72 four major challenges-cum-strategic orientations: customer experience, asset performance, effectiveness and efficiency, and maintaining services. A fifth pillar has been added to the upcoming strategic plan, which prominently features customer experience and asset performance once again. “We have to maximise the customer experience, but at the same time, we are poised to increase the onboard spend with higher sales from our in-house food and beverage outlets and onboard shops,” says Bédard. “STQ should become synonymous with a durable company that offers a customer service that is second-to-none. We continuously consult our customers and the latest customer experience survey shows an 82 per cent customer satisfaction rate and we’re aiming to reach 90 per cent. We are just below this threshold as we had some reliability issues with older tonnage, which illustrates why asset performance is equally crucial. In 2024, we managed to operate 94.3 per cent of the advertised sailings, but to offer an even more reliable service, we have started to focus on preventive maintenance of our ships and port infrastructure, especially when it comes to critical systems.” As Bédard explains, customer experience and asset performance are about much more than offering a reliable and robust ferry service alone. “Digitalisation is key to further improve the customer experience and it’s part of the modernisation challenge we have adopted in our new strategic plan. It’s all about real-time timetable updates and alerts, ticket purchases and a long list of other things that customers expect in the digital era. Our staff actively take part in this transition and are being trained to offer a better service.” Bédard admits that as a governmentowned company, it’s a challenge to retain these staff. “We have added employee experience in our latest strategic plan,” she says. “The problem is not to find staff, but rather retain employees as our average wages are below what the private sector offers. We therefore focus on the employee experience and their wellbeing. Many of our staff live in remote areas and one of the benefits we offer compared to other shipowners is a good work-family balance. We have also created the STQ Academy and have put safety and security at the heart of our operations. This is also part of a culture of health and a safety culture we want to offer them.” FEATURED INTERVIEW One of STQ’s 13 ferry routes takes passengers from Tadoussac to Baie-Sainte-Catherine
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