11Heidi Heseltine, Founder of Diversity Study Group (Copyright: Diversity Study Group)
DSG’s new Crest Maritime Mentoring pilot programme, which nurtures future industry leaders, is supported by some of the initiative’s founding members, including Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, Cargill Ocean Transportation, Northern Marine, Portsmouth International Port, and RightShip.
London, 17 September 2024: The Diversity Study Group (DSG) has announced its Crest Maritime Mentoring initiative, designed to attract and retain the best possible talent across the maritime sphere. Working in partnership with founding members Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), Cargill Ocean Transportation, Northern Marine, Portsmouth International Port (PIP) and RightShip, DSG’s important initiative will help position maritime as a progressive and inclusive work environment.
This cross-sector pilot programme aims to enhance the skills and knowledge of individuals who are at least mid-level in their careers by pairing them with highly experienced mentors. The pilot programme, launching in early 2025, will see 15 mentees selected in cooperation with sponsor organisations and matched with an experienced mentor from DSG’s growing Mentor Pool.
Heidi Heseltine, Founder of DSG, said: “Our research has repeatedly shown the value of good leadership not just in DEI performance, but in helping every employee reach their full potential. The Crest Maritime Mentoring Programme will help develop the well-rounded and knowledgeable future leaders that the maritime industry will need in the coming decades by drawing on the insights, skills and experience of a global pool of respected and influential figures.”
The Programme The Crest Maritime Mentoring Core Programme will run over six months and is open to applicants with at least five years of career experience. It will provide a range of workshops, mentoring sessions, and masterclasses across six structured stages focused on interactivity, detailed, constructive feedback, network building, and experience sharing between the mentoring pairs.
An Alumni Programme will be established for current and former mentees to come together every six months to share their ongoing experiences, meet new members, develop working relationships, and share practical solutions to challenges encountered both in work and in mentoring.
Benefits of the Programme Crest Maritime Mentoring is expected to generate ongoing benefits for supporting organisations, mentors, and mentees. These include increased employee retention and engagement, access to an expansive and diverse network of professionals, and greater knowledge of the maritime industry and its trends through exposure to new perspectives and ways of working.
Leading Environmental, Social, and Governance digital maritime platform RightShip was instrumental in creating the cross-industry programme and first raised the idea. A working group of other DSG members then developed it into Crest Maritime Mentoring.
Purnima Singh, Chief HR Officer at RightShip, said: “We are delighted to see the Crest Maritime Mentoring programme officially launched with DSG’s expertise at its heart. We are thrilled to see how quickly an idea we shared around a cross-company mentoring scheme has been transformed into a structured programme that will provide benefits for the maritime sector for years to come.”
Mentoring is a rewarding experience for those involved, but its value will rightly be judged on outcomes. The six-month programme has been designed from the ground up to reflect the needs of individuals in maritime. It has clearly established goals, created to achieve the best results for everyone involved and tracks the progress of both mentors and mentees while measuring its impact on sponsoring organisations.
Chris Hatter, Head of Compliance, Portsmouth International Port (PIP), added: “I’m really keen that this programme should help break down the silos that still exist across different parts of the whole maritime industry. It’s by working together and supporting each other that we can affect real change.”
Margaret McFadzean, Group Head of HR at The Northern Marine Group, added: “Northern Marine is working to enhance its diversity, equity and inclusion and this mentoring initiative is a fantastic way for us to nurture emerging talent and enable them to gain in depth insights into the broader maritime sector.”
Elena Pantazidou, HR Director, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, concluded: “We are proud to collaborate with trusted partners in developing a mentorship programme that empowers employees from various backgrounds to build meaningful connections, effectively track their growth, and become future leaders, fostering greater diversity in leadership roles.”
Further information on the Crest Maritime Mentoring Initiative is available here.
