I think that this issue is the biggest flaw compared SH 5 to previous entries. Actually SH 5 doesn't have a crappy crew management, it has no crew management. When playing the game, I usually forget this and it doesn't bother me. But if SH 5 had somekind of management system it would be pretty close to being just awesome subsim.
I really hope that someday one of the big guys gets time to look into this. I would be satisfied with relatively little: name, and picture of every crew member and list of their jobs. And most importantly: they must be able to be injured or even killed. And when this happens, the effectiveness (and morale?) of the crew is reduced.
If this would be possible someday, I would be a really happy sailor!