Citec’s Competence Tool is an example of how digitalisation is put into practice – a real-time database showing the skills and expertise Citec has available.
Voices about Citec Competence Tool
Mikael Strand, Managing Director, Citec France
“The Citec Competence Tool enables us to serve customers better, as we can answer their questions more rapidly and accurately than before. I use the competence tool a few times a week, whereas my sales team uses it daily. It saves a lot of time when you can find out things by yourself instead of bothering your colleagues with questions.”
Ralf Petell, Manager, Business Development
“This is a really good tool that gives you an instant answer when you are looking for a certain kind of competence. I often use it myself when writing offers or when customers ask for certain competences. The Citec Competence Tool saves a lot of time compared to the earlier situation, where we had to make phone calls and write e-mails in order to find out the same things that are now just one click away.”
Mikko Juopperi, Director, Project Delivery
“I find the Citec Competence Tool particularly useful when looking for special competences outside our normal business segments, or when looking for certain combinations of competences. Another useful feature is that the tool reveals expertise that our employees may have gathered prior to their Citec careers. Moreover, the tool also gives us a hint of competences that we may lack at the moment, but which can and should be developed. The competence of our staff is after all the product we sell, and this tool enables us to make use of that competence in a more efficient way.”
Previously, when Citec was a smaller organisation, everybody knew each other and were aware of the different competences that the colleagues had. However, as the business grew and became more global, it became evident that a new method for keeping track of the expertise within the organisation was needed, especially since the information was spread out across different countries and departments. The traditional way of writing offers – that included a lot of e-mailing and phone calls – was no longer sufficient or efficient.
To address the new business needs, a project was initiated by HR Director Katarina Westerén-Hagnäs. As a result, in early 2015 the Citec Competence Tool was launched – an easily accessible database covering the competences of all 1,300 Citec employees.
This user-friendly tool allows anybody within Citec’s organisation to search for different skills and proficiencies according to various criteria, such as expertise area, language, country, project experience or special certificates.
Every employee can update their own information, and whenever needed, the tool automatically generates CVs in Word format. In addition, the tool covers information about subcontractors and other external parties.
Today, the competence tool is used globally by the whole organisation, and both the project development organisation and sales personnel benefit from it in their daily work. A sales rep visiting a potential customer, for example, can now provide a fast and efficient service by immediately checking whether a specific skillset is available. And to support sales and business development even better in the future, the tool is being further developed to also cover complete project history in a searchable format.
