Case study: How Attica Group promotes employee development
Operating 30 modern vessels in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Attica Group is the largest passenger shipping group in Greece, the third in the Mediterranean Sea and among the 10 largest in Europe. Attica Group is committed to cultivating a workplace focused on respect, equality, safety and merit, as well as offering training opportunities to its employees, in order to facilitate their personal and professional development.
This case study is based on the 2019 Corporate Responsibility Report by Attica Group published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Attica Group seeks to support its employees’ development through a wide range of training programmes Tweet This!, and cover job openings from existing employees. In order to promote employee development Attica Group took action to:
- implement an annual Training Plan
- apply a Performance Appraisal System
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Attica Group has identified;
- How Attica Group proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Attica Group to promote employee development
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2019 Corporate Responsibility Report Attica Group identified a range of material issues, such as passenger safety, CO2 emissions, responsible communication and sales, sea pollution, products and services quality. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for Attica Group.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Attica Group engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Employees
| · Events / Meetings · Training · Negotiations with Employee Unions (through Greek Shipowners Association for Passenger Ships – SEEN) · Corporate Intranet |
| Shareholders | · Shareholders General Assembly (annually/extraordinary) · Websites · Meetings |
| Customers
| · Qualitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years) · Quantitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years) · Customer Services Division · Websites · Satisfaction / Complaints Questionnaires · Social media · Information leaflets |
| Sales Network
| · Events / Meetings · Information systems · Travel agents’ online portal · Websites |
| Suppliers
| · Supplier evaluation · Meetings · Contracts |
| State
| · Discussion with representatives at local and national level · Meetings / Presentations · Participation in organisations and associations · Vessel inspections · Formal communication |
| Associations and Unions
| · Participation in associations · Meetings / Presentations · Discussion with representatives at local and national · level · Formal communication |
| Local Communities | · Qualitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years) · Quantitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years) · Meetings / Presentations · Local events and programmes |
| Citizens | · Qualitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years) · Quantitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years · Websites · Social media |
| Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) | · Collaborations · Meetings / Presentations |
| Media | · Press releases · Press conferences · Websites |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Attica Group engaged with its stakeholders through relevant surveys.
What actions were taken by Attica Group to promote employee development?
In its 2019 Corporate Responsibility Report Attica Group reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:
- Implementing an annual Training Plan
- To design its annual Training Plan, Attica Group considers identified training needs, responsibilities and requirements for every job position and changes in the shipping industry (e.g. legal framework). Attica Group delivers a wide range of training programmes and seminars for its marine and office employees each year, which indicatively include:
- Marine employees:
- Corporate Responsibility (e.g. responsible procurement)
- Foreign languages
- Safety and security issues.
- Response to pollution incidents
- Fire fighting
- Cleaning processes
- Office employees:
- Shipping
- Finance / Taxation (e.g. International Financial Reporting Standards)
- Management issues (e.g. Strategy, Corporate Governance, Protection of Personal Information, Human Resources, Internal Audit, Legal)
- Information Technology
- Marketing
- Foreign languages
- Safety
- Corporate Responsibility (e.g. environmental protection)
- First Aid
- Digitisation
- Cybersecurity
- Within 2019, Attica Group:
- Conducted trainings on its human rights policies and processes to 2 office employees, with a total duration of 80 training hours
- Conducted training programmes on Corporate Responsibility issues to its office employees, with the participation of 13% of employees, 92% of Managers and 96% of Directors and Top Management members, as well as to marine employees, with the participation of 1% of vessel Officers and 6% of Master and Senior Officers
- Included Corporate Responsibility issues in 3 in-house training programmes related to environmental management, responsible procurement and responsible communication issues
- Trained 10 marine employees on safety and Corporate Responsibility issues
- Conducted training programmes on digitisation with a total duration of 230 training hours
- Marine employees:
- Applying a Performance Appraisal System
- Attica Group implements a Performance Appraisal System for its office and marine employees, with a three-phase Performance Appraisal System for office employees to identify their strengths and areas for improvement and improve their overall performance. The Performance Appraisal System for office employees consists of 5 main areas:
- Performance Criteria
- Personal Objectives
- Performance Standards (one of which is Compliance with Procedures)
- Attributes (Common Attributes and Team Leading Position Attributes)
- Appraisal Summary
- Employee Professional Requirements
- Training and Development Activities
- Comments
- Performance Criteria
- At the same time, Attica Group appraises all vessel Officers and marine employees (including employees whose employment tenure onboard its vessels has expired) four times per year, in order to ensure efficient crew selection and proper vessel manning. The appraisal results are included in a relevant Report which is forwarded to the Marine Personnel Department and assesses marine employees’ performance, skills and diligence throughout their service onboard Attica Group’s
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee
2) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs
Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education
- Targets: 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
- Targets: 5.1
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.2, 8.5
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
- Targets: 10.3
Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.2, 8.5
Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
- Targets: 5.1
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.5
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
- Targets: 10.3
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Attica Group, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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