nally planning and executing those processes. According to Carter, under- standing and respecting the constraintsand integration that has to happen with the existing Seaspan business is critical to Seaspan?s approach, and it?s being managed very closely. It could be a very daunting task which could strike fear or apprehension in the most seasoned of leaders, but not for Carter who?s thriving on the excitement. According to him, the mood is ?all posi-tive--it?s a very exciting place to be right now.? 56Maritime Reporter & Engineering News Sea Launch Commander inVancouver Drydock for repair MR June12 # 7 (50-56):MR Template 6/11/2012 1:23 PM Page 56