Driving innovation through a data-driven talent strategy

PGS is a global geophysical company with a simple mission; to support the search for affordable and sustainable energy for all. While the company’s primary focus had previously been in oil and gas exploration, this transition to operating in renewables such as offshore wind and carbon storage has been a recent one.

The new direction towards a sustainable future is hugely exciting for PGS, and technology will be a crucial element of the journey. Today, the company has cloud-based solutions for its entire value chain – from the delivery of real-time data from the seismic boats, to new algorithms for cloud-based processing, and the delivery of giant datasets to customers. This shift has had major effects on the mix of competencies in the company and, not least, the location of these competencies.

With 1,300 employees across 12 offices and eight state-of-the-art vessels worldwide, the company needed a robust skills strategy.

Support across the employee lifecycle

Cornerstone’s Talent & People Management platform supports the company's strategic HR processes throughout the employee's life cycle – from recruitment and onboarding, to talent development and administrative HR processes.

Insight-driven talent strategy

Staying ahead of energy industry trends is critical to the success of PGS – and with Cornerstone's in-depth analysis and reporting, the company could pivot its skills strategies to better align to changing industry needs. Having a deep understanding of talent competence is highly valued within PGS, and plays a critical role in keeping skills relevant, and the company competitive. With Cornerstone's Performance, Goals and Competence Assessment data, PGS is better positioned to make data-driven decisions matching shifting business focus areas.

Effective Process Automation

Since integrating Cornerstone, many of PGS’ HR responsibilities across recruitment and performance appraisal have been automated, allowing the HR department to instead focus their resources on strategic planning. Using purpose-built APIs, PGS has automated the entire onboarding process using Jira Service Desk. This automation includes management of hardware sourcing and delivery as well as Azure Active Directory automation.

AI-supported Skills Assessment

By enabling AI for skills assessments, PGS’ HR team is better equipped to make smarter, more strategic workforce decisions. This means talent within PGS are being matched with training, content, and opportunities that are more relevant to their career. Employees also benefit from greater autonomy in their learning journeys. They can feed their existing skills right into the platform, which then responds with targeted recommendations to develop new abilities based on each person’s unique input and aspirations.