Human capital
JL is guided by our vision “Together, we create a world-class shipping company”. This vision is closely interlinked with our core values of Competence, Respect, Entrepreneurship, Accountability, Team Spirit and Enthusiasm – all vital elements for our ability to create value for clients, partners and owners.
JL’s human resources are a vital precondition for our value creation, and the personal and professional qualifications of staff are critical for the ongoing development of JL’s business activities and our endeavours to achieve our vision.
Globalisation, changes in the competitive environment, rising complexity and demands for business acumen, technology, finance, IT and compliance with increasing national and international regulatory requirements constantly impose new, tougher demands on our employees.
Thus it is imperative for JL to attract, develop and retain staff who by virtue of their professional and personal skills can support JL’s business strategies.
Recruitment and retention
JL is constantly aware of ever-increasing competition at sea and ashore in attracting the best suited employees. Especially at JL’s head office in Copenhagen, competition for the most qualified staff has increased as a result of the surge in the Danish shipping industry and in the Danish economy as a whole. JL’s overseas offices have also seen increasing demand for skilled staff with international experience.
JL’s shipping trainee programme plays a very important role in our HR strategy. The trainee programme serves as a knowledge base for coming generations of professional shipping staff in operations and chartering, many of whom have the potential to become part of key management. Over the past couple of years, the Danish shipping industry has improved the standards of the theoretical education for shipping trainees. As an important employer, JL also contributes to the education of trainees in such other fields as finance and procurement. As a result of increasing commercial complexity, JL is also recruiting a greater number of graduates from business schools and/or universities.
During 2006, JL recruited the largest ever number of employees in the past ten years at head office in Copenhagen.
In 2006, JL took the initial steps towards implementing a senior employee policy with the dual aim of retaining the know-how of senior employees and providing them with the possibility of phased retirement.
Competency development
JL regards learning and competency development as important strategic elements for the development of our activities. Continuous maintenance of skills, knowledge and competencies are thus pivotal to ensuring that JL has the human resources required in the future.
All JL employees participate in continuous training and education, the purpose of which is to qualify them for future challenges. Executive training, including MBA programmes at IMD, INSEAD and Copenhagen Business School are also part of JL’s Business Academy.
JL uses various tools when determining the need for competency development including annual appraisals and a general Company Performance Driver (CPD) survey, which provides an overall assessment of our ability to perform not only within selected areas of business but also in terms of human relations.
Maritime personnel
JL’s DIS registered fleet (Danish International Register of Shipping) are manned by Danish officers. Vessels registered in other registers are manned by officers primarily from other European nations and the Philippines. By working closely together with reputable crew agencies in these countries, JL gets access to well qualified and well trained staff, who with their personal capabilities will secure retaining of marine engineering and operational skills in JL.
Terms of employment
JL offers attractive terms of employment not just by way of competitive employment packages (salary, pension, incentive schemes, health insurance and other benefits) but also by way of challenging careers at head office, overseas offices or on board our vessels.
JL has a long tradition of employing staff with sea-going experience ashore, a policy that now also includes the possibility for attending executive training programmes.
HR Profile
At year-end 2006, total headcount was 708 employees (907 at year-end 2005), of whom 159 were working at head office in Copenhagen, 26 at overseas offices, 170 at terminals and 353 were serving with the fleet. The decrease in total headcount was primarily due to the downsizing of land-based activities in South America.
Staff turnover in 2006 was 7% at head office. Average length of service was 9.3 years and average age was 43.2 years, almost the same as 2005. A good working environment and challenging tasking means that JL saw a low level of sick leave at 3.5 days per employee during 2006.
