Northern Stevedoring Services has gone a long way to revamping its workforce.
It comes with five new faces joining the ranks of permanent stevedores. Joshua Nelsen-Waiwiri, Jon Harrex, Chris Roker, Peter Williams and Jayden Stephens.
Related: New Stevedore brings energy to the port
Stevedoring and Logistics Manager Scott Neame said age and experience were valued by NSS at the same time as the energy that came with new blood.
They brought a range of experience from long-time stevedores to builders and even managing cattle stations, Scott said.
All staff had the chance to contribute at different levels to making the company a better stevedoring, logistics and transport provider, he said.
“We look for leadership quality and an ambition to be a bit of a mentor to their fellow stevedores. They’re willing to help train guys and share their experience to others coming through.
“There’s also opportunity at NSS to progress your career into management roles like shift managers and, who knows, maybe general manager one day.
“A lot of them naturally have it. I must admit, this new group, they’ve all got a lot of promise. We want guys to possess a drive to be leaders and move forward, and part of that is embracing the people around them and bringing them along for the ride.”
The world of stevedoring was constantly changing, Scott said.
“There’s safety and legislation changes and technology improvements that create change in how we do the work and then just contractual and customer change. So obviously an open mind to it, a willingness to learn, and the ambition to be a leader and a mentor. They’re sort of things that we like to encourage our people to have.
“Congratulations to the new permanent stevedores. I think we’ve got five good blokes.
“I believe they’re going to do the company proud and I’m keen to see how they progress with their careers. I know there’s a real opportunity within NSS for motivated people to grab the bull by the horns and run with it.”
.