Ramesh Shivakumaran More Vital Port Management Concepts

Owing to the extent and complexity of operating ports, there are still remaining concepts Gulftainer Company Limited shares to its website guests who include owners, investors, workers and clients of ports around the world. These principles involve specific requirements for port managers to consider in operating port facilities. Gultainer’s almost four decades of experience in port management and interacting with other port management companies has allowed it to expand its own knowledge and capability in the industry.

Here are some vital concepts worth considering:

1. Understanding the responsibility for and nature of marine operations allows port managers to recognize the special skills needed to operate ports. Some of these particular tasks include conservancy, dredging, proper use of navigation aids, navigation control techniques and other functions related to the industry. One almost has to have direct experience in the tasks mentioned above in order to truly appreciate the value and purpose of these functions. Many, if not all, boat captains once worked as a young sailor or a first mate before given the daunting task of ship pilot. So with running ports; one needs to have his hands dipped into one of the menial tasks of the business first in order to fully understand the significance and importance of the whole operation.

2. Understanding the management of cargo operations on board and ashore will provide port managers a working knowledge of the dynamic requirements of the business. In connection with this, one also has to appreciate the vital importance of preventing traffic and cargo congestion within the port environment to achieve a smooth operation. Nothing can mess up a port more easily than the lack of coordination and loss of time arising from machinery breakdown and worker inefficiency. Maintaining a ship-shape company requires proper training and regular monitoring of employee skills and morale.

3. Fully understanding the value of safety management provides port managers the capacity to establish a risk-free environment for workers and clients. Use of heavy equipment and moving of large cargoes and transport vehicles require utmost care and skills on the part of operators and also managers. Working as a team, safety for all concerned will be achieved according to well-established safety measures learned and developed through many years of experience.

4. Completely appreciating the importance of security to prevent terrorism, illegal immigration, theft and smuggling reduces the occurrence of illegal and criminal acts perpetrated by insiders as well as outsiders. Such activities are deemed unavoidable in many port terminals all over the world. Syndicates thrive because corruption breeds among discontented workers and petty criminals among employees who may conspire with criminals or terrorists to gain personal benefits. Providing tight security protection and safeguards is demanded of port managers, without any exception or excuse.

5. Finally, port managers must understand the role of trade unions and other labor organizations including the ITF to be able to appreciate the needs of workers and their demands for certain benefits or concessions from the company. Bargaining with these unions and organizations fully armed with the facts and figures will help ease tensions and alleviate unprofitable work stoppages and violent confrontations which sometimes happen anywhere where there is labor dispute.

Gulftainer is aware of all the issues involved in port management; after all, it has been in the business for 39 years already. The social, legal, political and economic issues that revolve around operating these ports can easily beset and stall the unprepared, the uninitiated and the unappreciative company. All these dimensions exist because the company is dealing with real-life conditions that affect the survival of not one company or a few individuals but millions of lives located in many cities and nations of the world.

Ramesh Shivakumaran and Gulftainer has made it its business to provide service that covers and resolves all these issues for the benefit of all people concerned.

The Hiring Guru: Meir Ezra And "Good People"

Since releasing my book, The Naked Interview: Hiring Without Regret, I've spoken to many clients and business owners about the topic of hiring and retaining great people. One colleague I recently reviewed the subject with is Meir Ezra, a successful businessman and consultant, based in the Tampa, FL area.

Among his accomplishments, Ezra established and grew a company to $100 Million in revenues in just three years. He has a wide range of experience in many fields, is a successful inventor with several registered patents and has donated millions of dollars to charitable organizations.

Ezra intelligently pointed out that when it comes to hiring, many business owners overly concern themselves with finding what they refer to as "good people". He believes this is too broad of a general notion. Of course, it's important we work with good people, but in business, what we really need to have on our team are people who are productive, first and foremost.

Identifying candidates who will be productive on your team is critical to a successful hire and something I cover in Chapter 6: The Interview where I ask Has This Candidate Produced Results?

It is vital to check the candidate's ability to achieve results. Is the prospect able to translate his or her knowledge into definite results of value? You need to know about that person's earlier products. Then to effectively verify this, check references after the interview.

Another thing Meir Ezra emphasizes when it comes to hiring is how much responsibility there is on the employer to make sure the new hire is given everything they need to become a productive member of the team. This comes down to well-documented job responsibilities and effective training. Your new team member needs to understand not only what their job is, but exactly how to do it successfully. This needs to be drilled until they are competent and confident in their abilities. Furthermore, your new team member needs to understand the overall organizational structure, its purposes and goals and how they can best contribute to those ends.

Finally, like everyone in a successful organization, your new team member needs something to be measured by. Identifying the specific actions they are responsible for taking and what they need to produce is critical. This takes the guesswork out of productivity, giving your new hire and management the ability to quantify production.

Properly identifying successful candidates, training them, monitoring their statistics and optimizing production are areas I work on with many of my coaching clients on an ongoing basis. When all of these areas are carefully managed, the results are outstanding. Staff morale and retention increase dramatically and profitability is maximized.

I introduce how a standardized process can increase your results in this area in my free video series at HiringAcademy.com.

It's great getting input from successful businessmen like Meir Ezra and aspiring entrepreneurs alike. Please leave your own comments about hiring below, sharing things you've found effective or questions you may have. I read all the feedback I receive and respond as well.

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