19 January 2022
True change, lasting change, starts with the leadership of the company. As your senior leaders, we acknowledge that instances of minimising or deflecting problems still exist here. As the people responsible for the company’s culture, this is on us, and it means that we have not yet done enough to address those shortcomings. The company recently pleaded guilty to a violation of probation for failing to establish an independent internal investigations program. We fully appreciate that it is our job to foster a positive culture and maintain Carnival Corporation as a great place to work. To achieve that, we need to listen to and act upon our team members’ concerns, so that our company can continue along a path of learning and improving our culture, operations, and compliance.
Our Environmental Compliance Plan is now less than five months from completion, but we will always be on the journey of continuous improvement. We are very proud of our global team and all the progress we’ve made together over the last few years, despite all the challenges associated with the global pandemic. Indeed, the amount of care and trust for one another that we’ve witnessed across our company is truly humbling and inspiring.
Despite our progress, we as your senior leaders have not yet achieved the changes in our company’s culture that we want to make. For example, we recognise that there have been obstacles to speaking up, such as fear of retaliation, disappointing a boss, perceived financial pressures, or a belief that concerns raised will simply be ignored. We, as your senior leaders, need and want to change that, and are committed to building and sustaining a culture where all employees on ship and shore can, with confidence and our full encouragement, raise any issues of concern in their everyday work. We need and want to sustain an environment where your concerns will be heard and respected, and the issues you raise will be resolved appropriately; to lead a culture that embraces and learns from investigations, audits, and other analyses and reviews as opportunities to fix and to grow from our challenges and your everyday experience.
We assure you that your concerns will be addressed if you bring them to the company’s attention through whatever means are most comfortable to you: your supervisor, HR, the Environmental Officer aboard your ship, or of course, our hotline. If you experience any obstacle in reporting your concerns, please don’t give up but bring the matter to the attention of a higher-level employee or simply call the hotline. As you know, we are conducting surveys regularly. We ask that you please participate and speak candidly. Your feedback is important to us.
Your senior leaders need and want to hear it all – the good, the bad, and the ugly – to truly learn, act, and improve. It is not okay for us, the senior leadership team, or anyone else, to minimise or deflect problems. If anyone at Carnival Corporation faces an obstacle to speaking up, we, your senior leaders, must do a better job supporting a more positive culture.
As you know, our highest responsibility, and therefore our top priority, always, is compliance, environmental protection and the health, safety, and wellbeing of our guests, the people in the places we touch and serve, and of course, each and every one of our team members ship and shore. Simply put, the behaviours that underpin excellence in honouring that commitment – Speak Up, Respect and Protect, Improve, Communicate, Listen and Learn, and Empower – are essential for our sustained success.
Thank you for your dedication and your ongoing efforts. By working together and supporting each other, the future of our culture and therefore our company is very bright indeed.
