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Back in 2017, The Nordics’ leading IT consultancy services firm Bouvet (OSE:BOUVET) used a fragmented system of file shares and individual computers to store, track and edit CVs and case studies for bids. After evaluation of CV Partner by senior management and sales they came to the conclusion that CV Partner was the perfect fit for the company. CV Partner is today seen as one of the most important systems in Bouvet.
Bouvet are a Norwegian consultancy which designs, develops and provides advice on IT solutions and digital communication. Bouvet's workforce comprises more than 1 550 engineers, designers, copywriters, economists, political scientists, psychologists, educators and anthropologists who support companies and public players in every sector.
They provide solutions which contribute to stable energy supply, a more efficient public sector, more secure banks, a richer media picture, better health, safety and the environment in the oil sector, reduced administration for transport undertakings and an improved customer experience in the retail sector.
How did you work with CVs and Reference Projects before CV Partner?
Word documents on a file share (with some versions locally stored on individual computers) for each consultant. In addition, we had one large Word document with all references/case studies on a file share.
What were the challenges with the previous solution/workflow?
It was hard to know if you had the latest version available. It was difficult to search and we had no overview of skills, both on an individual user level and the aggregate. It was impossible to know “how many Java developers do we have” (tried to compensate with Excel sheet, but hard to maintain and keep up-to-date)
We had a template in Word, but as the template was passed around it was modified and as it was passed further down the chain the discrepancies between the original template and the version a specific consultant had increased.
Was using a fileshare with various versions stored on individual computers
”Quite frankly, CV Partner solved most of the problems and challenges we had with the old solution.”COO at Bouvet Øst, Anders Lennartzon
What features were you looking for in a new system?
We wanted something which was both user friendly and would allow to search for individual and aggregate skills and competencies within our growing database of 1700+ users. We also wanted each user to focus on the content and not the layout. This way they could not mess up the template. We also wanted a better way and workflow to create, manage and track references/case studies.
How was the decision process when deciding on CV Partner?
It was evaluated by senior management and sales that came to the conclusion that CV Partner was the perfect fit. CV Partner is now one of the most important systems in Bouvet.
What are the main benefits of the integration with your Intranet? And how are you using this?
The Bouvet Intranet is integrated with CV Partner. CV Partner is the source of data for people, skills and projects. From the profile pages for each employee (on the intranet) you can easily click to see the full CV in CV Partner.
Learn more about the Bouvet Intranet integration in this blog post
"We had no need for end user manual or training - the system is intuitive to use."COO at Bouvet Øst, Anders Lennartzon
How did CV Partner solve these problems?
Quite frankly, CV Partner solved most of the challenges we had with the old solution.
Were there any specific challenges to implementation?
The technical part was easy, we set up SSO and implemented our template structure. Our mentality was "Garbage in - garbage out". When we imported data, the variance we had before using CV Partner was exposed in the CV Partner master data tool. It turned out we had lots of redundantly named skills, and overlapping terminology. We decided to put in a big effort to improve the data quality, by combining terminology in all of our CVs and Case Studies.
How easy was it to get people to learn and use the system in the company?
We had no need for end user manual or training - the system is intuitive to use. We can focus on describing “how do you write a good project experience”/”how do you write a good CV”. We used the CV Partner feature "customizable help texts" for this. The rest of the user interface is self-explaining.
How does your proposal and bid processes look like now?
Finding the right skills/expertise is much faster, almost instant results when you start typing in CV Partner. We also have much better data quality which increases the chances of finding the correct person/consultant for the proposal/bid. Overall our content and templates have a higher quality (as you know you work on the latest/correct version of a CV and Case Study). Also our CVs and Case Studies are much more up-to-date and the consultants and bid team save a lot of time.
"CV Partner is today seen as one of the most important systems in Bouvet."COO at Bouvet Øst, Anders Lennartzon
What aspects of your business has CV Partner improved outside of the proposals process?
The consultants have improved the quality of their own CVs as they can now find inspiration in their colleagues’ CVs. The consultants take pride in having an up-to-date, well-written CV.
Other things you are positive or negative about and want to mention?
We are receiving great feedback from management and sales.
At Bouvet we measure the "happy factor" as we believe this will lead to happier employees and clients Satisfaction:
- The sales staff are in love with CV Partner
- Happy factor has increased/is high for CV Partner
CV Partner fits well into Bouvet's core values most specifically "Sharing" "Trustworthiness" and "Enthusiasm". We like the fact that anyone can search and see their colleagues skills and experiences, as it facilitates sharing of knowledge within our organisation. Further we want our employees to be enthusiastic about the things they can and learn while working for us.
"Support chat is very responsive. The CV Partner Customer Success Team is proactive and relevant."COO at Bouvet Øst, Anders Lennartzon
