Recruiting the best crew to work on your superyacht is a challenging task, as the crème de la crème of the industry are of course in much demand! There are numerous steps that a superyacht employer can improve their chances of recruiting the best candidates, which we explore in this article.
Reputation management is crucial when employing the best superyacht crew
Let your crew do the talking
Of course, any superyacht employer is going to speak highly of their superyacht and the desirability of its working conditions. Prospective employees will expect this, treat any hype with “a pinch of salt” and will come to their own conclusions.
Superyacht crew develop a strong network of trade contacts over the years and wherever possible a prospective crew member will try to find out what the reality of working on a given superyacht is. A proven method of finding out the truth is to speak to current/past crew of a superyacht, if they speak highly of their time when working there then this will be a massive positive factor for prospective employees.
Former/current crew speaking well of their experience aboard a superyacht speaks more loudly than any employer can!
Manage crew how you would want to be managed yourself
It’s an old adage but if superyacht owners and management can manage crew how they would want to be managed themselves, they are onto a winning formula.
Superyacht management should always check their actions against a code of “how would I feel if this happened to me?” If they are comfortable with their treatment/management of crew then this endorses the decision.
Managing crew with care and consideration over their employment on a yacht will be appreciated and is likely to lead to them speaking favourably about the yacht and its crew when they finish their employment.
Be Compassionate where circumstances necessitate
Managing crew well involves the use of compassion at times. Although it’s often awkward to manage through in certain circumstances crew will need compassionate leave (e.g. death of a family member or friend, a serious illness of a close family member, etc) Feel free to carefully verify the facts and ascertain what’s happened, but any responsible employer will allow compassionate leave and will manage accordingly. Use a recruitment agency like J4Crew to hire temporary crew, even with short/no notice!
The word is likely to spread around the industry when a superyacht treats its crew with compassion in challenging circumstances.
Offer competitive pay and working conditions
The previous pointer we’ve made all relate to the softer/human side of employer reputation. Combine the above with competitive pay and working conditions and a superyacht is likely to be onto a winning formula! In some cases, competitive pay and attractive conditions (e.g. a generous annual leave package) will also be major reputational signals to prospective employees about working on a superyacht.
Let J4Crew help to grow your employer reputation
We work with superyacht employers across the world and know exactly what superyacht employees are looking for from future employers.
Contact us today and we can help repair a damaged reputation and grow an already good reputation further. We can help recruit the very best superyacht crew, who are after all the public face of the superyacht and vital to its smooth operation.
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