E3Round UP – Oilgear
Oilgear is a hydraulics company which design, manufacture, assemble, test and commission complete electro-hydraulic components and systems including pumps, valves, manifolds, and hydraulic power units.
These components and systems serve a wide range of applications within the subsea, oil, gas, marine, metals, energy and civil engineering industries including motion compensation, blow out prevention, marine steering and propulsion, suspension bridge control, descaling, open and closed die forging.
Oilgear is an American owned company with a global presence including fully-integrated manufacturing, service and training facilities in Canada, Korea, Mexico, Brazil, China and Europe. Oilgear has 400 staff worldwide with 60 based at its speciality pump and valve centre located in Leeds.
The changing pace of the industry and the volatility of the environment in which Oilgear operates emphasises a need to evaluate a candidates character , experience, innovation and creativity on an equal ranking to their professional qualifications. Customers operating in hydraulic markets demand a competitive price and lead-time with best in class quality “as standard” with this in mind potential employees must demonstrate their ability to offer something that adds instant value. As a SME operating in a competitive arena Oilgear cannot afford to carry employees or to “make people fit” – it’s about much more than head count, Oilgear employees are required to make a difference.
Kieran Doyle, Managing Director and European Operations Manager talks about the company’s relationship with E3 Recruitment, explains why they are their preferred supplier and shares a success story:
Relationship History
“I have been working with E3 Recruitment since the agency began almost four years ago. Prior to this I had worked with one of the E3 Recruitment founders and Director T racie Norton in various roles since 2006, so for 11 years we have learned to recruit as a team. This relationship has developed over the years and we have fine-tuned our combined recruiting methods progressing over the years from Blue Collar to White Collar and Senior Managers.”
The Working Relationship
“Together we attract and evaluate new recruits for new positions. T racie is very much involved from the start of the process with all key Oilgear decision makers working with T racie to define the right role profile and the ideal candidate’s specification. Establishing the role profile is fundamental and the more thorough we are at this stage, the easier it makes the following stages. We do not have time to filter through mountains of CVs, or waste time interviewing unsuitable candidates. The combined E3R and Oilgear selection process has been developed, tried and tested over time to yield positive results.”
“E3 Recruitment recommended conducting verbal reasoning, personality profiles, and in some cases psychometric testing during the first stage of the interview process. This has proved greatly beneficial as sometimes highly educated people do not have the practical skills to adapt to the specified role. Recruitment is a costly exercise and takes a lot of effort so this is another way of ensuring we recruit the right person without waste. Recruitment and on-boarding effects the success and retention rate, so the entire process has got to be sustainable as many recruits do not deliver a return on investment for up to one year after appointment.”
Type of Roles
“When Oilgear first started working with E3 Recruitment the roles they recruited were predominantly Blue Collar shop floor craft positions including Fabrication/Welders, Machinists, Testers, Paint Sprayers, Mechanical Fitters, Manual Turners and Service Engineers. Steadily over time this has evolved into Blue and White Collar roles such as Buyer , Project Managers, Design Engineers, Service Centre Managers, Reception, Telesales and Purchasing Assistant, then more recently progressed to Senior Manager positions. We now have an established and proven method for recruiting Senior Managers with E3R having recruited our current Operations Manager , Engineering Manager , Quality Manager and Sales Manager .”
Why E3 Recruitment
“In my role as Managing Director I do not have the time to liaise with numerous recruitment agencies who all ask the same questions again and again and I have no time to write the roles. E3 Recruitment became our Preferred Supplier as they took the time to get to know our requirements, they explore every brief and a lot of time is spent looking into the potential and availability of the right staff. E3 Recruitment have a good track record and the skills and experience to develop their role as our chief recruiter . Externally the landscape has changed and Oilgear diversified the business focusing on different sectors including subsea, oil, gas, marine, metals, and energy – all of which E3R have experience of – so can provide the right people who can grow the business profitability .”
Success Story
“When I first joined Oilgear there was a high workload in an industry and business I was unfamiliar with. My first priority was to increase the workforce knowing very little of the role requirements. I reconnected with T racie at E3R who had a good understanding of hydraulic industry needs as well as my own requirements for character and personality . E3R provided seven people immediately including machinists, assembly staff and testers. This ensured the order was delivered on time.”
