Will the yacht run aground? - Have I put the right people on the job?

A couple of years ago, I skippered a 52ft yacht with some ‘carefully selected’ friends around Croatia.  The reason I say carefully selected is that sailing can be a dangerous activity; you need to have a clearly defined leader and have people that, regardless of age or sex, follow orders, especially in a crisis.  Organisation and process are key so that you don’t kill each other. They also need to trust you; when you say ‘that water spout over there could very easily change direction and hit us, so put your harness on!’ You need to know that they will do as you direct. 

The trip had been fraught with challenges; although I had learnt navigation all the maps and radio announcements were in Croatian, which I could neither speak nor understand.  I had to go with my instinct a lot of the time which I am pleased to say was right more often than wrong.

We had engine trouble and eventually about 30 nautical miles from our marina were without an engine and under sail.  Night time was approaching and our help would not be arriving until the morning. The majority of the crew were inexperienced sailors, bar one other and things were starting to look a little grim; we scoped out a Bay to anchor in which was filled with other boats and short on space. The breeze was moderate but as those who sail will know, sailing into anchor with fickle winds is not for the faint hearted and a cool head was needed. I consulted the other experienced sailor and we briefed the crew explaining the difficulty and challenges of what we had to do. I told the girls that they were to remain down below, effectively and bluntly out of the way. I needed the guys’ muscles to whip the sails down as quickly as possible when told, to slow us down. Everyone was given a role and told it could change quickly, so to stay quiet and react accordingly when instructed. As we approached our anchor point, the winds changed and I was heading to shore quickly, the depth sounder was screaming out at us telling us that we were nearly going aground. At the last minute the wind changed and I was able to change course, lower the anchor at pace and get the sails down and finally, thank god, come to a stop. As is often the case with the sailing community, we had an audience and even received applause from the boats closest.  Unfortunately sounds travels really well on water! As my crew on deck sat down shaking and relieved, the girls leapt into action pouring everyone very stiff G&Ts.  They set ‘em up and we all drank ‘em! One crew member who had never smoked a cigarette in his life puffed his first - and last.

To me, this example clearly shows a team that was fully and unconditionally engaged; they were cohesive and supportive and all played their roles within the boundaries set.  This is the kind of team most employers would die for and one that all HR Managers should be finding for them. Getting the mix right matters!

Natasha Hawker owns Employee Matters Pty Ltd; an HR Consultancy that assists small to medium businesses with their HR functions to make them more efficient and profitable. Their offering includes HR Management, Recruitment, Training, Coaching, and Exit Management – find them at www.employeematters.com.au