Does Excellent Training Create Excellent Crew?

Does excellent training create excellent crew? This is a question certainly worth exploring since there are many factors which create excellence in superyacht crew of all departments.

If the most qualified and highly technically trained crew members in any department aboard don’t/no longer enjoy the work they do, can’t interact well with others and cause conflict in their environment, then any expense and time invested in their technical training is compromised or diminished by their negative attitude towards their work. Similarly, highly enthusiastic and fully-engaged crew members who lack formal technical training are also not reaching their fullest potential, although they may be much more pleasant to have aboard!

How can the superyacht industry, which prides itself on delivering top-tier hospitality and other services, hope to achieve the ultra-high standards demanded of it without properly formulated, yacht-specific training?

I believe we, as trainers, along with the encouragement of management companies and crew recruitment agencies should be ensuring that every crew member employed in the sector has ALL the training they require to cope with the exacting standards of today’s superyacht industry. This not only to increase employee engagement in order to help reduce the high rates of crew turnover due in part to stress and burnout, but also as our collective responsibility to yacht owners and guests to assist in creating optimum experiences aboard the yachts they own or charter.

Industry-related training in a variety of subjects is key. Safety (STCW) and other department-specific technical training, although essential, simply isn’t enough in today’s demanding superyacht world.  There needs to be a recognised, structured approach to crew training to create a solid foundation of people-related skills on which to build technical training – not just in order to deal with the demands of Yacht owners and charter guests, but also to enable more harmonious living with fellow crew members. The superyacht industry is a unique one in which to work and can be unnecessarily challenging if crew are not properly prepared for its idiosyncrasies!

It is therefore encouraging to see more and more crew now engaging in much-needed Management and Leadership training courses to better develop people skills associated with communication, emotional intelligence, psychological safety, workforce wellbeing and other essential subject matter. 

Human Element and Leadership and Management (HELM) courses aim to provide the leadership and managerial skills required by the STCW code and are required to obtain a UK Certificate of Competency (www.bluewateryachting.com and www.dandbservices.fr/)

Significant changes in the industry which directly affect training needs of superyacht crew include:

• Larger and more sophisticated yachts are being built and thus larger numbers of crew are being employed to live and work together in more demanding environments.

• The expectation of yacht owners and charter guests are increasing high – and in line with this, the expectations of yacht management and crew recruitment companies

• An increase in the number of training courses now required by professional crew, with a significant increase of courses available to interior crew, from beginners to Heads of Department 

 Examples of these courses include:

• Interior crew courses: G.U.E.S.T. training courses (guest-program.com) now accredited by IAMI – the International Association of Maritime Institutions

• As well as a certified, modular purser online course (pursertrainer.com) and shore-based purser courses (www.thecrewacademy.com/yacht-purser-course) courses.  

• An increase in the need and demand for leadership and management courses for all departments. (luxuryhospitalitymgm.com and www.impactcrew.com)

• Mandatory food safety/hygiene courses for all food handlers on commercially registered vessels. (at last!) (www.oceanwavemonaco.com/ in Antibes and Monte Carlo and vipserviceschool.com in Palma)

• An increased need to address the emotional wellbeing of all crew through specifically created training courses. (luxuryhospitalitymgm.com/360/insight)

Wellbeing is the new mantra in the superyacht industry – the belief that a well-motivated workforce will deliver more, which will translate into better job performance.  It might seem somewhat ‘New Age’, slightly esoteric and perhaps a little “touchy-feely” for the still male-centric world of yachting but, in truth, it’s earning its place as the next logical step beyond traditional motivational techniques.  Innovative approaches to wellbeing are based on self-awareness and self-motivation and will enable superyacht crew to more easily reach their full potential in both their professional and private lives.

With recognition of the necessity of this complete training by yacht owners, management companies, crew recruitment agencies and captains - as well as a degree of personal responsibility from superyacht crew themselves, current and future generations will really reap the rewards of a superyacht industry where excellent standards of service and work performance will consistently be delivered. 

For a complete list of training required for superyacht crew, please click here.

About the Author

Having first completed an HND in Hotel Catering and Institutional Management in Oxford, Lynne has since acquired more than forty years of experience in the hospitality industry, twelve of which were served aboard luxury motor yachts and a further thirty in other yacht-related and villa management sectors.  Lynne has extensive practical experience in all aspects of interior management in both the yachting and luxury villa sectors and has been a PYA and then GUEST/IAMI accredited trainer for nearly two decades.

In recent years Lynne’s skills were extended through various relevant training courses, including a Professional Training Certificate, the Levels 2 and 3 Awards in Food Safety in Catering and Energy Management in Business training. Lynne currently trains as “Insight Specialist” focussing on Crew Wellbeing for Luxury Hospitality Management  (LH): is PYA Director of Interior Training and a member of the Maritime Hospitality Sub-Committee Group for the GUEST interior crew training programme.

She is a regular contributor to various yacht/crew-related publications and is passionate about the industry which has brought her so much pleasure and adventure!