Background

Established initially in 1999 as a division of the Katsushio Group, Katmex is now a solely owned UK SME and is part of the Katmex Holdings Group. With the capacity to process 2500 tons of steel per month, Katmex has built key relationships with several NEAA member companies including Tier 1 leader Komatsu UK.

Due to an increasing skills shortage in the area and service levels from previous workforce suppliers dipping in quality, Katmex identified a need for the right recruitment partner for their production and skilled workforce.

In recent times Katmex found themselves spending a lot of time and also money on training new personnel only for the retention rates to be poor across its production workforce. This was becoming an issue for them as workloads increased and supervisors found it difficult to plan due to an ever changing and unbalanced team.
Katmex needed a specialist recruitment partner that understood the industry and its fast-paced nature, one that appreciated the level of candidate expected at Katmex and also one that could deliver candidates who they could invest in long term. RMS was identified as a leading business in the North East and was challenged with improving retention rates and also the calibre of candidates provided.

Approach and Solution

After meeting and engaging with discipline supervisors and management at Katmex to understand their requirements, RMS assigned dedicated REC and CIPD trained account managers in order to establish a personable and trusting relationship.

Outcome and Advantage

• Engaging with RMS has enabled Katmex to access a higher calibre of candidate.
• Onsite inductions lead by RMS dedicated account managers has improved communication.
• Reduction in their skills gap leading to an increase in their ability to succession plan.
• Turnover of shop floor production employees has improved.
• Increased retention rates has enabled more stability.
• RMS have become Katmex’s preferred partner for production and shop floor recruitment.