Speak Up: Your stories

A key behaviour in our Culture Essentials, Speak Up, is about being open, honest and having the courageous conversations that we need to have to move forward. Having been recognised in our Q3 Culture Essentials Awards for speaking up, we caught up with Vicky Stevens, Duty Manager Home Port Operations, to find out why she spoke up and what happened when she did…

“It was 17:00 on a Saturday and a decision was made by the Iona medical team to unexpectedly disembark 40 guests due to COVID-19 close contacts. As it was the end of the day and the rest of the turnaround operation was complete, all ground staff had left, leaving just myself and my colleague Tom. I spoke up and asked for help as we simply didn’t have the capacity to be able to arrange the disembarkation and onward travel for so many guests on our own.

I spoke to my manager Janine and advised her what was happening. She contacted Dave Varty, the Incident Commander on call, and a Level 3 Emergency Response Operation (ERO) was subsequently called. I sat on the ERO meeting and explained the situation we were in. The ERO team then managed the situation whilst I was able to manage the terminal operation, and our colleagues onboard Iona advised the affected guests.

With the help of volunteers coming to the terminal to act as ground staff, we were able to disembark the guests quickly and efficiently, arranging over 20 private taxis to get each party home. Iona then sailed with a small delay of just one hour.

If I hadn’t spoken up this outcome wouldn’t have been possible. Everyone in the ERO team were great, the volunteers who came down to the terminal last minute on a Saturday evening were brilliant, and a special shout out from me goes to Kat Raynsford and Sam Cox who sourced and arranged the taxis for the guests to get home. It was the perfect example of working together as a team to create a successful outcome.

My experience of speaking up was nothing but positive and I’d encourage all colleagues to do so too. Not only did it solve an immediate issue but it was also really beneficial as we now know we can get additional support when needed in the future.”

Thanks Vicky for sharing your story and so brilliantly demonstrating our Culture Essentials, and thank you to everyone ship and shore involved in resolving this situation.

Want to Speak Up but wondering how to go about it, and what happens when you do? Read our article Speak Up: Why, what and how for everything you need to know.