b'LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENTAT THE HELM We Are in theCustomer Service BusinessJIM SWINDLER // PRESIDENTW hile Southwest Airlines may not have coinedcruit and train personnel for maritime positions necessary the phrase hire for attitude, in my view theyto staff passenger vessels and terminals, maintain vessels, certainly made it famous. I, for one, have alwaysand for positions in shipyards to overhaul and dry-dock the felt it is a good practice, especially when hiring for positionsferry fleets. In speaking with the leadership of this effort, that will be front and center and closest to the customer. I was pleased to learn that the training program for vessel crewmembers and terminal staff includes 80 hours of cus-I think its safe to say that in most passenger vessel oper- tomer service training. This collaborative effort is ongoing ations,deckhands,mates,captains,andevenengineersto train and recruit employees and it is fully supported by interact with our customers. Hence, the thought that alllocal maritime labor unions as well.employeesshouldhavesomecustomerservicetraining. However, when it comes to customer service, training is notOn the East Coast, the Steamship Authority has also tak-always enough. As Winston Churchill said, Attitude is aen steps in recruiting and training for maritime positions. little thing that makes a big difference. I believe this to beTheir programs include customer service as well. true and that an employees attitude can be the differenceWhen training personnel, weIve often said that what we do between a good customer ex- aspassengervesseloperators, perience and a bad one. often do not place sufficientwhileextremelyimportant emphasis on the importanceandoftendemanding,can Havingbeeninthepassen- betaught.Inmyexperience, ger vessel industry for thirtyof interaction with thewhen training personnel to fill years, on more than one occa- customer. However, our staffsthe various positions (i.e., cap-sion I have asked co-workerstain,mate,senior/leaddeck-andemployeesthequestionshould be comfortable andhand, terminal staff, etc.), we whatbusinessarewein?proficient in communicatingoftendonotplacesufficient Typicalresponseswouldbeemphasis on the importance of theboatbusiness,transpor- with the customer. interaction with the customer. tation, marine business, andWhiletheneedtointeract ferry boat operator. But rarely would I hear customer service.with the customer can certainly be taught, it does not always I bring this up for several reasons, but mainly to stress the im- come easily for everyone. However, our deckhands, mates, portance that when hiring new employees, we make it clear,and entire staffs should be comfortable and proficient in that while we operate vessels, we do so for the customer. communicating with the customer, especially in providing general information about the vessel and in an emergency.SinceCOVID-19manypassengervesseloperatorshave been scrambling to fill critical positions, such as deckhands,Similarly, we must empower staff with the confidence to concession workers, captains, mates, terminal staff, etc. react wisely to routine situations involving the customer, especially where a particular rule may not warrant strict en-In California, both Long Beach and San Francisco, haveforcement. An example I like to use is where an elderly per-establishedaworkinggroupreferredtoastheWorkingson attempts to board a ferry holding a little puppy in his Waterfront Coalition. The purpose of this group is to re- arms no bigger than his forearm. The employee responsible Continued on page 45FOGHORN 4'