Fuelling explosive growth at TenneT

Background

TenneT is a leading European grid operator (Transmission System Operator, TSO), based in the Netherlands, since1998. They specialise in designing, building and operating the high-  voltage grid in the Netherlands and large parts of Germany, and facilitate the European energy market. TenneT transport electricity over a network of approximately 23,500 kilometres of high-voltage connections, to more than 42 million end users, and are one of the largest investors in national and international electricity grids on land and at sea. With renewable energy becoming the most preferred source of power, TenneT have continuously been investing in building turbines and producing solar energy. Whilst doing so, they required the best technical talent to work on short to long term projects. Previous suppliers had struggled to find the right calibre of applicants, to thrive in a tech-based role in a flexible, innovative and everchanging environment. TenneT soon realised they needed more than just a supplier, but a talent partner to manage their recruitment and hiring processes and facilitate their company growth.

Our solution

By 2016, it was evident that TenneT were growing rapidly and as their projects were growing, Harvey Nash identified an opportunity to provide high-quality IT staff on a contract basis. Harvey Nash made direct contact with the hiring manager at TenneT to discuss bespoke solutions for sourcing the highest quality and best-fit candidates to work on flexible projects. Our unique approach and large network of candidates led to TenneT partnering with us for their tech recruitment. During this period we liaised regularly with the client and a number of suitable candidates within our extensive network. We visited the project locations to learn and better understand how TenneT operates. We also built a strong relationship with TenneT’s internal HR and Recruitment teams, to create an engaging and effective hiring process for candidates. Over a short time, Harvey Nash immersed themselves into the processes, culture and people in place at TenneT, in order to meet all of their requirements. By 2017, Harvey Nash had expanded their team to mirror the growth of TenneT and were also able to shift their focus towards hiring for TenneT’s engineering team. This was a turbulent period of change at TenneT, but with excellent communication, robust processes and perseverance, Harvey Nash were  able to accommodate new demands and continue making successful placements. Since 2018, Harvey Nash have been specialising in hiring successfully for the TenneT Offshore projects, with a focus on land based grid maintenance & development projects.

Business impact

Harvey Nash currently have over 250 contractors running at TenneT, across a range of roles. We have not only become a preferred supplier of TenneT, but a partner with mutual respect and aligned values. We work together and have a common goal to continue growing. We have been trusted to manage the entire recruitment process, in relation to hiring external staff for TenneT. We have proven that we can continuously adapt to meet their external hire demands and facilitate their explosive growth.

We supply the following roles within TenneT:

- Project leads/Project managers

- High Voltage engineers (primary, secondary, overhead powerlines, etc.)

- Civil/construction/maintenance engineers Team leads

- Document control, cost engineering and planning GIS/GEO

- Contract Managers, Buyers Technologists

- Supervisors, Measurement Specialists, Technicians

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