Analysis of compensation management system for seafarers in ship management companies: An application of Turkish ship management

Compensation management is an important activity of the HRM. It runs through complete process of the HRM and it plays very important role in the activities of HRM. The role of compensation management in companies is to motivate employee, keep them in organization by enhancing loyalty to organization, attract and retain qualified employees and increase productivity of employees. To determine appropriate wage levels is the most important factor in compensation management system. Wage is a management tool that has to be used effectively in order to accurate objectives of companies and put costs at expected levels. On the part of employee, wage constitutes income and source of living and on the other part it is a cost for employer. In this study, compensation management system in Turkish ship management companies was focused on. Also, the factors, which are affecting to the compensation management system, were explored. The main purpose of this study is to reveal how the compensation package, proposed for seafarers, is formed by ship management company. For this purpose, a structured interview form was developed considering to the HRM literature and applied to the Turkish ship management companies? human resource managers in 2011. Considering to the collected interview data and the reviews of academics, questionnaire was developed. The developed questionnaire was applied in 2012 during the 17th Career Days of Dokuz Eylul University Maritime Faculty to the Turkish ship management companies? human resource managers.