Reached 900 employees

Published: 09.01.12 in Grannar (Etne and Vindafjord, Norway)

Elin B. Øvrebø

This Christmas Omega welcomed employee number 900 to a company that hasn’t set aside a single penny for marketing.

Facsimile Grannar 09.01.12

This Christmas Omega welcomed employee number 900 to a company that hasn’t set aside a single penny for marketing. "There is no need for that," Chief Executive Officer, Petter Aalvik suggests. A good reputation, happy clients and employees are however crucial.

“The most important things for us are good references and recommendations. This applies both to the services we deliver to our clients and when recruiting new employees," says Aalvik.

Recruiting on recommendation

Omega has advertised their available positions on only a few occasions, often in regard to local positions, and the results have been relatively weak. Instead they recruit via their own webpages, through references and recommendations, and make use of their extensive welfare system, Advantage.

“Firstly, we have a staff of skilled employees, which makes Omega a popular and interesting place to work. When employees tell people how they enjoy working here, this results in others being interested in working here. We also recruit a lot of people based on recommendations from our own employees. Our employees are important ambassadors for us. Also, many people perceive us as an appealing workplace as we have interesting job opportunities and career possibilities in a company that is growing rapidly,” Aalvik says.

Terje Aarekol is a Consultant Manager in Ølensvåg.
“The majority of our employees in Ølensvåg are from this district. We can't deny that we know many of them before they start at here and have followed their progress. Many have moved back home to come work for us, but amongst our employees there are also people from many different countries,” says Aarekol.

“But many of the new employees come from positions in the municipal administration?”
“We hire people from many different backgrounds and it is not surprising that some also come from the municipal administration seeing as this is such a large workplace here locally,” Aarekol says.

Reaching 1 000

The Omega growth is evident in Ølensvåg. With 900 employees, space is in short supply, even though the office building was expanded not too long ago. “We now utilise every available corner for office space in order to find a place for all the people we need. We have to expand, but that will not happen until after 2012,” Aalvik says.

At the same time as they’re lacking space, Omega has more than 200 available jobs they are hoping to fill all over Norway and around the world. The 1 000-employee milestone would have been reached already, had available candidates been available.

”The number 1 000 is not important for us to focus on, even though we will reach it soon. To us it is all about solving the tasks we have now and in the future in a good way,” says the CEO, who is optimistic about the future. “We have had solid growth this fall, and there is optimism in all of our departments. The future looks promising. Our clients believe in a stable oil market, even if the crisis in Europe might be a potential threat.

”Bull’s eye”

Grannar got to meet the latest additions to the Omega staff. Lene Aarekol (36), from Vikedal, had her first day in the Omega Administration Department on Monday. Morten Høiland (25), from Vikedal, started as a consultant on Wednesday, and in a week economics student, Gerhard Steinnes (23), will be Aarekol’s colleague part time in Administration.

Høiland finished his master’s degree in informatics this summer and has secured his first job relevant to his education.
”I am very happy to have secured a consultant job in Omega. I know many of the people who work here and they are all very happy about their workplace,” says Høiland, who thinks it is positive to have the opportunity to work abroad for Omega.

“I know Omega and have wanted to work here for a long time. Even if I am very fond of home, it would probably not be an option to live in Sandeid if I hadn’t found a job in the district,” says Steinnes, and Høiland agrees.

“It means a lot to be able to work close to where we live and avoid having to commute,” Aarekol says.