Why Contractor Liaisons Are the Linchpin of Turnaround Success

In today’s high-stakes turnaround environment, contractor performance isn’t just a line item—it’s a strategic lever.

The efficiency, safety, and reliability of your contractors can dramatically influence the cost, duration, and success of your turnaround. While most organizations invest in pre-turnaround training—covering procedures, safety protocols, work standards, and cultural expectations—what happens during the turnaround is what truly determines performance.

At ALULA, we’ve seen firsthand that real-time oversight and behavioral guidance are the difference-makers. That’s where the contractor liaison role comes in.

The role that bridges strategy and execution

Many organizations rely on contractor liaisons—typically seasoned professionals temporarily assigned to support contractor crews. These individuals serve as the critical link between contractor teams and turnaround leadership. When well-prepared, they help contractors stay productive, safe, and aligned with expectations. They resolve issues, remove barriers, and reinforce standards in the field.

But here’s the challenge: technical expertise alone isn’t enough.

Are your contractor liaisons behaviorally equipped?

While most contractor liaisons bring deep craft knowledge, many lack the behavioral skills needed to guide, coach, and influence contractor teams. They may struggle to:

• Set clear work direction
• Deliver effective positive and constructive feedback
• Navigate conflict
• Reinforce safety and quality behaviors

And without these capabilities, contractor performance becomes inconsistent—leading to delays, rework, and safety risks.

What’s missing? Behavioral feedback and clear expectations

Improving liaison performance isn’t just about better onboarding. It’s about behavioral clarity and feedback. Contractor liaisons need to know what good looks like—and they need regular, actionable feedback to get there.

That responsibility falls to the turnaround supervisor. But here’s the rub: Many supervisors lack the time or tools to provide meaningful feedback. And their own behavioral coaching skills vary widely.

To close this gap, we recommend equipping turnaround supervisors with a simple, behavior-based performance standard.

Five critical behaviors of high-performing contractor liaisons

These five behaviors consistently drive contractor effectiveness in the field:

1. Steward safe work practices
   Participate in start-of-shift meetings, conduct safety audits, and model safe behaviors.
2. Gain in-depth knowledge of work
   Review work packages and walk jobs to understand scope and anticipate challenges.
3. Monitor field activities
   Follow up on progress, provide feedback, remove barriers, and ensure timely completion.
4. Provide high-quality turnovers
   Communicate job status, next steps, and roadblocks—both verbally and in writing.
5. Verify post-work completion
   Confirm that all work package requirements are met and the job is mechanically complete.

With these standards in place, turnaround supervisors can onboard liaisons more effectively, coach them in real time, and deliver meaningful performance reviews post-turnaround.

The bottom line

Contractor performance is a behavioral outcome. By investing in role-specific training, clear expectations, and consistent feedback, you create the conditions for safe, efficient, and high-quality work.

Let’s talk about how ALULA can help contractor liaisons.

Next in our turnaround series, we’ll explore how core team meeting behaviors shape turnaround outcomes—and how to make those meetings matter.