A partner Volvo’s HR team can rely on

3 mins read

For more than a decade, National Workforce has been embedded in Volvo Group Australia’s operations across NSW and QLD. But the strength of that partnership isn’t just measured in roles filled. It’s reflected in how Volvo’s own HR team talks about working with the National Workforce team day to day.

We sat down with Donna McDevitt, HR Director at Volvo, to hear what the partnership looks like from the inside.

The challenge

Volvo needed more than a supplier that could fill seats quickly. In a large-scale manufacturing environment, the right staffing partner has to understand the business, its compliance obligations and its safety culture as well as Volvo’s own people do.

Donna’s team needed a partner who could operate as an extension of Volvo’s HR and operations function, not sit at arm’s length from it.

The solution

Over more than ten years, National Workforce has built exactly that kind of relationship. Donna points to a few things that set the partnership apart:

Deep business understanding. The National Workforce team knows Volvo’s operations well enough to represent the business accurately to candidates and act as a genuine advocate.
Compliance and safety alignment. National Workforce consistently meets the high calibre and safety standards Volvo requires of its workforce and its partners.
Consistent delivery. Roles are filled reliably and to a high standard, without Volvo needing to chase or double-check.
Care for people once they’re on site. Support doesn’t stop at placement. National Workforce looks after workers once they’re part of the Volvo team, which matters to Donna and her HR team.
Shared values. Donna notes that National Workforce operates on the same level when it comes to values, which she sees as central to why the partnership has lasted.

The outcome

Donna describes the relationship as a strong one, built on mutual understanding built up over years, and says Volvo hopes to continue that working partnership well into the future.

‘We’ve been engaging with National Workforce now for over ten years, and the relationship has been strong because they know us and we know them. They understand our business, which is really important for Volvo. They understand the competency and the high calibre that we seek in labour and are delivering on that consistently.’ Donna McDevitt, HR Director, Volvo Group Australia