Piriou: “The simulation method has allowed us to recruit differently” – Le Journal des Entreprises
In order to overcome its recurring recruitment problems in key trades such as boilermaker, welder or even pipefitter, the Piriou shipyard based in Concarneau in Finistère (700 employees in France, nearly €300 million in turnover in 2022) has decided to review his methods completely. “We called on Pôle emploi, which offered us the method of recruitment by simulation (MRS)”, explains Alain Le Berre, managing director of Piriou. “This is a method that has existed for many years but that we are developing and adapting to companies that contact us,” adds Frédéric Sévignon, regional director of Pôle emploi Bretagne.
24 recruitments out of 94 candidates
On the occasion of the maritime and river trades week which took place at the end of March, the shipyard explained the course of the sessions. “Pôle emploi teams have designed exercises to identify candidates, not skills, but abilities: finding their way around space, dexterity, etc., relates Dominique Kervern, director of human resources at Piriou. Everything works by analogy. An exercise consists, for example, of drawing lines in a box. This tests the ability to be a welder.” To situate the candidates, “a calibration was done with our employees on these same exercises to assess the minimum time and score.”
“In the fall of 2022, 94 candidates took these tests, continues the HRD. About fifty were selected for motivational interviews, still without a CV. Since then, 24 have joined the site on a one-year professionalization contract. This alternating with thirteen weeks in a company allows them to obtain a professional title, and if all goes well, a permanent contract at the end.”
“This method allows us to complete our recruitment. Like many companies, we have difficulty recruiting. We use temporary staff, the local network, but these sources of labor have dried up, notes the general manager. The idea of our HR team with Pôle emploi was to call on the MRS. These scenarios make it possible to detect people who have qualities that interest us: respect for standards, skills, teamwork, etc. This also brings us an audience that would not necessarily have dared to apply to us otherwise. They also have more varied backgrounds: we have taken on young people but also people in retraining.”
Motivated and curious employees
The method also requires a commitment from the business side. “We had to take the time to define the exercises. The difficulty was to find those that had points in common with our various professions in order to group the recruitment sessions, indicates Dominique Kervern. We then have to train the candidates we have selected so that “they pass the professional title. They have a tutor with us. The Region also plays an important role in financing training for the theoretical part.”
For Piriou, the result is very positive: “Things are going very well, explains Alain Le Berre. The hierarchy of these new recruits via the MRS is very happy. We have employees who are motivated and curious about an environment that they don’t know.”
