Developing organisation and capabilities

The workforce grew by 16% in 2007. At year end, the Company had 522 employees. The number of employees at the head office and the overseas offices rose sharply, whereas the number of employees at sea fell slightly.

 

Ashore, the workforce counted 190 employees at the end of 2007. During the year, the number of employees at the head office was 46 in total. The addition was seen in the commercial as well as the technical area as well as in the corporate functions, gearing the organisation to handle the Company’s growth and the increasing volume of business. In order to future-proof the physical framework for the Company’s growth, NORDEN will move to its new waterfront headquarters in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen in the summer of 2008.

 

It is still a major challenge to attract competent employees to the head office. To address this, NORDEN in 2007 stepped up its recruitment, retention and development efforts with a number of initiatives, including more high-profile advertising and branding of NORDEN as a place of work and establishing a major career site at NORDEN’s new website as the centre of the Company’s recruitment activities. For the types of jobs that do not require any particular maritime experience, NORDEN searched and advertised more broadly than previously.

 

In 2007, NORDEN hired six trainees to undergo the Company's new shipping training programme with stricter admission requirements and strengthened theoretical training. The Company’s experience with the new programme is good, and NORDEN expects in future to take on six to eight trainees a year, as well. In the recruitment of trainees scheduled to start in the summer of 2008, NORDEN has significantly intensified the marketing – under the campaign ”The Blue Denmark” as well as on its own – for example by establishing a separate NORDEN shipping trainee universe at the website www.shippingtrainee. dk.

 

The number of employees also rose at the overseas offices, totalling 54 at the end of the year. The increase mainly consisted of locally-hired staff. In Shanghai, the close collaboration with the Shanghai Maritime University was expanded. NORDEN hires graduates from the university and professors and students are invited on trips to study with NORDEN. This col-laboration is important for the recruitment of qualified young employees in China.

 

Going forward, NORDEN wishes to continue hiring more local employees at the overseas offices in order to strengthen their geographical rooting. As part of this plan, NORDEN is working on establishing an international shipping trainee programme. This means that from the summer of 2008, shipping trainees will be hired not only in Copenhagen and at the Shanghai office, but also in Singapore and Annapolis.

 

In 2007, NORDEN carried out a major capability building programme, under which some 35 executives received training in commercial as well as personal leadership, coaching, communication and employee development. In addition, a number of workshops on negotiation technique and customer dialogue were held around the Company and many teambuilding activities took place in the individual departments themed around NORDEN’s new vision, mission and values, which were launched around the turn of the year 2006/2007.

 

In the first half, NORDEN conducted a major company performance driver analysis of how the employees perceive their workplace. The replies were generally positive, and a number of improvements were suggested in areas such as career development, performance interviews, task management, etc. This survey will from now on be conducted annually.

 

At sea, the workforce counted 332 employees at the end of 2007. Of these, 29 were apprentice officers as part of the Company’s investment in developing future senior officers. During 2007, the number of apprentice officers rose by 13, and this number is expected to increase further in 2008 in an effort to meet the intensified competition for senior officers. Furthermore, NORDEN promoted qualified officers from its own ranks.

 

In 2006, NORDEN entered into a collaboration with a Philippine recruitment office to build a pool of seamen and young officers to be signed on to NORDEN’s vessels exclusively. In 2007, the recruitment of Philippines was strengthened through the hiring of a number of staff to form a ”NORDEN crewing team” at the offices of the Company’s business partner in Manila. NORDEN also established a closer collaboration with the local maritime environment and launched a talent development programme by means of scholarships for students in local maritime training programmes. Finally, the Company introduced a healthcare plan for officers as well as well as ordinary seamen in the Philippines.

 

In the effort to attract and retain employees at sea, NORDEN focused on welfare and work environment onboard the vessels. The leisure facilities on board the Company’s owned vessels were upgraded, and from 2008 the employees’ means to keep in close contact with their families will be improved with the use of mobile phones, e-mails and chats. An officers' steering committee is to propose further welfare improvements. NORDEN’s communication to the employees was also enhanced with the quarterly ”ON BOARD” magazine.