When our relationship began, the client wanted to move their fragmented contractor base from across several different suppliers under one single supplier - it was taking a lot of time and effort to coordinate with the various suppliers and manage these relationships and the client’s supply chain team had specified that they wanted to take a step back from daily management in this respect.
The Aberdeen market was buoyant and very competitive at the time, so the once the initial contractor transition had taken place, the client needed a provider who would be able to attract the topmost in engineering and technical talent on an ongoing basis.
The roles our client needed generally necessitated a quick turnaround and they were conscious of market conditions and benchmarking against them.
As a well-known brand in Aberdeen offering competitive prices for market expertise, the client chose NES Fircroft for support with the initial scope of transitioning 60 workers.
The client’s ultimate goal was to streamline their process and cut down to a single supplier for more effective contractor management and spending transparency, at a competitive cost.
Our Solution
Drawing upon our decades of operation within the North Sea market, we appointed a dedicated discipline-specific Account Manager for the client to orchestrate our scope.
Our comprehensive methodology and real-time communication ensures that we built strong rapport with our clients, quickly, and develop a true understanding of their requirements to facilitate efficient candidate sourcing and a robust onboarding process. Over the last two decades our strong foundation has been built around transparency and trust, and consequently our partnership has continued to grow.
- We manage every aspect of the hiring process, from a vacancy first being released straight through to onboarding and the employee’s first days and months. We designed a specific onboarding pack for our client, which we send out to every single new starter.
- During the transition, we acted as the first point of call for all contractor and client queries and actively managed relationships between the client and workers effectively, to mitigate the effects of the transition and maintain a harmonious site environment.
- We hold regular onsite drop in sessions where we give the contractors the opportunity to have private one-to-one discussions, giving them a dedicated platform in which to raise any issues or concerns.
- We organise PPE provision, courses and travel when requested and offering online timesheets. These activities have removed the administrative burden from the client, saving them value time, resources, and money which they can now re-purpose elsewhere in their operation.
- We set up 2nd tier agreements with specialist agencies for niche and hard to fill roles.
We currently have in excess of 60 contractors on assignment onshore and offshore at any one time. At project peak we were responsible for 150 contractors.
The client has commented on the positive impact of our support, acknowledging that our service has removed significant pressure from their supply chain team and hiring managers, and made their lives much easier through no longer having to control a large and fragmented preferred supplier list.
Results
To this day, NES Fircroft acts as the point of contact between the client and the contractors. Our demonstrable strong relationship with the client’s supply chain team, hiring Managers, and contractors is evidenced in our growing recruitment scope and impressive contractor retention levels.
After the success of our initial scope, we became the focal point for their recruitment in a range of disciplines, from engineering, technical, wells and drilling to administration, IT procurement and commercial. The client has also enlisted our services in payrolling contractors which they have sourced, and in 2020, we were awarded a contract for the Supply of Permanent staff which has proven very successful with excellent feedback from the HR Team.