Dean Hunter

After university I joined Grampian Police as a constable with the intention of moving into the recruitment and training team. But I wasn’t enjoying it so looked elsewhere for a more direct route into HR. Living in Aberdeen, the oil capital of Europe, I applied to every oil company in the Yellow Pages and soon began my HR career at Halliburton. Looking back, the police force was great for developing the interpersonal skills that are needed in HR.

A highlight of my career was the management buyout of Production Services from the parent company Halliburton in 2006. Having to integrate 6,000 employees into a new company was a big challenge. Another highlight was making it into this year’s Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies to Work For list. We have only been trading for two years and were the only oil and gas contracting company to be included. We have tried to do things a bit differently: we were the first company of our kind to offer a nine-day fortnight and flexible benefits.