MHR graduate trainees are joining us again this year as they complete their training and development programme. MHR supports organisations wanting to strengthen their business resilience and reduce their operational complexity with the easiest to integrate, adopt and use, secure, cloud-based HR, payroll and finance systems available. With a suite of innovative software solutions, built on the latest technologies and utilising their extensive partnership network, MHR gives a single joined up view across all HR, payroll and finance, helping customers to make data-driven decisions.
Based in Nottinghamshire, MHR is a financially independent, privately-owned UK business with a track record of innovation in HR and payroll since 1984.
Former graduate Alex Brown, now Product Manager at MHR, climbed aboard the Pelican in September 2022 and as well as fully participating in the crew watch routine, Alex acted as a mentor to under-18 youngsters on the ocean science voyage from Sail Training Ireland. Alex is by nature an adventurous and outdoors person and he saw this as an exciting and unique opportunity. Alex saw the trip as a chance to gain further experience in employability skills such as leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills, which mentoring brings.
Pre-voyage Alex was a little worried about what the weather would be like during his time on Pelican, due to the voyage dates landing in September. However, England pulled through, and it was stunning weather with blue skies, and sunshine!
During his time aboard Alex spotted a large amount of wildlife and he even spotted dolphins swimming in bioluminescence which is a really unique experience! For those of you that may not know, bioluminescence is light produced by a chemical reaction within a living organism. This means that when dolphins swim through it, at night, it gives the optical illusion that the dolphins are leaving behind them a bright glowing trail.
A real highlight of the voyage for Alex was admiring the stars and the galaxy during night watches. He said to the other graduate trainees that seeing the night sky like this was to view it from a completely different perspective than normal.
Another highlight for Alex was seeing the difference in the young people from the start of the voyage to the end. He saw this as the most rewarding aspect of his time on Pelican. Joining as a mentor encouraged the children to see him as a ‘brother figure’ and they would chat to him about topics such as career advice and open up about their life stories and future ambitions, using him for support.
Alex really enjoyed meeting young people from different cultural backgrounds which in his usual circumstances he may have not had the chance to ever experience. They brought a real mix of personalities. He saw friendships flourish with people who may not have previously been friends at school but without the ‘school hierarchy’, and being equal on the ship, quite literally ‘all in the same boat’, they became life-long friends. Alex recognised that some of the youngsters had never been away from home which could have resulted in them struggling, but he believes that through the whole sail training experience with so many different activities and responsibilities they coped well. Alex was a superb mentor on the voyage and would be welcome to sail with us again at any time, and he has a glowing reference from Seas Your Future crew members and Sail Training Ireland. It was a pleasure to have him on board.
Current MHR graduates Keava Johnson and Alice Featherstone are starting to prepare for their journey, when they will join Pelican during September as mentors on an Ocean Science voyage, and are both excited and thrilled to have been given this opportunity.
We look forward to having Keava and Alice join the Pelican in September.
For more information about MHR visit: www.mhrglobal.com
