Good specialists are scarce.

It may be a cliché, but it’s one that organizations feel the pain of every day. They can’t get their project teams together on time, they compromise on quality, and they spend unnecessary amounts of money on all kinds of temporary employment agencies. Group Director Sales Thomas Wester and Commercial Manager Laurens van Bemmel explain how STAR gets the best specialists in the right place every day.

“Staffing can be a bottleneck for the success of projects.”

Powerwheel
It all started for STAR in industry. Since its foundation in 2001, the established staffing agency has pursued the following strategy: ensuring that the best people work on the best projects for the best clients. When you set that powerwheel, as they call it at STAR, in motion, it creates a self-reinforcing effect.

The result: in 2025, STAR, as part of The Specialist Group, will be the market leader in industry and sustainable energy, with over 2,500 specialists working for leading clients and on high-profile projects.

“A client like Gasunie knows that we have the best people working for us. And the best specialists know that we work for companies like Gasunie. That way, we can offer everyone continuity,” says Thomas.

The fact that the flywheel is turning does not mean that you can sit back and relax, Laurens explains. “We invest a tremendous amount of time in our network of specialists. We maintain close contact with them to know where they are, what they do, where they would like to work, and when they will be available again. So we don’t just sit around waiting for a request from a client. As soon as a request comes in, the best available specialist is already waiting in the wings. In quantitative terms, our database may not be the largest, but in qualitative terms, it is absolutely the best. People who don’t meet our standards are not included in the database. In that respect, we really believe that less is more. We want to know all our specialists personally and don’t boast about a database from which you will never place most people.

“We want to know all our specialists personally and don’t boast about a database from which you will never place most people.”

“Delivery is key for us,” adds Thomas. “It’s ingrained in our culture. If necessary, we’ll work through the weekend to ensure that the customer has their specialists on Monday morning.”

Consultants by discipline
The reason STAR knows the professionals so well is the way the organization is structured, says Laurens. “Many agencies work with consultants or account managers who mediate across all disciplines. One day they are looking for a work planner, the next day a planner or safety expert. We don’t believe in that approach, because it means you never become fully proficient in a discipline. We work with consultants who all have their own specialism. Not only do they know the field they are responsible for, but they also have a good relationship with the client and the specialists within that field. This means they can ensure a perfect match, not only in terms of professional expertise, but also on a personal level.”

Thomas adds: “At STAR, everything is focused on the customer; that’s what it all comes down to. If you look at the way we work, it reflects exactly how projects are organized at our customers’ sites. Our consultants focus on all roles in a project organization within their area of expertise, so that we can help our customers on all fronts. In doing so, delivering on our promises is paramount. And we strive for maximum quality in everything we do.

Thomas adds that STAR can offer this quality because it has a rock-solid network of project specialists and STAR only mediates on projects—we are not a recruitment company. “Our strength lies in projects. The client has a project to realize and needs good people (temporarily) to do so. We can solve that problem for them. Each client has one key account manager who oversees all projects and requests for that client. The account manager works with consultants who are highly specialized in finding the right people in our network. That part of the process is incredibly in-depth. Ultimately, everything comes back to the key account manager and the client. It’s a truly unique approach.”

Top level
While STAR is a well-known name in the world of sustainable energy, engineering, and industry, it is also entering the life sciences and infrastructure markets. This makes sense, according to Thomas, because there is considerable overlap between these different sectors. Many roles in industry—such as project managers, work planners, safety experts, planners, and constructors—are also needed in infrastructure and life science projects. And so STAR is increasingly placing specialists in these areas too.

However, Thomas says that STAR is not there yet. “Our power wheel is now running in multiple sectors, I dare say, but it is not yet at full speed. We are a reliable partner and often deliver. But we don’t know all the professionals yet. And when it comes to speed, we are not yet at our top level everywhere. In our traditional sectors, we always deliver suitable project specialists within 48 hours. But our goal is also to conquer other markets, and we are quite determined to do so.”

What do we do?
Delivering today what tomorrow demands. Since 2001, STAR has been connecting the best specialists to the most challenging projects and clients.