Citec today has operations in eight countries across the world. As a services company within engineering and technical documentation, we have developed a strong capability of working virtually since many years and the outbreak of the COVID-19 situation has undoubtedly accelerated the development further.
The attitude towards working from home offices changed. We have also realised, that customer acceptance of working with broad multi-cultural teams, that are not working at a certain physical location, has grown. A clear majority of customers today accept that expertise is delivered virtually and from different countries, as long as the same quality level is achieved, and communication works seamlessly. This trend supports our global operating model perfectly.
Citec has used this as a new opportunity for matchmaking between competencies and jobs. Effective matchmaking of competences is crucial for maintaining a high service level, especially in these times. Through our virtual resourcing tool, the Citec Work Exchange, we systematically announce and match available project work with available expertise. Through the tool, we have a solid and global 24/7 visibility of additional opportunities in our customers’ needs.
“The advantage with Citec Work Exchange has been clear for us in Norway”, says Espen Berg, Managing Director, Citec Norway, and continues: “Many of our customers are fully ok with the fact the engineering design is carried out from different locations and not necessarily from their offices. We actively offer our experts’ competence, and a majority has been approved by customers. On the other hand, we received some interesting customer orders and found experts from other Citec countries to our project teams – this works both ways from a country perspective”, says Espen.
Also, from the internal competence point of view, activated rotation and development opportunities are seen as positive. Our customers benefit from new competences and our staff learn new skills. Annette Hofmeister, Senior Project Engineer, based in Oberursel, Germany, likes the new opportunities as she works with a customer project in Norway: “I have previously worked mostly with one customer during my career at Citec. For approximately five months, I now have been working with a new project within onshore LNG, where my responsibility concerns estimations for automation and instrumentation solutions. The feedback has been very positive, which is very encouraging for me personally”, says Annette.
Some match-making even lead to fixed solutions. Åsa Dahlgren, who previously worked within Office Services and as Management Assistant, was permanently transferred to a new team as the business opportunities grew fast there. Åsa works as Documentation Coordinator in Technical Documentation & Digital Solutions, a unit consisting of approximately 130 employees, and is involved in supplier document management for one of Citec’s largest customers. “I enjoy learning new things and feel great with my team colleagues, who have helped me a lot in the competence transfer and induction. Although many tasks are totally new, I have benefited from my previous long Citec background and strong language skills when I entered the new job”, says Åsa Dahlgren.
“Through crises, you may pick good things, too. For us a strong global corporate “One Citec” culture has been a positive driver for more collaboration across borders during challenging times. We have nurtured our joint strengths and empowered people to even take new career moves”, Chief Development Officer Laura Kauppinen concludes.
Read more about Citec’s offerings here.
