Maritime Industry - Strength Finding

Executive Recruiting Consultant Matt Fuhrman weighs in on finding the best fit for employees and their employers – all by focusing on “Strength Finding.” I previously worked at the Port of Miami as a Terminal Superintendent overseeing labor of container cargo movements. With too much time to daydream, coupled with an extreme lack of responsibility during the work day, I knew I needed a change. I had been on the job for a year and a half, and after asking for more responsibility, with no response, it was time for change. So I went to a motivational conference in Atlanta and heard Marcus Buckingham speak on Strength Finding. Everything this guy was talking about seemed to make a lot of sense. The concept is that we are all born with certain skills and strengths, things that we are naturally good at. I started to investigate and research strength finding and personality profiling. Through research, I found that I would be better suited in a career in which utilization of my social time on a mobile telephone (3,000 hours per month) should be converted to a revenue stream. I found Faststream Recruitment as a career option to help people find careers that better suited them. I interviewed for the job and landed it! After 3 years of successful recruitment within the maritime industry, I have found that many people are unhappy or underutilized at their current job. The good news is there are tools to help better understand who you are. If you are an officer or engineer looking to come ashore or perhaps you are already ashore in a management or executive role looking for a career move, then it is also important to narrow down your personal strengths. Why, you ask? To create boundaries for yourself, so you can focus in one direction. For example, Walt Disney Pictures has made a major comeback in animation in recent years, because the senior leadership applied creative boundaries for their animators to work in. These boundaries allow a greater focus and an increase in creativity. Personal strength boundaries are important to have because they allow you to focus more on what you can become great at, versus what you can be poor or average at. Maybe you are thinking this all sounds great but you are unsure of how to discover how to reach your greatest potential in a career. There are many tools out in the world that can help identify strengths, personality, and careers. Here is a list of some of my favorites: • StrengthFinders 2.0 (A book, with an online test, can be found in Barnes & Noble/Borders); • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Tests run between $40-75 dollars, but you can find free less invasive tests online); • Strong Interest Inventory (Professional breakdown by job titles & interests.). The bullets above can surface strengths and interests that you may have never known you had. They can also be used to help you in your next career move, to insure a higher probability you will be happy with your next job by keeping your search focused. For Managers: If you are managing 1 or 1000 people, it is important to know the strengths of those employees you immediately work with. There are people who are gifted with the perception in identification of strengths of employees. These people have a good sense of what is around them and tend to retain the best talent. There are managers/owners who have no clue of the employee potential at their finger tips. Regardless of what kind of manager you are, the strength tools listed above can reinforce prior thoughts of an employee's strengths or open up doors of unseen potential for certain projects or ventures. It also opens up room for discussion on areas of focus in day to day operations and arrangement of people to help maximize team/desk performance. "People don't quit their company, they quit their manager." - Marcus Buckingham The Ship Owner Perspective: If you take a look at the office of a ship owner and the responsibilities within, these personalities tend to thrive in the following Roles: • Port Captain - Someone who loves to be outside and involved in being the face for the fleet ashore; • Vessel/Ship Operator - If a person likes to monitor day-to-day operations and is detailed oriented; • Quality Assurance, Vetting - A disciplined Type "A" personality, might enjoy, Health Safety or Environmental to make sure people are in compliance with IMO/OCIMF/USCG guidelines and regulations; • Charterer – An entrepreneurial spirit and like to negotiate contracts. For all of the other service industries within the maritime industry, it is important to make sure the right people are in the best place, to maximize their strengths. Some people may be o.k. or poor at a job they have been in for the last 15 years. It is never too late, to move into something you will enjoy long term. The right job can increase life happiness, productivity, and promotion chances, this all trickles over into your personal life as well. Once you are involved in a job you love to do, your days will start to fly by and soon there will be no beginning or end to a work day. "Oscar Wilde once suggested that if a person did what he or she loved, it would feel as if they never worked a day in their life." - Never Eat Alone As we continue to battle through this economy, it is the perfect time to reinvent yourself or continue growth in a direction that best suits your strengths. When the right people are in the right jobs that curtail to their strengths, a company can become stronger and survive these slow economic times. I challenge managers in the maritime industry to make sure your people are maximizing to their true potential.

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Matt Fuhrman is Senior Consultant at Faststream Recruitment. Reach him at [email protected]. Faststream Recruitment focuses on shore side maritime recruitment for mariners looking to come ashore or professionals ashore looking for opportunities in shipping, trading, and exploration & production. Faststream on the WEB: www.faststream.us