OCS HR

The OCS Competence Management Module is flexible. It allows registration of competence requirements along many axes, including position, role, type of vessel, flag state, crew nationality, type of operation, etc. The user of the system can define how to cover the requirements by measures such as classroom courses, onboard familiarisation, eLearning, operations/experience, evaluations, assessments, health certificates, visas etc.

The present and future status of compliance can be presented for vessels/installations, automatically taking into account situations such as change of flag, moving operations between different jurisdictions and/or geographical areas, changing type of operations, or new customer requirements.

Employees can be booked directly onto onshore training courses from within the compliance reports, combining the competence status with the individual crew member’s schedule through the Training Booking module.

The system can be integrated with external training providers, and course calendars are then loaded automatically into the standard interface. The system will propose candidates for training based on compliance gaps, availability of crews for training, and planned classes. All familiarisation programmes and eLearning courses in Trainingportal can be booked directly/automatically if personnel are non-compliant.

The Travel Booking module uses crewing rotation plans and rig operation schedules to facilitate and manage travel arrangements in one integrated solution. The crew coordinator is automatically presented with the information required to request travel booking from one of the integrated travel agencies.

When travel is ready, the arrangements will be sent to the employees directly from the system, attaching important documents such as ‘Letter of guarantee’ if required. The system also presents important information about the validity of an employee’s passport and required visas for travel.

The OCS HR suite has a comprehensive payroll module that enables the easy set-up and calculation of payroll for office-based and vessel-based employees. The solution handles multiple currencies and global payroll and has the major advantage of containing all data required to run complex maritime payroll in one solution.

Payroll has the following functionalities:

• Run payroll based on activities or employee registration of working hours
• Create several sets of pay scales and pay elements
• Generate bank files
• Integrate with ERP solutions and accounting systems

Payroll contains country-specific tax deduction and templates for reporting to authorities for Norway, UK, Denmark (DIS), Philippines and Singapore. Other rule-sets can also be applied.

Because the OCS system incorporates all major employee data and the actual working schedule, the payroll functionality is well suited for outsourcing purposes.

OCS HR Self Service connects employees directly to the OCS HR system, providing access to all relevant information about their employment and ongoing activities. Central to the development of this solution is to give employees access to many of the functions normally assigned to the HR department. In addition, the Self Service functionality brings in the important element of empowerment; giving the seafarers control over important aspects of their role in the company.

OCS HR Self Service enables the following:

• Managing personal certificates and information regarding qualifications
• Booking courses
• Career planning
• Access to procedures and guiding documentation
• Registering of working hours and overtime
• Turning in travel expense reports

Sailing supervisors can use the interface to undertake administrative tasks such as evaluating their employees, monitoring the crewing situation and competence compliance of their vessel, and managing familiarisation programmes.

The Self Service system can be accessed on every computer with internet access, as well as from smartphones and tablets.

The personal data stored in the HR suite is accessible for employees through the Self Service Solution. Employees can view and change personal information. The functionality complies with the GDPR regulations, supporting the employee’s right to view the personal information that the HR system stores.

OCS HR Crew on Board (COB) is an HR system aimed at covering the Master’s HR management needs.

COB meets the needs for crewing and the payroll application onboard the vessel. This solution has a database onboard and is not dependent on continuous online access. Data is replicated back and forth to the main HR database onshore when a connection is available, and the replication is built to suit low bandwidth requirements.

The main purpose of the system is to streamline the ship officer’s administrative work tasks by offering a complete system that enables automation of work processes, is user-friendly, and has an intuitive design. This ensures that the focus is on operations and safety. The application has been customised to fit the crew’s way of working, meaning that training is rarely needed for the users on board.

The system offers a comprehensive range of set-up options according to the customer’s requirements, enabling ease of access for the on-board user.

COB enables the following:

• Planning of operations and checking of schedules against work/rest time regulations
• Managing Emergency Response teams, and maintaining records of planned exercises and drills
• Managing cabin set-ups
• Maintaining an updated POB list
• Producing helicopter manifests
• Complete control over the vessel’s cash account and slop chest
• Preparing all of the necessary papers for a port clearance

OCS HR Talent Management provides continuity in key positions by identifying and securing talent in your organisation.

Use the power of the OCS HR system to coordinate the entire talent management process. Set up training programs, define the required competence for positions and create workflows.

Evaluations and appraisal processes develop employees and ensure their skills are fully utilised. Identify requirements for future recruiting, training and career transition.

OCS HR Talent Management is designed for mature organisations that require advanced HR functionality, strategic development or increased operational focus.

Talent Management is available as a standalone module that can be purchased in OCS HR. For implementation, the module requires OCS HR and OCS SelfService.

Identify the need for competence

• Analyse gaps between current and future requirements
• Identify key positions for safety and value creation
• Link career plans with the company's future needs, using the appraisal process

Manage the appraisal process

• Set up workflows involving all personnel in the process
• Tailor templates used in the process with different forms for different parts of the organisation
• Employees, Supervisors and onshore HR departments can collaborate to create an appraisal process
• Set action points and individual development plans

Make career plans

• Set up and maintain individual career plans
• Identify training and experience needed to achieve a promotion or career transition
• Set individual criteria for promotion and follow up through a system of evaluation, training and recorded experience
• When ready for transition, the employee is available for automatic selection in the crew plan system

Evaluate & Assessment

• Combine assessments with an appraisal process
• Select evaluation items to attach to specific workflows
• Potential to self-assess

Integration with other OCS HR modules

• Use together with the OCS Crew Planning and Competence Management modules. Information in one module can be accessed in other parts of the system to automate work processes and cut costs.
  

OCS HR Crew Deployment allows complete control of forthcoming personnel requirements.

Identify crew members with the right competence for an assignment and make cost-effective resourcing choices.

Receive early notification of resource issues and the need for recruitment.

Generate short- and long-term employment contracts and have them approved electronically.

Share crew change updates externally with agents and 3^rd parties.

Overview of crew requirements

• Produce detailed lists of forthcoming crew changes and other personnel requirements
• Find the best-suited crewmember to fill a position
• View payroll key numbers to pick the most cost-effective person for a job
• Search available employees within selected groups

Contract crew electronically

• Create letters and contract templates in the system
• Sign contracts using stored signatures
• Issue contracts directly from the system and have them signed by the crew member electronically

Issue deployment information

• Issue pre-made templates as: letter of guarantee, mobilisation letter, travel instruction, employee information to agents and others at own choice
• All letters can be merged together as one document

Administer the mobilisation process

• Monitor personnel requirement in different projects and on vessels
• Find available personnel with the required competence and experience
• Create and distribute mobilisation letters
• Track personnel's acceptance of the mobilisation

Integration with other OCS HR modules

• The Crew Deployment module can be used together with the Crew Planning, Travel Administration and Competence modules. Data can also used to generate payroll and tax deductions. Information in one module can be accessed in other parts of the system to automate work processes and cut costs

OCS HR Candidate Registration is a recruitment module with extended functionality. Designed for businesses that use short-term contractors and with large amounts of administrative work for deploying personnel to vessels, such as ship owners and crew management companies.

The shipping industry is experiencing an increasing turnover of employees.

Skilled key workers are shifting more frequently between ship owners and companies are using more short-term contracts for large groups of seafarers.

Use OCS HR to define the job requirements, create the advertisement and post on your company's website.

Candidates can register and maintain their personal profile and availability to the resource pool. Their competence is entered and managed on an external database and without the need of an employment contract.

Manage the interview process and communicate with the candidate through the portal, checking references and competence. Review the candidate's self evaluation scores, fill out an evaluation form and get a total score to assist the selection process.

Inside OCS HR the pool of candidates can be used to select available seafarers with the right qualifications. Choose specific vessels and time periods and search within the candidate base. Reduce the number of hits by narrowing down to only candidates that have logged in recently and use the power of OCS HR to compare competence profiles against requirements.

When candidates are identified, OCS HR can employ them and control the onboarding process by verifying all certificates and qualifications. If the candidate has been contracted before, view only updated/changed certificates. Candidates can actively update their details between contracts. When on contract, candidates will use Self Service to communicate with their employer and update their details.

OCS HR is recognised across the maritime industry as a leading solution for the management of complex working patterns. While the Crew Rotation module addresses the needs of ocean-going ships that may be operational with the same crew for several months, the Hourly Shift Planning module allows crew managers and masters to plan activities for the workforce across shorter periods of time.

Hourly Shift Planning is highly effective for vessels such as ferries, yachts and other passenger ships that are not undertaking long journeys so have more frequent crew rotation needs. The module enables automated activity planning processes and provides a centralised view of how a vessel’s operational and compliance requirements measure against crew on board.

A decision-making partner

It is a valuable tool to aid the decision-making process for governance outcomes. For example, it will eliminate situations where seafarers work additional hours in breach of local and international working time directives, but gives the master flexibility to override those where there is a critical need, such as performing a fire drill.

Automated processes to enhance compliance

Managers receive instant notifications of gaps in compliance, allowing immediate reaction to rapidly emerging situations where, for example, a seafarer is suddenly unavailable to work their planned shift. This ensures that appropriately trained, competent and certified crew are on board at all times and that safety is never compromised.

Flexible management and set-up

The set-up of the system is extremely flexible and provides greater access and visibility. It can be configured so that alerts are received by both crew managers on shore and the master on board, so meeting regulatory requirements remains a priority even outwith normal office working hours.

Making operations more efficient

Driving efficiencies is at the heart of the solution. Automation vastly reduces the administrative burden that is created by crew rotation micro-management, freeing up staff to focus on other activities. The centralised overview allows managers to establish the most appropriate route to organising a compliant vessel while utilising the most cost-effective crew. An integration with payroll ensures that crews are paid accurately and on time, reducing the risk of over or under payment.

Empowering seafarers

The Hourly Shift Planning module also focuses on empowering the workforce – a hallmark of the entire OCS HR suite – and giving seafarers more control over managing their schedules. The module is cloud-based, meaning that personnel can access it 24/7 through any internet-enabled device. This allows crew members to log in at any time to check future shift rotations, request changes, log absence or show availability for additional shifts.

Insights allows for the visualisation of data streams in interactive dashboards, which helps our clients to make better-informed decisions about their business operations. A reporting tool using Microsoft Power BI, Insights automatically consolidates data from a number of different sources in OCS HR thereby reducing the amount of time and effort required to carry out this exercise manually.

The cloud-based tool allows users to stream business data in real time and from any internet-enabled device. It is a simple, user-friendly system that can be utilised by all departments across a business that rely on accurate data to make strategic decisions on workforce mobilisation, resource allocation, operations and revenues.

Users do not need to have any knowledge of how to operate any element of OCS HR, as the dashboards are separate from the software. Five data dashboards are currently available:

• Who is onboard: view who is on board each vessel on specific dates
• Crew information: view past and present crew activity analytics
• Full-time equivalent: view an analysis of the sailing days per year, vessel, rank and nationality
• Monthly report – sail days: compare sailing days of the current year to previous years per vessel and rank
• Sick leave: view the sick leave days per department, sickness type and rank

It is possible to adjust the standard Insights platform, with options to create bespoke reports specific to individual businesses and to request more frequent updates beyond the standard once daily frequency.

Trainingportal is an extremely versatile LMS system, allowing distribution of training modules and competence verifications trough a live web portal or an offline vessel-based solution. Ready-made maritime and oil and gas training modules can be distributed to cover competence requirements. Self-made familiarisation programmes can be set up and maintained by the individual vessel. Trainingportal allows onshore management to send out information and corrective measures to groups of employees at very short notice, and allows the tracking and monitoring of compliance in real-time.

Trainingportal is closely integrated with OCS Self Service and the competence management module in OCS HR. It can also be integrated with other external HR systems. A large marketplace offering relevant eLearning courses and classroom training is available.