SoilTech

Our Client

Founded in 2011, Soiltech is a Norwegian cleantech service provider specialising in the treatment, recycling and responsible handling of contaminated water and solid industrial waste streams. With a clear purpose to provide clean technologies for a greener future, Soiltech designs, builds, owns and operates its treatment technologies, providing services in close cooperation with the customer on their sites.

Soiltech has 100+ employees working with several clients worldwide, with headquarters in Norway and a strong presence in the UK and the Middle East.

Our Challenge

Unusually for most People clients at AAB, Soiltech already has an HR manager in place (based at HQ in Norway). But with no presence in the UK, they sought HR expertise in 2022 for UK-specific recruitment and employment.  They turned to the People team at AAB to set up a new UK entity and identify, locate and recruit UK-based North Sea offshore field personnel, including operators and supervisors. Ever since the collaboration began and now 9 recruits later, AAB continues to act on a retained basis as the UK recruitment and pre-onboarding arm for UK-based employees. An ongoing responsibility is to create appropriate salary and benefit packages for Norwegian recruits aiming to work in the UK and other overseas territories but who remain employed by a Norway-based company.

This HR collaboration is a unique set-up in that the onboarding process, the ongoing management of employment issues, the performance management and professional development are led by the Norwegian HQ once AAB has created the UK-compliant systems needed for UK-based employees. Once new recruits are hired, they go on to report to their Norwegian line manager.

Our Solution

Before recruiting could begin, AAB created a UK arm for Soiltech, registered in Aberdeen.  A complete HR infrastructure for Soiltech UK was introduced, putting in place employment contracts, an employee handbook compliant with UK legislation, a payroll process (managed by our dedicated AAB Payroll arm) and several other HR tools to benchmark salaries, make salary recommendations and create bespoke, competitive benefits packages.

In the first few months, AAB sought and recruited seven engineers for Soiltech UK. This involved creating job descriptions, identifying strong candidates, screening, shortlisting (and sometimes helping to interview) them and creating onboarding documentation once they were hired. In 2023, more engineers were and still are being recruited, and AAB has helped to create a performance management structure that works for UK employees.

AAB payroll, in particular, is closely involved with the practical management of UK personnel’s day-to-day financial needs, including the support and upload of all travelling expenses and changes and additions to contracts relating to benefits.

With deep knowledge, experience and expertise in the entire HR lifecycle, AAB acts as an always-there sounding board for Soiltech. Whether it’s about attracting and hiring new team members, developing their careers, managing their performance or managing their salary and benefits, it’s key to the relationship to have fresh perspectives and a reliable steer on the best course of action.

Our Impact

Soiltech’s VP of People and Organisation, Bente Skogen, echoes this last point:

“We have only a small HR team in Norway, and AAB are like an extension of our team. We see them as our colleagues and it’s an, friendly co-operation. I find the team very knowledgeable – they’re professional HR people and great discussion partners. I value their time and the way they’re into the details. If I have a question or an issue that needs help, they always respond quickly.”

“Michael has worked in Norway before, so he understands the nuances and country differences around workplace and employment, which means they can communicate appropriately with Norwegians planning to work in the UK. This is important because remuneration and employment trends are quite different here, and you can’t compare the UK and Norway without understanding why. AAB have helped us create competitive solutions that appeal to Norwegians working abroad.“

“It’s very important to us to have their immediate expertise on UK law, compliance issues and regulatory frameworks. We need to know that we have the correct pension schemes and insurance policies, for example. It saves me a lot of time to have that knowledge on hand, and it means expertise on laws and regulations are compliant”

“The People team is always there and they follow up well. I feel as if we are their only client even though they have several others. We recently gave just one week’s notice of a recruitment trip to UK and they arranged everything quickly and easily. We use their meeting rooms for interviews and are always warmly welcomed not just by HR but by payroll, finance and other departments too.”

“It’s also important to mention that this co-operation helps us live by our Vision, which is about delivering quality, acting with integrity and taking responsibility. We need their UK expertise to live this fully.”