Maritime HRM - Personnel selection, retention and career planning, planning and investment in education and training

International Maritime Human Resource Management textbook modules Modules author: Maria Anne Wagtmann, PhD, [email protected]

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You have opened a document with a module of a planned textbook to a course in International Maritime Human Resource Management. The course and textbook were not completed however. Therefore, one of the planned authors, Maria Anne Wagtmann, wishes to share the course modules she wrote with the public, while still retaining the copyright. Thus, these materials may be downloaded by anyone interested and information about the URLs at which they are placed may be passed on to others. The overview of entire envisioned course was as follows (total course content: 7.5 ECTS; total 4.0 ECTS based on external content): 1. Shore-based HRM (1.5 ECTS, 0.5 ECTS based on external content) written by Maria Anne Wagtmann 2. HRM on board ships and in the ship-shore interface, including occupational safety, psychological and

health issues (1.5 ECTS, 1.0 ECTS based on external content) to be written by another author 3. Wage and benefit creation, role of unions and employers organisations (1.5 ECTS, 1.0 ECTS based on

external content) written by Maria Anne Wagtmann 4. Labour conditions regulation on land and on board ship (1.5 ECTS, 1.0 ECTS based on external content)

partially written by Maria Anne Wagtmann, part to be written by another author 5. Personnel selection, retention and career planning, planning and investment in education and training

(1.5 ECTS, 0.5 ECTS based on external content) written by Maria Anne Wagtmann

Elaboration of each course element written by Maria Anne Wagtmann 1. Shore-based HRM (1.5 ECTS, 0.5 ECTS based on external content)

A. Role of HRM ideal and true roles, operational tasks, possible strategy implementation B. Organisational structure and culture C. Variation according to maritime firm type, with focus on ports and port firms D. Variation of HR practices across regions and firms E. International HR and HR coordination F. Ethical issues

3. Wage and benefit creation, role of unions and employers organisations (1.5 ECTS, 1.0 ECTS based on

external content) A. Neo-classical wage equilibrium models B. Wages and benefits as motivation factors C. Performance-based pay D. Unions in general, in maritime transport, national variations and ITF E. Employers organisations in maritime transport, national variations and F. Collective bargaining at national level and in the international bargaining forum

4. A Labour conditions regulation on land and on board ship (1.5 ECTS, 1.0 ECTS based on external

content) A. ILO, EU and national regulation of labour conditions on land, including the roles of occupational

health and safety authorities and other authorities and institutions B. ILOs 2006 Maritime Labour Convention (partially written by Maria Anne Wagtmann)

5. Personnel selection, retention and career planning, planning and investment in education and

training (1.5 ECTS, 0.5 ECTS based on external content) A. Variations in selection processes and legislation for shore and ship-based positions B. Assessing personal and professional qualifications, including psychological, cognitive and skills tests C. Employee retention and career planning plans D. Planning education and training E. Investing in education and training at home and abroad, with focus on MET in economies of

transition and developing countries

Module 5, Personnel selection, retention and career planning, investment in MET - by Maria A. Wagtmann

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Module 5. Personnel selection, retention and career planning, planning and

investment in education and training

1. The personnel selection process for shore and ship-based positions

1.1 General introduction to personnel employment decisions

Recruitment refers commonly to searching for and then employing suitable potential job

candidates; in contrast, personnel selection is more general term in that both organisation-

internal and external candidates may be considered for a specific position. In North America,

Western Europe and many other world regions, the goal of the personnel selection process has

been viewed in the last 50 years as finding the most suited person to do a certain job.

However, the personnel department may, in cooperation with the unit(s) which are looking to

fill one or more positions, either choose or be forced to change job characteristics in the

personnel selection process. This commonly occurs (a) in situations where there is a lack of

qualified or otherwise suited candidates as well as (b) due to broader societal objectives such

as ensuring sufficient employment opportunity for both men and women, for persons with

different skin colours, ethnic and/or religious backgrounds or for persons with minority sexual

orientations. In relation to ensuring sufficient employment opportunity for such groups, the

issue of making up for indirect discrimination is often in focus; indirect discrimination can oc-

cur when, e.g., certain working conditions are more favourable to certain societal groups or

when the required qualifications are more easily met by one societal group than another.

A number of countries have enacted policies that seek to ensure that firms and organisations

employ a diverse workplace composed of employees of both sexes and of all age and ethnic

groups and skin colours. Such policies are more commonly referred to as positive

discrimination in British English, whereas in the USA one speaks of affirmative action, in

Canada of employment equity and in India of reservation. However, also in countries where

this is not required, some firms and organisations follow own such policies, as their managers

or owners prefer to have a diverse workforce, whereas many other firms and organisations do

not follow such policies unless forced to do so, perhaps because there is also controversy

about whether these policies are fair or are the proper rectifying measures for possible

discrimination. At this point, you must read the Wikipedia (2010a) article on Affirmative

Action, which is found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action.

Here, for the case of land-based work, it is important to obey national anti-discrimination legis-

lative requirements and to also consider whether it would otherwise be prudent, based on job

and stakeholder characteristics, to seek consciously to have a diverse workforce through ones

recruitment policies. Here, an overview of anti-discrimination law for 33 countries around the

world is found in the freely accessible work from the internet Baker & McKenzie (2009).

For work on board ships, the International Labour Organisation (henceforth: ILO) Maritime

Labour Convention (2006) does not directly deal with the issue of how the maritime transport

industry should act with relation to the potential issue of discrimination. Instead, its Article III

states that each country which is a member of the ILO and thus subject to the Maritime Labour

Convention upon its ratification shall satisfy itself that the provisions of its law and regulations

respect, in the context of this Convention, the fundamental rights to [...] the elimination of

discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. Here, in practice, due to

shipowners/ship operators being able to chose the flag of the ships they own/operate,

shipowners or ship operators may chose to seek to employ seafarers from particular nations

for a wide variety of reasons. Most commonly, considerations about wage levels, the quality of

the countrys nautical education, the quality of the English-language skills of the seafarers, and


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the stability of the future maritime labour supply from the country in quest are paramount;

however, it cannot be ruled out that some industry actors make choices based on more

irrational preferences for certain nationalities or ethnic groups. However, for all shipowners

and operators, with regard to the shipmasters management of these on board ship, it is very

important in the case of a multinational crew that the employer of the shipmaster ensure that

the shipmaster does not him- or herself treat one crew nationality better than the other or

allow other crew members to do so. This is the case first and foremost for ethical reasons.

However, such differential treatment can easily also lead to a bad workplace climate on board

ship (Knudsen, 2003a), which may also increase the risk of accidents and result in other non-

optimal operational procedures. Moreover, in some instances, complaints about such treatment

have also been filed in Port State Control inspections and/or to the ITF inspectors, with

resulting legal investigations by the Port State Control officers and/or legal or sympathy ac-

tions being taken by ITF affiliates and associated organisations.

A third societal concern that may lead to employers to change job characteristics in the per-

sonnel selection process is the concern present in a number of countries or regions that there

are either some or a sufficient number of jobs available for persons with disabilities or who

have to work at a reduced work tempo or under other special circumstances due to certain

medical conditions. With regard to this issue, now read Enables (2007) Fact Sheet 1 before

you continue reading this text. The fact sheet is found at:

http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/toolaction/employmentfs.pdf. In a number of coun-

tries, governments may provide subsidies for the creation of positions for and/or the recruit-

ment and employment of persons with disabilities or special needs due to a medical condition.

For example, for the case of Sweden (Swedish Institute, 2007, p.2):

Via its labor market agencies, the states task is to make it easier for people to find and keep jobs. Employers who hire a person with a reduced work capacity are

in certain cases entitled to wage subsidies.

Here, with the high, middle and low per capita capital income country categories, there are

large variations with regard to the attention that is placed on this issue and the means by

which it is addressed. Still, the disabled and ill fair somewhat better in the high per capita in-

come countries taken as a whole, for in developing countries, 80% to 90% of persons with

disabilities of working age are unemployed, whereas in industrialized countries the figure is

between 50% and 70%. (Zarocostas, 2005)

With regard to work on board commercial ship and on the docks, it is relatively uncommon

that persons with disabilities are employed, due to the physically demanding nature of such

work. However, some port machinery may be operated by persons with certain limited disa-

bilities or reduced work capacity, and a very few cruise companies that have offered cruise

services that were designed to be accessible to persons with physical disabilities have also e-

mployed a few persons with disabilities on board cruise ships.

In contrast, in office-based positions in areas such as logistics planning, freight-forwarding and

customer services, there are comparatively larger possibilities for employing such persons with

physical disabilities or reduced work capacity due to a medical condition.

With regard to recruitment, some countries, e.g. Japan, have until recently had a tradition of

life-long employment, whereas in others, more periodic hiring and firing has been more

common. With regard to employment law, employment protection legislation (EPL) is a term

commonly used when speaking of regulatory provisions that relate to hiring and firing,

particularly those governing unfair dismissals, termination of employment for economic

reasons, severance payments, minimum notice periods, administrative authorization for


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dismissals, and prior consultations with trade union and/or labour administration

representatives (Cazes & Nesporova, 2003, p.2). In Table 1, 21 different high income OECD

countries have been ranked based on an overall measurement of EPL.

Table 1. Ranking of 21 OECD countries in terms of relative laxity or strictness of EPL

(Cazes & Nesporova, 2003, p.13)

European Countries

Ranking from lowest to highest employment protection measures

Austria 16

Belgium 17

Denmark 5

Finland 10

France 14

Germany 15

Greece 18

Ireland 12

Italy 21

Netherlands 9

Norway 11

Portugal 19

Spain 20

Sweden 13

Switzerland 6

United Kingdom 7

Non-European Countries

Ranking continued

Canada 3

United States 1

Australia 4

New Zealand 2

Japan 8

Of the countries included in Table 1, it is seen that the United States has the least strict EPL,

followed by New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and Denmark, respectively. Thus, in these

countries, it is generally relatively easy to terminate employment for shore-based employees.

In contrast, this is most difficult in the following countries depicted in Table 1: Italy, Spain,

Portugal, Greece and Belgium. Aside from Denmark, the four other Northern Maritime

University Countries have intermediate placement on the scale, from place 7 (for the United

Kingdom) to placed 11, 13 and 15 for Norway, Sweden and Germany, respectively. If you wish

to supplement the overview, with more specific data, an overview of employment termination

legislation for around 35 countries all over the world is found in the following freely accessible

work from the internet: Baker & McKenzie (2009).

In relation to the above table, it must also be said that a countrys level of EPL is not

necessarily related to the same countrys (a) level of unemployment benefits or (b) levels of

responsibilities and control the unemployed with regard to actively seeking new positions and


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improvement ones job-related skills during periods of unemployment. Here, for example,

among the five countries with the least strict EPL, Denmark as part of the so-called Flexi-

curity labour market model (see Wikipedia, 2010c) maintains markedly higher general levels

of unemployment benefits (i.e., point a above) combined with stringent demands pertaining to

the job-seeking and continuing education responsibilities of the unemployed (point b).

Returning now to EPL, whether and when it is possible for employers to terminate existing

employment agreements and how costly this is seems to affect employer propensity to

terminate employment. In countries where it is relatively difficult to terminate the employment

of current employees, many employers may choose to instead seek to retrain their existing

workforce. However, also in a number of firms with relatively lax EPL legislation, this approach

is attempted in many instances, instead of hiring new employees. Thus, in many instances, the

personnel department and the units it services have the choice between either (i) hiring new

persons with the perceived right qualifications and also firing existing employees who do not

have the correct qualifications or (ii) retraining existing employees so that they obtain the

needed qualifications and can be put to work in new task areas. We will return to make some

further points on the economics of training in Section 4 of this chapter.

However it is also probably that other cultural characteristics influence the personnel selection

processes as well. Here, Harris, Brewster & Sparrow (2003, pp. 84-5) note:

Germany, Japan, France and Switzerland are noted for having generally internal labour markets where recruitment tends to be focused on specialised entry points

at low levels of the hierarchy, and therein promotion is through internal

assessment. Internal labour markets are considered to have such benefits as

improved morale, commitment and security among employees, more opportunity to

assess (and more accurate assessment of) competencies and accrued knowledge,

more control over salary levels given lower exposure to market forces [...] Britain,

the USA, Denmark, the Netherlands and Hong Kong tend to be characterised as

external labour markets where candidates can move into and out of the hierarchy

at any level. [..] The advantages of such labour markets can be the opportunity to

bring in new blood as part of culture-change processes, insights into competitor

capabilities, and the ability to respond to equal opportunities issues more visibly.

1.2 Personnel selection processes in general

There are a number of national or, for the case of the EU, supra-national rules about

employment that must be respected every time an employee or potential employee is to be

selected for a job. These include, e.g., rules about the minimum age for working at all or for

working in certain positions, rules about employment contracts and about granting employees

holiday or vacation leave, and possibly other types of leave (e.g. maternity and/or parental

leave in connection with a pregnancy or an adoption of a child). This aspects will not be dis-

cussed further here; instead the student is urged to familiarize him or herself with the relevant

rules and laws in the country(-ies) where he or she is planning to work.

Drawing on the so-called Harvard model of human resource management (Beer et al., 1984),

which was discussed in Section 1.3 of Module 1, the personnel selection process is a process

related to both the qualitative and quantitative management of human resources, as depicted

in Figure 1 below.


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Figure 1. The Personnel Selection Process as a part of the Harvard Model of Human Resource Management

(adaptation of Beer et al., 1984, p.16)

From the above figure, it is seen that a given personnel selection process may in part depend

on or be influenced by the viewpoints of other stakeholders such as, e.g., the ownership of the

company, the coming colleagues and managers of the persons to be recruited, union

representatives (if some or all of the workforce is unionised in the organisation in question),

local community or country stakeholders who may press for certain employment choices (e.g.

employment of some disabled persons or employment of both sexes), etc. Moreover, there are

situational factors, i.e. the current labour market conditions or the current legislative statutes

on various aspects of employment, including EPL, minimum age rules, rules about employment

contracts, holiday time and other types of leave, which will influence the selection policies.

If, e.g., external recruitment is chosen, in some countries, it is common for certain types of

positions to be announced in newspapers or relevant business, industry or academic periodi-

cals. In others, internet-based job announcements are the main communication channel in the

search for new staff. In yet other countries, a combination of both may be used. Beyond this,

in some countries, the public sectors job placement unit for the unemployed maintains a

database of all unemployed job applicants, in which potential employers may search for

candidates at no charge; in some of these countries, also job-seekers currently under

employment may also place their data in the same database as well. In contrast, in other

countries, only private employment bureaus keep such lists, whereas in yet other countries,

both private employment bureaus and a public sector job placement unit database may offer

firms and organisations varying information and services concerning potential job applicants,

from which these firms and organisations can choose. Finally, word-of-mouth and general

organisational reputation may also play a major role in relation to recruitment via both

announced positions and unsolicited applications for employment.

In relation to the issue of whether private sector employment agencies can charge fees from

job-seekers, article 7 of ILOs 181st Convention, the Private Employment Agencies

Convention of 1997 (ILO, 1997a) states:

1. Private employment agencies shall not charge directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, any

fees or costs to workers.

2. In the interest of the workers concerned, and after consulting the most representative

organizations of employers and workers, the competent authority may authorize exceptions to

the provisions of paragraph 1 above in respect of certain categories of workers, as well as

specified types of services provided by private employment agencies.

A.

Stakeholders

B. Situational

Factors

C. Personnel Selection Policy

concerning Recruitment,

internal selection

assessment of candidates and

selection

D. Outcomes

of Personnel Selection Policies

E. Long-term

Consequen-ces of

Personnel Selection Policies


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3. A Member which has authorized exceptions under paragraph 2 above shall, in its reports

under article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organization, provide

information on such exceptions and give the reasons therefore.

Here, although the main rule from this article 7 is that employers are to bear the costs of

seeking employees, in a number of countries it is commonplace that either jobs seekers or

those job seekers who are successfully placed in a job either in part or in whole pay the costs

for private employment agencies efforts to match job seekers with employers. Here, it is to be

mentioned that although the ILO Private Employment Agencies Convention has entered into

force, it has only been formally ratified by 23 countries as of 12th April 2010 (ibid). However,

some actors in the global shipping industry have also sought to ensure that seafarers and po-

tential seafarers from developing countries are not faced with excessive fees. For example, the

report from the Det norske Veritas (2004), which was used in connection with Module 1s

structured assignment 1.15, stated the following on p. 33 with regard to fees in the

Philippines:

A certain strata of these graduates serve as seafarers many years, a lower strata never finds employment thus causing the practice of errand boys/utility boys (i.e. seafarers that offer their services for free for manning agents or act as unpaid

assistance for crewing managers). This practice does still occur in the lower tier of

the manning agencies, but was more common earlier when the crewing manager

was a powerful gatekeeper. [...] Placement fees are not uncommon. For workers

seeking contracts for land-based work, it is the rule. A land-based OFW typically

pays 1 months salary for placement. Seafarers are also frequently asked for place-ment fees. Manning agents like [name omitted to avoid accidental promotion of

specific agencies] which do not ask for placement fees, typically get the best

seafarers and can charge fees accordingly from principals (instead of crew).

Concerning the assessment and selection of candidates, the coming section 2 will deal with

psychological, cognitive, skills and other tests, which are sometimes used to assess, then

select those job applicants judged to be most suited for the available positions. Such tests are

however only a potential part of the assessments. Other common assessments include:

1. Assessment of the official application letter or application form itself

2. Assessment of rsums or curriculum vitae

3. Assessment of educational courses certificates and diplomas

4. Assessment via contacts to third-party references provided by the applicant or via

reference letters

5. Assessment based on bio-data

6. Assessment based on background checks

7. Job interviews

Of the above, the formulations and job, educational and other life experiences mentioned in 1

and 2 are commonly assessed to determine if they match the personal characteristics needed

for the job and/or the personal characteristics which were mention in the announcement for

the position being applied for.

Concerning point 3, educational course certificates and diplomas sent with a job application are

sometimes first checked for their authenticity, first. Here, in some countries, it is common that

the applicants must send officially embossed or notarized transcripts and diplomas from the

courses and/or degree programs that he or she was completed, which are then returned to the

applicant in the case of an unsuccessful application, whereas in others, the potential employers

may be allowed to contact the educational institutions for verification purposes. Here, in yet


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other countries, such contact may however only be allowed if the job applicant provides a

written statement of permission which then must be presented to the releasing authority.

Here, the situation is somewhat similar with regard to point 4, reference checks. In some

countries, a potential employer may simply contact a person listed as a reference on a

reference list without further ado, whereas in others, if a current or former employer or public

sector educator is listed on a reference list, this person may need a specific statement of

permission from the job applicant before he or she is permitted to state his or her personal

views on the application. In such countries, the open reference letter may instead be used.

Here, the job applicant will request such a letter from current or former employers or col-

leagues and then include these letters in copy in the application.

An individuals bio-data or biographical data is information about the individuals life history,

lifestyle, hobbies and interests. As such it may include information about, e.g., age, sex, place

of birth, place of resident, family background, number of siblings, careers of parents and

siblings, ones educational track and work experience, ones marital status and number of

children, medical history, physical characteristics (weight, height, body mass index, etc.),

hobbies and free time past times. Assessments via bio-data are allowed in a number of

countries. However, general bio-data analyses are not commonly practiced in other countries

(e.g. the United States), as they is not considered to be respective of the individual efforts to

qualify him- or herself on own merits. Here, those bio-data characteristics that are specifically

relevant to the requirements of a job category (e.g., whether an airplane pilot still has the

required perfect or near perfect vision) may still be used. Moreover, there are a lot of countries

that allow some bio-data assessment, yet prohibit certain data uses, e.g. the elimination of job

seekers on the basis of their age, sex, marital status, whether they have children or not, etc.

Background checks are conducted when e.g. the criminal record, litigation record or the

personal credit record of a potential employee is looked into. Here, once again, legislation

varies markedly from country to country. To illustrate this, you must now read the Wikipedia

(2010b) article on background checks at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_check#Pre-

employment_screening_in_the_U.S., which explains common usage patterns in the United

Kingdom and the United States, before you continue reading about job interviews.

The job interview is widely used by almost all organisations (Bratton & Gold, 2004), in a wide

number of countries. It can, however, however be organised in a number of ways, including:

o Structured interview is conducted on the basis of fully predetermined questions on

which the interviewer conducts the interview.

o Semi-structured interview key questions and themes are written down beforehand,

yet some freedom is allowed in the interview process with regard to question order and to

perhaps skipping some themes or discussing issues deemed important by the interviewee,

yet which were not predetermined by the interviewer

o Non-structured interview the themes are not pre-determined beforehand in a

systematic way by the interviewing person(s)

o Panel interview Here, two or more persons in the employing or representing the

employing organisation conduct the interview. Here, it is common that a certain person on

the panel is responsible for asking certain questions and the next person on the panel

asked certain other questions, etc.

o Group interview Here, more than one job applicant is interviewed at the same time by

one or more interviewers. This is not used in everywhere in the world, as in some places,

there is concern that job applicants should not be required to elaborate on their personal


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circumstances and qualifications in front of other applicants whom they do not know and

who are not bound by employment legislation as employers and employment bureaus are.

The above description of possible elements of the selection process indicates that there can be

individual variations between organisations concerning the assessment process. Moreover,

there are also variations in patterns between countries based on concerns about what would

be discriminatory, what best ensures all societal groups access to the job market, and privacy

and personal employment-related data protection rights, which in the EU are regulated

through two directives, which have then been implemented in the EU member states

legislation:

o Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on

the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free

movement of such data.

o Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002

concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic

communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications).

At the global level, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has also published a code of

practice concerning the protection of employees personal data (ILO, 1997b). In some coun-

tries, some of its recommendations have been implemented, and in many regions of the world,

adherence to its principles is considered good employment practice by various stakeholders.

Here, regardless of the national regulations that one works under, as a human resource pro-

fessional working with personnel assessment and selection, it is important to monitor the short

and long-term outcome of the choices that ones personnel department makes in its personnel

selection processes, as also indicated in the above Figure 1. Moreover, it is important for HR

departments to seek to develop personnel selection processes that fulfil the following four

ideals:

1. Optimization to organisational constraints: In other words, the selection processes

must be optimized in relation to organisational time schedules, deadlines and costs

2. Optimization with regard to discriminatory ability: Said in another way, the

selection processes must enable the assessors to rank or otherwise distinguish among

the candidates to enable selection.

3. Reliability: This means that the processes are standardized such than one assessor

would reach the same results as the next would.

4. Validity: This criterion relates to the extent to which the personnel selection criteria

actually match the qualities needed to perform well in the job in question.

1.2.1 Structured Assignment 5.1 An Introduction to the Protection of the Personal

Data of Employees in various EU Member States

This structured assignment is based on selected pages in part one, i.e. Study on the

protection of workers personal data in the European Union: general issues and sensitive data,

of Hendrickx, F., 2002. Protection of workers personal data in the European Union. Two

studies. Background research paper produced for the European Commission, Directorate

General for Employment and Social Affairs. Brussels, Belgium: European Commission [online].

Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=2507&langId=en. The selected

passages that you must read are listed with each question of this structured assignment.

1. First, you must read the Section 4. From transparency to access on pp. 30-32. Here, you

must first discuss the possible reasons why the Italian Garante ruled that employees


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requesting access to their evaluation data were to be granted such access and what the

German section 83, subsection 1 of the Betriebsverfassungsgesetz (BetrVG) grants

individual employees the right to access to personnel files related to each of them. After

this, you must also discuss possible reasons why the Irish Data Protection (Amendment)

Bill 2002 specifies that no other person can force employees to make access requests or

reveal the results of access requests in certain future employer-related situations. Here,

you may use up to 600 words to answer this question. Beyond, this, if you so choose, you

may include full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read.

2. Now you must read a few sub-sections related to health and medical data. Start with the

section A. Health and Medical Data on p. 45 and continue to read until you reach the end of

the subsection d. Genetic tests. After reading this, you must answer two questions:

a. First, imagine that you are an EU resident seeking work as a dock worker in one of the

countries. Based on this fictive situation of you being a potential dock worker employee,

please indicate which countrys data protection legislation concerning collection and

protection of your personal health and medical data you would consider to offer you the

best protection. Here, you must justify your answer, and you may write up to 500 words.

Moreover, if you so choose, you may include full bibliographical references to other

relevant literature you have read beyond the 500 word limit.

b. Second, you must take the employers perspective. Imagine that you are a port HR

recruiter and assessor in a private stevedoring company that operates in multiple European

countries included in the above reading. From the perspective of the HR recruiter and as-

sessor in the ports industry, please indicate which countrys data protection legislation

concerning collection and protection of your personal health and medical data you feel most

adequately meets your companys recruitment and assessment needs. Also here, you must

justify your answer, and you may write up to 500 words. Once again, if you so choose, you

may include full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read

beyond the 500 word limit.

1.3 Remarks about the Selection of Dock Workers

Concerning dock workers, various organisational issues concerning this group of employees

have been covered in Module 1s Subsection 4.3 and structured assignments 1.9 1.14 as well

as in Module 3s structured assignments 3.1 and 3.6. Here, it has been mentioned in multiple

places that employment levels in ports generally have declined greatly, as (a) new technology

has been placed in ports, which has also lessened the amount of very strenuous physical lifting

work to a great extent and (b) port reform has been enacted.

Due to the elimination of many positions and the power of unions in many ports, it is often

seen that retraining of some of the current port workers has been recommended and also

utilized in a number of cases, to minimize the number of dock worker layoffs (see, e.g. World

Bank, 2008, pp.318-23). This will be discussed further in Sections 3 5 of this Module.

Moreover, regardless of whether the filling of restructured positions with retrained employees

or the recruitment of new dock workers or a combination of both methods have been used, in

most recent personnel selection process in ports, HR employees have commonly had to change

job descriptions and assessment methods to account for assessing candidates suitabilty in

relation to, e.g. (ibid., p. 319):

o Reclassifications of tasks and new job patterns


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o The future possible need for the dock worker to accept retraining and skill upgrading

courses

o Greater emphasis on the professionalism and work discipline of the individual dock worker

o Greater demands that the dock workers participate in the implementation of port and

terminal policies in a very systematic manner

o Longer and/more more flexible working hours plus possibly an increased workload

o The abolishment of systems of seniority

o Wider wage differentials and an increased use performance-based pay incentives (the latter

were discussed in Module 3s Subsection 3.3.)

Generally, the educational requirements for dock workers are not high; in many ports, training

before or on the job may be offered by the port itself. However, in other situations, training in

operation of machinery is conducted externally and is a prerequisite to employment, thus

limiting the potential supply of dock workers in the region. ). For the case of surveyed

European Union countries, Turnbull (2009a, p. 11) notes:

In the majority of countries (57%), certified training is a condition of entry to the industry. Initial (minimum) training typically lasts for 3 weeks (15 days) although in

some cases it is less than a week (e.g. Finland and Italy).

Here, there are also some systems in place in various ports of the world that require the

registration of dockers with the proper qualifications before these can be offered employment

(see, e.g., Suykens, 2000, which was the obligatory text to Module 3s Structured Assignment

3.1). In contrast, the union hiring hall system, in which ports and port firms recruitment of

dock working labour had to go through a union-controlled employment bureau, is now only still

present in a very few ports of the world (see, e.g., Stallone, 2001)

However, regardless of whether registration systems for potential employees are in place or

not, the general public image of the port must be monitored and sought to be either bettered

or maintained as positive, in order to attract new employees. In the words of Notteboom

(2010, p. 18):

Ports have to offer attractive careers for young people by offering good working conditions and stimulating a sense of pride about the port.

Structured Assignment 5.2 Assessment of the Initial Information to Be Submitted by

Persons Seeking Employment in the Port of Montral (Canada)

This structured assignment is based on the information for port employment-seekers of the

Port of Montral. As the language of this course is English, this ports English language pages

will be used here; however, those who understand French are of course welcome to also

consult this ports French language web pages. Here, first please examine the initial human

resource webpage of the Port of Montral (located at: http://www.port-

montreal.com/site/2_0/2_6.jsp?lang=en), the Available positions page (located at:

http://www.port-montreal.com/ws?lang=en&map=offers&action=offers) and, finally, the

Employment Application Form, which is located at: http://www.port-

montreal.com/pdf/form_en.pdf.

1. Based on the initial human resource webpage of the Port of Montral (i.e., the page located

at: http://www.port-montreal.com/site/2_0/2_6.jsp?lang=en), please list the key messa-

ges that you believe that the Port is trying to communicate to prospective employees. Then

assess which motivating effect these messages may have on prospective employees, based

on the theories presented in Module 3s Section 3, which was titled Motivation issues

related to wages and benefits, including performance-based pay systems. Here, you may


11

write up to 500 words. Moreover, if you so choose, you may include full bibliographical

references to other relevant literature you have read beyond the 500 word limit.

2. Based on all documents, sketch how you believe that the HR department conducts the

applicant assessment process, including which of the following assessment types are used:

Assessment of the official application letter or application form itself

Assessment of enclosed rsums or curriculum vitae

Assessment of enclosed educational course certificates and diplomas

Assessment via contacts to third-party references provided by the applicant or via

reference letters

Assessment based on bio-data

Assessment based on background checks

Job interviews

Finally, comment on the reliability and validity of the assessment process. Here, you may write

up to 800 words. Furthermore, if you so choose, you may include full bibliographical references

to other relevant literature you have read beyond this word limit.

1.3 Remarks about the Selection of Seafarers

As previously discussed in depth in Subsection 2.3 of Module 3, due to the relatively free

choice of flag state, shipowners or ship operators essentially have the opportunity to source

their seafarers from a huge number of seafarer supplying countries, yet there is currently a

shortage of officers on the world market. There are multiple ways in which ship owners or

operators choose to man their ships, as illustrated in Figure 2, below.

Figure 2. Multiple possible seafarer labour employment chains (adaptation of Figure

1 of Ruhullah, 2004, p. 27)

In relation to the above figure, a study of a sample of Greek shipping companies (Theotokas &

Progoulaki, 2007) showed that Greek crew members were in most cases (87%) managed by

the Greek companys own crew department through supply chain 1; if this was not the case,

an company affiliated ship or crew management agency, i.e. supply chain 2 or 3, was always

used. For the foreign crew members, of whom the greatest portion were Filipino, Ukrainian or

Russian, with seafarers from seven other labour supplying states also being reported used,

supply chain 1 was only used in 32% of the cases and the company affiliated ship or crew

management agency was also only used in 11% of the cases, leaving 57% of the foreign crew


12

managed through company-independent ship and crew-management units and supply chains

and supply chains 2, 3 or 4.

In chain 1 and chain 3 of Figure 2, it is either the ship owner or operator (chain 1) or the ship

management company (chain 3) that is responsible for most of the personnel

recruitment/selection and management functions. Here, however, as mentioned in subsection

1.4, Module 1, in cases where ship management is used, it is common that the ship owner or

operator still retains the final decision-making control of the choice of nationality of the

seafarers and the choice of the flag state (Mitroussi, 2004a, p.37). For supply chain choices 2

and 4, the probable delimitation of responsibility is as indicated in Table 2 below:

Table 2. Probable delimitation of employment responsibility in Supply Chains 2 & 4

(see, e.g. Ruhullah, 2004, pp. 29-30)

Mode 2: Ship owner

or operator

Mode 4: Ship

managerMode 2 and 4: Crewing agent

Legality of recruitment & selection process

Quality of pre-employment experience

Possibly attending to family while seafarer is at sea

Quality of post-contract period contact

Legality of post-contract period requirements

Possibly remuneration responsibility

Legality of work conditions on ship

Poss. remuneration responsibility

Quality of work place experience on

ship

Responsiblity for enabling commun-

ication to family while at sea

However, aside from the above figure, there is also another dimension: the issue of whether

the crewing agent employs the crew and act in its own name or whether it merely acts as an

agent for the owners. For the case of Filipino Seafarers, their employment circumstances are

regulated by a unique employment agency, the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency

(POEA, 2010a), which deals specifically with the many Filipino seafarers, Filipino health care

sector employees and other categories of Filipino workers who work outside of the Philppines.

Section 1 of its Rules and Regulations on the Recruitment and Employment of Seafarers

(Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, 2002) specifies that only Filipino citizens,

partnerships or corporations at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the authorized and voting

capital stock of which is owned and controlled by Filipino citizens may be permitted to

engage in the business of recruitment and placement of Filipino seafarers. Thus, the unit

directly recruiting the Filipino seafarers must be run mainly by Filipinos a situation that

further the crewing agent type of organisation. Here, however, many foreign shipowners and

ship management firms seem to prefer the principal-agent type of employment.

Beyond the above discussion of who is responsible for what in the seafarer labour supply

chain, as stated in Section 1.1 of this module, considerations about wage levels, the quality of

the countrys nautical education, the quality of the English-language skills of the seafarers, and

the stability of the future maritime labour supply from the country in question are usually

placed in focus in decisions about which countries seafarers will be used. In some countries,

e.g. the Philippines (see Amante, 2004, which was the assigned external text to Module 3s

Structured Assignment 3.20), the union hiring hall system is still used to some extent.

However, a few more remarks about wage levels and costs should be made here. In cases in

which responsibility for crewing has been delegated out to a ship management or crewing

company, there are two common ways of remuneration to the ship management or crewing

company: a lump sum may be paid for the services rendered over a period of time or

remuneration may be based on a cost plus fee agreement (see BIMCO, 2010a). In the later

case, of course, the costs are variable but there may also be more flexibility in the contract,


13

whereas the former type of contract offered the advantage that costs had been agreed

beforehand. In relation to both contract types and also in cases when crewing activities are

kept in house, most shipowners or ship operators take the organisation of work on board

ship as a given, at least in the short and medium term, and they also find it difficult to

measure crew and individual crew member productivity. Also ship management firms also

seem to work in this way. Such actors will therefore typically man their ships with crews of

nationalities whose qualifications can be accepted by the chosen flag state or flag states. Here,

the relevant unit of analysis for the cost comparison of seafarers of various nationalities is

typically perceived to be wage costs plus supplementary costs (social payments, insurance,

etc). This is also true for the case of the lump sum contract over a longer period than the

single period of the contract, as the future fluctuations in the lump sum to be paid will be dir-

ectly related to these cost items as well.

Moreover, as mentioned in Module 3s Subsection 2.3.3, some supplementary cost items vary

according to individual seafarer characteristics. For example, insurance premiums increase as

the seafarer covered gets older (Leggate & McConville 2002, p.456), which may lead to certain

maritime employers to seek to avoid employment of the older seafarers, although this is age

discrimination, which is illegal in many countries. Finally the total labour costs per ship are also

related to the underlying choice of flag registers because the minimum manning requirements

vary among the different types of flag registers, i.e. national, second or open registers (see,

e.g., Winchester, Sampson & Shelly, 2006).

There are a few larger shipowners, operators and ship management firms that seek to mea-

sure various aspects of resource efficiency or goal effectiveness of either a few key employees

on board or the entire crew and use performance-based pay either on the individual or group

level, as was previously discussed in Module 3. Here, this is a potential motivating and

disciplining instrument, yet care may be taken to ensure that the performance-based

measures in fact further the right behaviour and that the positive variations in performance are

in fact attributable to the crew members who are rewarded for them. For example,

performance-based pay for a good safety record may possibly work dysfunctionally in practice,

with certain crews in fact suppressing information about safety problems in hopes of achieving

the performance-based pay. Conversely if performance-based pay is put in place to encourage

near-miss potential safety reporting, then certain crews may conduct excessive reporting on

safety problems to receive this pay. Similarly, in the case of some shipmasters having better

fuel efficiency records when in charge of either bulkers or container ships, before performance-

based pay is paid to the shipmasters with the best fuel efficiency records, it is perhaps best

investigated if cargo loading optimality or non-optimality contributed to the difference. For

here also the factor of the extent to which the bulk cargo or the containers are loaded evenly

and correctly on the ship at the ports served also plays a major role with regard to fuel

efficiency, yet is most often out of the direct control of the shipmaster.

Finally, in some specialist smaller segments of commercial shipping, e.g. on scientific vessels,

certain types of tugs, ships carrying highly sensitive cargos, or on very modern and techno-

logically advanced ships, it may make sense to seek to measure not only labour costs but also

labour benefits, i.e. labour productivity in terms of effectiveness and efficiency in relation to

specific goals or tasks, as employing the most skilled specialists, even if their wages are

relatively more expensive, may be the most sound business decision, due to possible large

differences in labour productivity measures related to precision, accident prevention, etc. Here,

higher labour costs may be acceptable if this results in better productivity measures, which

then result in greater cost savings in other respects.


14

In relation to the assessment of seafarer qualifications, the International Maritime Organisation

maintains a White List of countries that it perceives have fulfilled the maritime educational

quality criteria specific in the IMOs STCW Convention; however this list is commonly viewed

by shipping industry employers as being an insufficient measure of the quality of maritime

education simply because the great majority of Member States of the IMO have achieved

White List status (Mansell, 2009, pp.175-176). Thus, a number of maritime employers and

also some flag states demand supplementary testing of seafarers from certain countries, as

will be discussed in Subsection 2.2.2 of this module.

Returning to the STCW Convention, Yamamoto (2002:69, 71) notes that due to the wish to

achieve a source of income, many developing countries may adhere to a policy of merely

seeking to fulfil a bare minimum of skills, experience and competency. Moreover, other authors

suggest that the minimum demands stipulated in the IMOs SCTW convention and ISM Protocol

together with the lack of money for seafaring education may have actually lead to a decrease

in the quality of education offered. For example, Zac et al. (2000:64) describe some problems

with maritime education in Croatia that occurred after the STCW 95 Convention was ratified:

Since the higher education MET institutions are no longer a part of the local university, theoretically, the requirements to be met by students for the entry level

need not necessarily to follow university standards. Another direct negative

consequence is decrease of the requirements for the electing academic staff they are no more required to obtain appropriate academic degrees (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) as

before. As the STCW 95 convention, more or less clearly, prescribed a minimum

content of education programmes, there are numerous requests for a stricter

application of STCW 95 provisions, thus abandoning additional subjects (such as

higher mathematics).

Fraud of the training certificates mandated by, e.g., the SCTW Convention is a very wide-

spread problem, especially in a number of developing countries. According to Obando-Rojas et

al. (2004:302), a number of seafarers are:

reluctant to invest personally in expensive mandatory vocational training,

regarding investment in fraudulent certificates as more cost effective. In one

labour-supplying country in the sample, for example, the cost of a genuine Basic

Safety Training certificate from a private training establishment was $200, but the

average price of a fraudulent BST was found to be about $50. The high cost of

training is blamed by one of the manning agents interviewed in the Far East as the

root cause for fraudulent practices: Fraud is likely to increase. Too many certi-

ficates, too expensive to train and issue. (Crewing Agent A). Other shipowners

interviewed agreed that the cost of training is getting higher for the seafarer in

relation to the salary they can earn at sea, thus making an increase in fraud likely.

A large proportion of seafarers interviewed share this concern.

Of course, it is plausible that some seafarers on short-term contracts of employment may

choose to cheat on their certificates due to their need to earn money to support themselves

and their families. Moreover, the majority of seafarers from the developing countries are on

short-term employment contracts, and have in most cases very little, if any economic

protection during possible periods of un- or underemployment. Therefore it is to be expected

that these seafarers will be seeking to minimize their certificate maintenance costs, as well as

other costs, to enable them to save for an uncertain future. This in turn probably leads some

seafarers to purchase fake certificates to the detriment of investment of paying for training

and examination, as the latter approach would be much more costly to them.


15

The 2006 ILO Maritime Labour Convention (ILO, 2006) will, after its ratification, encourage

labour supplying states to control certification. The obligatory Standard A5.3 Labour-

supplying responsibilities of this same convention states the following:

1. Each Member shall enforce the requirements of this Convention applicable to the operation and practice of seafarer recruitment and placement services

established on its territory through a system of inspection and monitoring and legal

proceedings for breaches of licensing and other operational requirements provided

for in Standard A1.4.

This standard is also subject to the flag-state double control mechanism (Payoyo 2008:4);

therefore we expect to see some decline in the production of fraudulent maritime education

and training certificates after the ratification of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention. However,

we do not believe that this will eliminate the problems altogether, as also the labour-supply

state procedures and the flag state control thereof are not expected to be entirely fail-proof.

Here, Obanda-Rojas et al. (2004:303) note:

[T]here is evidence of fraudulent practices in certain maritime administrations themselves. This appears most obviously in the stealing (for black market sale) of

blank certificates by individual administration staff or the staff of the

administrations printers. But more serious than theft is systematic maladministration by some authorities. Administrative deficiencies occur where

genuine certificates are issued but the seafarers concerned do not meet the

requirements for those certificates (commonly because they do not have the

required training documentation). One of the research team witnessed a

transaction for a full set of senior officer certificates and endorsements which took

place in the doorway of the maritime administration of a labour supplying country;

there were three separate individuals, working as agents for administration officers, soliciting for business in the doorway at the time. Another type of

administrative deficiency occurs where seafarers present fraudulent national

certificates to obtain endorsements of recognition issued by a foreign

administration. In many cases, these forged documents pass undetected because

their authenticity is not verified by the administration issuing the endorsement (by

checking with the relevant training establishments or the foreign maritime

administration that has issued the presented documents).

Here, there is the potential problem that a dangerously wide tolerance zone may be created

after the implementation of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, thus rendering much of the

protection against fraudulent certificates anticipated by the more optimistic stakeholders and

hoped for by, e.g., the quality shipping segment, the unions, the insurers and the environ-

mentalists seriously deficient.

Finally, with regard to obligatory assessment of the seafarers physical capabilities for working

as a seafarer, national legislation differs markedly, similar to what was illustrated by

Structured Assignment 5.1. However, these differences may possibly be minimized somewhat

because the International Maritime Organisations STW Sub-Committee is currently working on

new mandatory provisions for medical standards, which will be proposed for the coming

revision of the STCW Convention (BIMCOb, 2010). Unless international agreement on this

issue is achieved, the firms policy on this issue must be carefully considered, as there is

substantial debate and controversy on this issue. According to the former President of the

International Maritime Health Association and advisor to the UK Department of Transport, Dr.

Tim Carter (Wagtmann, 2008):

[E]mployers and crewing agencies should be able to test and intervene to prevent those with health conditions that might endanger vessel safety, lead to a high risk


16

for disease transmission on board or require evacuation or diversion working at

sea. However the issue of whether tests that are additional to the statutory

requirements are being done in the interest of seafarers and maritime safety or in

the economic interest of the employer becomes paramount. The boundary between

prudent selection and discrimination is a hard one to define. [...]

it is my view that at least some employers and P&I Clubs overuse this argument.

For example, it is clear to me that a person who is extremely obese would have

trouble performing emergency duties such as fire fighting. However, this is not

necessarily the case for a person who is only mildly overweight, yet he or she may

not be accepted when recruited in certain countries because the employer does not

want to be met with demands in the future concerning the nutritional quality of the

food on ships or opportunities for exercise while on board. Female seafarers from

some major crewing countries are required to have gynaecological examinations

and sign declarations that they will not engage in unprotected sexual intercourse.

To me such practices indicate that the system has crossed the line and entered the

realm of discriminatory treatment.

I worry that the whole process functions as a deterrent to a much larger group of

seafarers and seeks to ensure that only the most physically fit members of the developing countrys seafaring population are those who work on board the ships owned by international companies. Should they develop a health problem they are

simply not selected for future contracts.

1.3.1 Structured Assignment 5.3 Insurance Matters in relation to crews

Insurance matters are indirectly addressed by the forthcoming ILO (2006) Maritime Labour

Conventions Regulation 4.2, which is about shipowners liability with regard to sickness, injury

or death occurring in connection with their employment. Moreover, private insurance schemes

will be commonly used to ensure seafarer compensation for the ships loss or foundering; this

area is the subject of the Maritime Labour Conventions Regulation 2.6. Finally, in a number of

countries, private insurance schemes are used to achieve the level of social security coverage

for seafarers mandated by Regulation 4.5 of the Maritime Labour Convention. The above

stated regulations in the Maritime Labour Conventions will replace a number of previous ILO

conventions which addressed the same issues.

In the Maritime Labour Convention, social protection of seafarers falls under the primary

jurisdiction of the labour supplying state, according to Regulation 5.3 of the Maritime Labour

Convention, whereas flag states are primarily responsible for ensuring that the Maritime

Labour Convention rules concerning employment on board ship have been implemented on all

ships flying the flag of the chosen flag state. As the Maritime Labour Convention allows for

some flexibility in implementation (Payoyo, 2008), it is to be expected that crew-related

insurance offerings will vary somewhat for specific flag state and labour supplying states.

Therefore we will take the current seafarer insurance regulations and regime of country of Nor-

way as our example in this structured assignment.

First, you must read pp. 24 39, i.e. Sections 4.1 to 4.3 of Selss, T.D., 2009. Ship owners'

liability towards crew members and their insurance cover for such claims. Masters Thesis.

Oslo, Norway: University of Oslo, Faculty of Law [online]. Available at:

http://www.duo.uio.no/publ/jus/2009/94334/FerdigxNavnxmedxvedlegg.pdf.

1. On the bottom half of page 25, a number of possible insurance types that are either found

under standard coverage by Skuld P& I rules or are additional insurance types for risks are

listed. Please make two lists, in which you state which of the mentioned types of insurance


17

are directly related to (a) insuring the crew (list 1) and (b) insuring the firm against risks

which are related to crew-related matters (list 2).

2. On p. 26, it is mentioned that the standard insurance for crew shall cover the members

liability for and then ten items are listed. Indicate which of the following Maritime Labour

Convention regulation(s) do these items, taken as a whole, refer to: Regulation 2.6 and/or

Regulation 4.2 and/or Regulation 5.3. Here, you can also consult the text of the ILO (2006)

Maritime Labour Convention, which is found at: http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-

lex/convde.pl?C186.

3. For the case of seafarers who are permanent residents of Norway, indicate areas in which

national insurance schemes or public sector welfare benefits also give compensation to

seafarers, thus reducing the burden of coverage born by the private sector insurance.

1.4.3 Structured assignment 5.4 Flag State Recognition of Certificates

For this structured assignment, you must read all website information about three flag states

recognition of the maritime education and training certificates from other countries and then

compare the flag states in terms of strictness. The three flag states are Bahamas, Denmark

and Singapore. Therefore, first please read all regulations about recognition of foreign training

certifications on the following web pages, including the relevant sub-pages:

o Bahamas Maritime Authority: http://www.bahamasmaritime.com/index.php?page=19 and

relevant sub-web pages

o Danish Maritime Authority:

http://www.dma.dk/Manning/Sider/DanishRecognitionofForeignCertificates.aspx and

relevant sub-pages

o Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore:

http://www.mpa.gov.sg/sites/port_and_shipping/shipping/manning_for_singapore_register

ed_ships/manning_requirements.page and relevant sub-web pages

After you have read these web pages, please indicate (a) which of the three countries in your

opinion has the most restrictive criteria for recognition of the educational, training and

competencies certificates from foreign seafarers and (b) which of the three countries in your

opinion has the least restrictive criteria for this recognition. After this, you may write up to 700

words to justify your answer to this question. Beyond, this, if you so choose, you may include

full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read.

1.4.4 Structured assignment 5.5 Sample Manning Agreement Documents of the

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration

For this structured assignment, you must examine the following documents: Philippine

Overseas Employment Administration (2010b): Sample Manning Agreement. Mandaluyong City,

Philippines: POEA [online]. Available at:

http://www.poea.gov.ph/agency/manning_agreement.pdf and Philippine Overseas

Employment Administration (2010c): Sample Special Power of Attorney. Mandaluyong City,

Philippines: POEA [online]. Available at: http://www.poea.gov.ph/agency/spa1.pdf.

1. First, elaborate on the Sample Special Power of Attorney, by explaining:

Who grants this power of attorney

To whom it is granted


18

Who is typically informed or needs to be inform of the granting of such a power of

attorney

In answering this question, you may write up to 400 words in your answer.

2. Please seek to place the responsibilities of the sample manning agreement within the

frameworks of Figure 2. Multiple possible seafarer labour employment chains by indicating

in your opinion which of the four supply chain(s) in this figure it is suited for use in. For

each supply chain type that you deem suited, please indicate which unit is the principal

and which is the agent. Then justify your answer in a few words. Here, you may write up

to 500 words in your answer.

3. Finally, based on your answer to 2, please fill in the figure on the next page to indicate who

bears responsibility for what according to the Sample Manning Agreement. If it is the

case that one actor type bears responsibility for some areas only in one or some of the

supply chains that you indicated suited in your answer to question 2, please also write this

in the figure, in relation to the areas for which you perceive that this is the case.

Ship owner or operator Ship manager Crewing agent


19

2. Assessment of employees and potential employees qualifications and suitability

for jobs and/or tasks via Psychological, Cognitive and Skills Tests

2.1 Introduction to Psychological, Cognitive and Skills Tests

According to Analoui (2007, p. 150), there are a number of types of tests that can potentially be assessed

in the personnel selection process and in other points in the course of employment, e.g. when departments

are restructuring or attempts are made to put together persons in teams:

o Aptitude tests: test that measures a persons capacity, talent or ability to learn and perform a job.

o Psychomotor test: test that measures a persons strength, dexterity and coordination.

o Job knowledge test: test used to measure the job-related knowledge of an applicant.

o Proficiency tests: tests used to measure how well a job applicant can do a sample of work to be

performed in the job.

o Interest tests: tests designed to determine how a persons interests compare with the interests of

successful people in a specific job.

o Personality tests: tests that attempt to measure personality traits.

o Polygraph: a device that records physical changes in a persons body as he or she answers questions

(also known as a lie detector)

o Graphology (handwriting analysis): use of a trained analyst to examine a persons handwriting to assess

the persons personality, emotional problems and honesty.

In this text, the following of the above test types are considered to be psychological tests: Interest tests,

personality tests, polygraph and graphology, as they deal with features mainly related to psychological

characteristics, e.g. the formation of personality and what motivates the individual. In contrast, aptitude

tests are classified by us cognitive tests, as they measure a persons intellectual abilities and capacities.

Finally, skills tests include psychomotor, job knowledge and proficiency tests.

Generally speaking, skills tests are best at providing information about a persons current level of skills.

Here, the skills tests must be optimally matched to the work skills required for the completion of the job. In

contrast, cognitive tests seek to provide information about a persons ability and capacity for learning in

one or more areas. As such, they seek to be say more about whether a person will be able to learn the

necessary skills or not. Of course, in many cases, it makes sense to combine the two types of tests. For, e.g.,

very physically demanding types of marine engineering work on some specialist ships, with requires both

physical strength and good coordination skills, but the ability to do advanced mathematical and physics

calculations, it might make sense to test young people seeking to educate themselves for this type of

marine engineering work to see if they have the necessary psychomotor characteristics as well as the

necessary mathematical and logical cognition skills which would ensure that they would be able to both

fulfil the physically demanding parts of the work and also master the fundamental physics and mathe-

matical knowledge that they will be taught in the course of their marine engineering studies. Another

example is the cultural intelligence quotient used at US maritime academy, to help nautical students to

assess their abilities and skills in relation to multicultural crews (see Benton & Lynch, 2006). In measuring

this quotient, both cognitive features and concrete intercultural coping skills are examined.

Also in later career times, such testing may also be potentially beneficial to the employee. As note by

Franck and Irminger (2008, p. 131) in their presentation of their seafarer competence testing battery:


20

Once candidates become employees, the next challenge is guiding these employees on their way to new and more responsible positions, as they increase their skills. Counseling to the required competences and knowledge ensures that young people can quickly and confidently move into the right positions.

Psychological tests are a bit different. Here, as mentioned psychological characteristics such as personality

features and motivational factors are in focus. Moreover, Price (2007, p. 359-60) notes the following:

Psychological testing has been used for different purposes in mainland Europe and North America, with the UK taking an intermediate view (Drenth, 1978). The reasons for this are complex and reflect different traditions. The softer European approach has relied on more descriptive, observational methods such as projective techniques and qualitative performance tests that draw on psychoanalytic theory. Conversely, the American approach was dominated by behaviourist attitudes, emphasizing objectivity and the quantitative use of data. The led to the development of a massive range of paper and pencil tests, suitable for individual or group use. Many European selection theorists have never been convinced of their merits. However, in recent years, growth of a more systematic methodology has meant that the two approaches have converged to a considerable extent.

Despite the methodological disputes mentioned in the above, it must be mentioned that a persons person-

ality characteristics are not only the result of psychological factors. Also factors in the persons social envi-

ronment (e.g., nature of upbringing, societal norms, interaction episodes with other people in ones adult

years, both at work and in ones free time) and bodily and biochemical factors (e.g. related to ones nervous

system, ones dexterity and physical strength, and to the external physical environment) play a role in the

development and manifestation of an individuals personality. This relationship is depicted in Figure 3.

For the case of, e.g., graphology tests, also knowing as handwriting analysis, one could argue that there are

inherent validity problems of such tests, as ones handwriting stye is also influenced by social environment

factors such as (a) how one was taught to write by hand and (b) which examples of handwriting were used

as good examples during the teaching process as well as by the bodily factor (c) the psychomotoric

characteristics of ones fingers strength, dexterity and coordination ability. Here, Thomas & Vaught (2001,

p. 35) also note:

Figure 3. Factors which influence personality


21

There is little evidence that graphology is accurate in predicting personality traits, or that the narrow traits that many analysts infer from handwriting samples correlate with job perfor-mance.

Concerning polygraph or lie detector tests, it must be noted that a substantial portion of the scientific com-

munity, including a majority of the surveyed members of the Society for Psychophysiological Research and

Fellows of the American Psychological Association's Division 1 did not believe that polygraph tests give valid

or reliable results (Iacono & Lykken, 1997). Here, the commonly stated validity and reliability problems in-

clude the circumstance that persons with especially sensitive nervous systems may fail the test, even if they

give truthful answers, whereas seasoned liars or persons who have practiced taking lie detector tests may

be able to pass, even if they lie. Based on the above, we will eliminate graphology and polygraph tests from

our further considerations.

Concerning the other psychological test types, e.g. personality and interest tests, if you as a student feel the

need to get the feel for such tests work in practice, it is recommended that you do an internet search

engine search for example personality tests and then examine some of the free examples that you get

through this search, possibly also taking some sample tests if you so choose and if you feel that the

websites conditions are acceptable to you. Here, if you speak another language than English, you might

also be able to find such tests in multiple languages if you use translations of the above terms and other

common terms for such tests in the other language(s) that you speak.

In relation to personality and interest tests, it must be noted that the quality of these tests varies greatly.

Some have not be validated properly in general terms, some are marked by the problem that the

respondents can fake answers by answering in the desired way, and in many circumstances the link

between the measured characteristics of the test and success in concrete jobs has not been proven

(Morgeson et al., 2007). Moreover, some English-language tests are reported to have an adverse impact

on ethnic minority groups or non-Native speakers of English, in which the native English speakers score dis-

proportionally higher (Wood & Baron, 1992, p.34); this problem probably exists in some tests of other

languages as well. To remedy the adverse impact problem, some psychological tests have been sought

translated, but with mixed results, as persons of various nationalities have different or perhaps even lacking

life experiences about certain topics covered or mentioned in the first language version of the test, and

there are also variations among cultures in issues such as which themes are taboo, when over- and

understatement is considered proper behavior, which may mean that the same items, despite a suitable

translation, as assessed in different ways by persons from different cultural backgrounds. Finally, a number

of nuances in such test simply cannot be translated perfectly, due to the fact that certain words or phrases

do not have exact equivalents in other languages. Thus, taking the example of Biggs (1988) personality and

interest-related categorization of individuals learning styles, Skaates (2004, p. 13-4) noted:

Biggs developed his Study Process Questionnaire by identifying various traits of student learning, placing these traits on various versions of a questionnaire [] However, the results of the use of various []versions of Biggs Study Process Questionnaire [] are not equivocal regarding the factor loadings; this circumstance in turn calls into question the underlying three motive theory. For example, some non-Australian, non-Canadian tests indicated validity only for two factor solutions, the two loading factors being utilizing motives/ surface strategy and internalizing motives/deep strategy []. Furthermore, [] the relationship between students scores on various items of the Study Process Questionnaire and student demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and extra-curricular experience varied significantly from country to country.


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On the basis of the above, one receives the best results from personality and interest tests if one checks the

following:

o Whether the test under consideration has been validated in relation to what it claims to measure and

in which population it has been validated

o Has the test been constructed in a way that makes it difficult to fake answers

o For English-language tests also used toward non-native speakers of English and/or ethnic minorities: Is

there an adverse impact factor here and, if so, how large is this problem?

o For tests that have been translated into another language: Has the translation been checked and has

the translated version been validated to ensure that it leads to the same results as the original

language version?

o Is there a link between what the test measures and performance in the particular position or positions

for which the test is being considered used?

Here, there is also differing national legislative and court case law practice concerning the use

of the test. In the United States, a few employees have successfully sued their employers

when these employers sought to use results from personality tests taken in the initial job

application on the medium and long term as indicators as to which promotion or further job

opportunities these employees should be given. Here, some of issue that were at hand in these

cases were (a) although the personality characteristics of adults of above 25 years of age are

generally relatively inert, these can still change to a greater extent for individual adults, and

(b) the low predictive validity of such tests in relation to job performance. In the coming

structured assignment, we will look at regulations concerning the use of data from

psychological tests in various EU member states. However, before we do this, it is interesting

to note a general ranking of correlation results for various application assessment methods as

discussed in this sub-section as well as the previous Section 1 of this module. The correlation

results, which are mainly based on UK data, are depicted in Table 3 on the next page.

Table 3 suggests that a combination of cognitive and skills tests provide the best correlation to

subsequent adequate job performance. After this, work sample tests, analyses of bio-data

(according to the UK practices for this), the use of an external assessment centre (which then

chooses and conducts a number of assessment procedures) and of structured & semi-

structured interviews also provide relatively high correlations as stand-alone methods. In

contrast, personality tests, non-structured interviews, references and graphology score as

stand-alone measures the lowest in the regression analysis.

Table 3. Correction between (a) Assessment Method and (b) Subsequent Adequate

Job Performance, mainly based on UK data (sources: Bertua et al., 2005; Price, 2007,

p. 367; Roth et al., 2005 & Smith, 1991)

Correlation range Assessment Method

0.5 - 0.6 Combined use of cognitive & skills tests

Work sample tests

Analysis of bio-data

Use of an external assessment centre

Structured & semi-structured interviews

Personality tests

Non-structured interviews

References

Graphology

0.3 - 0.49

Less than 0.3


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Here, due to the relatively low score of personality tests, it is worth mentioning that many US

personnel psychologist suggest that the use of psychological tests, also when the above

methodological considerations have been taken into account, only account for at most around

15% of the total decision about whom to employ and are not used as a stand-alone measure

(Morgeson et al., 2007).

Structured Assignment 5.6 An Introduction to Legislation about the Collection and

Use of Psychological Test Data in Employment Contexts in various EU Member States

Similarly to Structured Assignment 5.1, this structured assignment is based on selected pages

in part one, i.e. Study on the protection of workers personal data in the European Union:

general issues and sensitive data, of Hendrickx, F., 2002. Protection of workers personal data

in the European Union. Two studies. Background research paper produced for the European

Commission, Directorate General for Employment and Social Affairs. Brussels, Belgium:

European Commission [online]. Available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=2507&langId=en. Here, you must first read the

following pages before you answer the questions: Section e titled Psychological tests on pp.

65-68.

1. Discuss possible advantages and disadvantages seen from (a) the employer or potential

employer perspective and (b) the employee or potential employee perspective if

psychological and cognitive test data is treated as other medical information. Here you may

write up to 600 words. Beyond, this, if you so choose, you may include f