The biggest issue we see all too regularly when it comes to recruiting your rotational counterpart is that what looked good on paper doesn’t often transpire into a good hire.
The Captain’s CV looked great, they interviewed well and now they are onboard, but it’s not quite working out as expected.
While I believe rotational Captains don’t need to be carbon copies of one another, they do need to have aligned beliefs in terms of how to run a yacht and manage crew. So here are a couple of questions which will alleviate the risk of hiring someone who isn’t that compatible with you and how you manage the yacht. This topic will reappear in the future with more suggested questions.
How do you manage your HODs?
Obviously the HODs are integral to the successful running of the yacht. If you and the other Captain don’t have a similar approach to your day to day management of the HODs, then pretty quickly that is going to cause fractures onboard.
If you give the HODs the freedom to run their department as they see fit with just broad guidance from you and then the incoming Captain is a micro manager, you are going to have issues, for example.
Follow up questions:
- How often do you communicate with your HODs?
- What level of decision making / autonomy would you give them?
- Can you give examples of an issue you would let them manage and an issue you would get involved in?
- How would your previous HODs describe your management?
- What have you found challenging historically relating to managing your HODs?
- What is your attitude towards letting the Chief Officer get drive experience?
- How often did the Chief get on the sticks on your last yacht?
Quick tip – ask your existing HODs to describe your style of management. It might give you some additional insight to how you do things and what you want from your new rotational partner.
What was the last substantial thing you changed on board your last yacht and why did you do it?
This is a great question to provide insight into how they operate. Nobody wants someone who comes onboard and starts changing things straight away. I could give dozens of examples of Captains who have talked a good game about not changing things yet within their first few days, have thrown in a hand grenade.
Follow up questions:
- What was the process for changing this? (You are looking for them to mention discussing with other Captain)
- How long had you been onboard when you made this change?
- On your last yacht was the bridge electronic and paperless or more traditional?
- What software apps do you use in your day to day work?
- What would you have changed on your last yacht if you could?
- In your experience what are the easiest changes to make operationally to improve the efficiency of a program?
This is a vast subject which we will revisit often in the future.
If you need to recruit your rotational counterpart in the meantime and want access to the best Captains (many of whom will be employed and not actively looking), then schedule a call with me here – Tim Clarke on CALENDLY.
