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AIDA as an employer

Finding and keeping employees: Success through teamwork

The AIDA values form the supporting pillar of our company culture, which rests on diversity, respect, passion and trust. We are convinced that only satisfied employees can greet our guests with the AIDA signature smile. Employee satisfaction is not only achieved through an attractive working environment, but also by being confident in one’s own abilities. We offer our employees diverse career options and promote their talents with suitable training opportunities for their personal and professional development.

The Top Employers Institute honored us as a top employer and the news magazine Focus designated us as the best employer in the tourism industry. Our corporate benefits also help to secure the future of our employees.

Occupational fields

Few working environments are as diverse and international as that of AIDA Cruises. We currently employ 8,000 employees from 40 nations, 7,000 of which work on board our current fleet of 11 ships and 1,000 at our on-shore locations. All of our employees are united by their common goal of giving our guests on board of the AIDA cruisers the best time of the year: their holidays.

As Germany’s cruise operator, AIDA Cruises offers a diverse and exciting work setting comprising more than 200 different occupations. Spanning an extraordinary variety, these occupations range from navigation and marine engineering to hospitality, gastronomy and guest amenities aboard the AIDA ships and IT, human resources, sales, marketing and finance on shore. Specialist and executive staff will find diverse entry-level opportunities and excellent career prospects. We further organize customized training programs to support the professional and personal development of our employees.

Applicants to our vacancies at sea or on shore have the opportunity to attend exclusive events such as the AIDA Applicants’ Days, AIDA Career days, job fairs and recruiting days to gain a first-hand insight into the respective lifestyles.

Our Career Days, or Applicant Days focus on jobs at sea and provide insight into what it is like to live and work on board a cruise ship.

Employee benefits

We offer our employees an attractive working environment with an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. In addition, we make it possible for them to achieve a good work-life balance. Employees can benefit from our varied AIDA leisure offerings both ashore and on board. We have also put together the AIDA Plus package, which features offers such as trips at employee rates, discounts on board, special conditions for sport, wellness, health and leisure activities as well as for affiliated companies. Other advantages of the AIDA Plus package include a corporate, employer-financed pension and employee bonuses.

Since 2006, the AIDA Crew Day and other special events have been held for employees on board. To honor outstanding service, the onboard Employee of the Month Program distinguishes crew members for their extraordinary commitment. This distinction is accompanied by a financial bonus.

We also foster the health of our employees by informing them about the benefits of an active and healthy lifestyle and providing incentives for recreation and exercise. Preventative care also includes check-ups with the in-house medical service and flu vaccinations. The annual health days with various workshops on exercise, fitness, nutrition, and relaxation are also a special event each year. The 2014 Health Day was devoted to the topic of “Healthy & Fit for the Fall” and was also held for our colleagues in Hamburg for the first time. The diverse range of offerings included everything from tips for maintaining and boosting performance, meditation and compensation exercises to fitness classes. Another highlight in 2014 was our offer to employees in Rostock to take an evening cruise on the Baltic Sea on board of the sail training ship “Grossherzogin Elisabeth” on various dates.

A family-friendly workplace is also part of a successful work-life balance, which is why AIDA offers its employees spaces for their children in kindergartens along with special conditions at childcare centers as well as vacation offers and flexible working hours. To ensure that our employees have unlimited mobility during their time off, we offer them the opportunity to rent bicycles free of charge after work hours and on weekends and encourage them to use especially low leisure time rates for the vehicles in our carsharing pool.

The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) goes into effect

All of the ships in the AIDA fleet were certified according to the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) by June 2014. The 2006 Maritime Labour Convention, enacted by the International Labour Organization, went into effect on August 20, 2013. The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, which is responsible for formulating and implementing international labor and social standards. The globally applicable minimum standards are meant to ensure the rights of workers and thus humane working conditions for everyone in the world. The MLC as well as previous ILO conventions lay the international foundation for labor law on cruise ships. The goal of the MLC is to provide international standards for the working and living conditions of seafarers. The regulations defined in it cover fundamental working conditions including healthcare, safety, minimum age, recruiting, accommodations on board as well as social security. They also guarantee appropriate living and working conditions on board. All of the flag states and home countries of employees are asked to incorporate the MLC and preceding ILO conventions into national laws.

At AIDA we were very glad to see the MLC go into effect around the world. The satisfaction of our guests – and thus the success of our company – strongly depends on the quality of work of our employees. Our motto is: “Home of the smile.” We can only live up to this motto if our crew is satisfied and highly motivated. From the very beginning, AIDA has been a pioneer in the industry when it comes to fair working conditions for our employees. AIDA, for example, allows crew members to enter the public areas for passengers and take advantage of our offers on board. The MLC standards and the demanded rights have been a standard practice at AIDA for many years. In many areas we even exceed them.

With the MLC, the fourth pillar of international maritime law goes into effect. The others are the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), the International Convention for the Prevention of Polution from Ships (MARPOL) and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW).

More information about the Maritime Labour Convention can be found on the ILO website (www.ilo.org).

AIDA Values

“We are AIDA” and “Home of the smile.” What exactly do these statements mean? Which values do they imply, how are these values lived out, and what is it that connects us in our everyday work on board and ashore? In an ever-changing environment, we want to use our “Value” project to answer these important questions and have revitalized our company values in 2013/2014. Our employees were instrumental in designing and directing this process. We held a total of nine workshops on board the AIDA fleet, in Rostock and Hamburg, as well as in our training centers in Manila and Goa to collect their ideas and opinions regarding values and modes of behavior in their daily interactions. The workshop results were subsequently integrated into the reorientation of our AIDA values. The research-based Corporate Energy Model was used for the evaluation. The four color fields, each of which stand for an aspect of the corporate culture, are characteristic for this model. The statements and opinions that employees shared in the workshops were analyzed and quantified according to this model. The AIDA Value Steering Committee then formulated the new values based on these results. The goal was to develop a concise and catchy mission statement. Since values mainly have to do with how they are actually practised in real life, behavioral descriptions were defined for each value. These substantiate the content of the values and clearly reflect the statements that employees made during the workshops.

The presentation of the new corporate values in early 2014 was followed by an internal engagement process in spring. This included townhall & department meetings as well as workshops and creative campaigns on board and ashore with the goal of giving life to the new values. In this process, the employees entered into a thorough discourse with our new mission and worked on how they wanted to implement the values in their own daily life and practice them as a team. The results were captured and exhibited on four posters for each of the four AIDA values in each department.

Integration of the AIDA Values into practice

Values need to be embodied. In order for us to keep them firmly instilled, they are going to be integrated into existing tools and regularly measured. The following steps in actively implementing the values were already completed or are planned for the near future:

Leadership workshops
Values live through the exemplary behavior of the managers. That is why we implemented the AIDA Values in 2014 with special leadership workshops, for example. Their objective was to instruct the AIDA managers in acting and leading with a value orientation in everyday work as well as stress situations and to motivate them to firmly establish these values in their own teams by setting an example.

Training Managers on board the fleet
We introduced the position of training managers onboard the ships in 2014. A total of seven training managers are expanding our employees’ advanced learning opportunities onboard. They offer language courses in English and German. The training manager also provides instruction in the area of guest services, sales and employee management. By creating the new position of training managers, we are responding to the desire expressed by the crew to improve their language skills and expand their expertise.

Training Managers on board the fleet

We introduced the position of training managers onboard the ships in 2014. A total of seven training managers are expanding our employees’ advanced learning opportunities onboard. They offer language courses in English and German. The training manager also provides instruction in the area of guest services, sales and employee management. By creating the new position of training managers, we are responding to the desire expressed by the crew to improve their language skills and expand their expertise.

Seniority Award on board of the AIDA ships
We introduced the Seniority Award in 2014 to pay tribute to our respect and appreciation of the service of longstanding AIDA Cruises employees as well as thank them for their loyalty and engagement.

Equality Program
As part of the equality program, training sessions on intercultural collaboration, diversity and respectful teamwork are being developed and implemented onboard by the training manager.

Crew survey
We have planned a crew survey for 2015 in order to solidly establish the company values and make them specifically measurable. Each crew member is invited to participate in the survey and give us feedback on the perception and implementation of the new values.

“We are AIDA“ platform
Our new platform for internal communication, the new AIDA Intranet, will start in 2015. It will be accessible to on-shore and onboard employees around the clock, including with private mobile end devices. The new Intranet gives our employees the opportunity to inform themselves about news from the company as well as the relevant subject areas and important projects. We want to use the new digital platform to promote interactions and simplify cooperation between individuals and specialized departments.

“We are AIDA“ platform

Our new platform for internal communication, the new AIDA Intranet, will start in 2015. It will be accessible to on-shore and onboard employees around the clock, including with private mobile end devices. The new Intranet gives our employees the opportunity to inform themselves about news from the company as well as the relevant subject areas and important projects. We want to use the new digital platform to promote interactions and simplify cooperation between individuals and specialized departments.

Furthermore, the AIDA Values were integrated as a fixed element in our recruiting processes, performance evaluations, beginner programs and all further management training.
The AIDA Value Committee directs and supports the further implementation of our values. The committee meets on a regular basis and also reports to the company management each quarter.

Awards as an employer

We continually invest in practical training and further education for our personnel and support motivated employees with potential in formulating their personal career plans. AIDA Cruises has once again been recognized for this by the international research company Top Employers Institute as the “Top Employer in Germany 2016.” Conducted annually, this study analyzes globally leading employers. Ratings are given for the company’s offers in the areas of human resources planning, training and career planning, executive development, compensations & benefits, corporate culture, and more.

AIDA has adhered to the highest standards in training for years. This commitment was honored for the seventh time in a row with the “Top Training Facility 2015” by IHK in Rostock. The IHK awards this seal of quality to regional companies that distinguish themselves with special initiatives for apprentices as well as continuity and creativity in career training.

Additional distinctions such as the Karrieremacher and Fair Company seals of approval further emphasize the work we do for our employees.

We are proud of these recognitions and view them as an further incentive to continue developing our personnel management.