During 2009 we contracted HRM Matters to develop a new Performance Development & Review (PD&R) Scheme for the organisation and to redesign our position descriptions aligning these with the new PD&R scheme. We found the consultants’ scope of experience was of significant benefit, and their knowledge, especially as it to pertains to Industrial Relations and Local Government, organisational development, organisational culture and Performance Management to be invaluable in this project.
The consultants were extremely approachable and able to communicate clearly regardless of their audience, and their sense of humour, frankness, professionalism, and flexibility contributed significantly to the success of the project. In the end this project achieved so much more than we could have anticipated or hoped for.
Since the initial project that we contracted HRM Matters to undertake, we have used the team’s services to run team development sessions, to provide advice on position classification, and to work with the senior management team to assist us with change management.
During 2010 Adelaide Shores contracted HRM Matters to design and deliver a tailored 360 degree feedback tool for its operational management team of 12.
I was very pleased with the HRM Matters team’s approach as they focused on developing a customised tool that drew on Adelaide Shores’ established leadership competencies. In developing the 360 degree tool and process for delivery, they were consultative and involved managers along the way, which greatly assisted with engagement in the process.
HRM Matters produced a summary report that identified and analysed key strengths and development areas of the management team by competency. Therefore, their process informed our future organisational-wide leadership development needs and implementation of a relevant strategy, as well as enabled individual managers to clarify a focus for their development goals over the next year – that linked directly to the competencies expected to be demonstrated by leaders in the organisation.
We were so pleased with HRM Matters customised and consultative approach to their work that Adelaide Shores re-engaged them a year later to provide 1-1 leadership coaching sessions to 15 managers.
I commend HRM Matters for their capacity to work collaboratively and flexibly with clients in designing and delivering organisational development solutions that directly link to enabling relevant leadership capacity and organisational performance.
I have worked with Veronica over the past 3 years. She had been engaged by the University to design and facilitate skills development for academic and professional staff managers and non supervisory staff, to support implementation of a reviewed Planning, Development and Review (PDR) Policy, that is, the University’s framework for planning and reviewing performance, learning and development objectives.
Her knowledge and facilitation approach were so well received that she has continued to provide PDR skills workshops as a part of the induction for new managers and staff new to the University.
With Veronica’s excellent understanding of the University environment, her ability to readily engage with a range of staff in this context, and her innate understanding around change, leading people and fostering excellent performance, she has successfully undertaken a range of other work across the University including:
- Working with a number of areas to build team leadership skills,
- Being part of the University’s panel of coaches to support leadership development at all levels,
- Undertaking an evaluation of the University’s PDR system,
- Undertaking a review of the Gender, Equity and Diversity Committee, and
- Facilitating a range of other workshops with senior leaders in the University.
My team and I thoroughly enjoy working with Veronica as she is thorough, customises her approach to the needs of the client group, is adaptable, and consistently exceeds expectations. I have no hesitation in recommending her consultancy services to others
The SA National Football League (SANFL) has worked with HRM Matters since 2011 when it contracted their services to provide change management support to the SANFL as it undertakes the move to the Adelaide Oval in 2014.
HRM Matters support has involved: working with Executive and staff to develop us on the key steps to be taken in progressing the transition to the Adelaide Oval; facilitating customised leadership and staff workshops on how to work positively with change; and most recently providing job readiness support to all levels of staff on both a group and individual basis.
SANFL has valued working with the HRM Matters team as they have the ability to listen carefully to the needs of the client, to provide clear and thorough advice and direction, and to engage credibly with all levels of staff. On top of that, they are always able to offer pragmatic ideas and solutions and are a pleasure to work with!
HRM Matters has helped us to make change a much less daunting experience and we would not hesitate to recommend their consultancy services.
I have known Veronica for a number of years having worked with her in a previous organisation. I asked her to work with me and my team at ElectraNet in facilitating manager and staff awareness of the organisation’s updated procedure and guideline on Respectful Workplace Behaviour.
Through 2012, HRM Matters worked with us to develop customised awareness raising and training sessions for all staff, starting with the Executive Group, then cascading through management levels to staff.
Participants (over 300 of them) generally rated the sessions facilitated by HRM Matters as good to excellent and they certainly helped raise awareness of manager and staff responsibilities aligned with new workplace health and safety legislation. Furthermore, Veronica took the sessions beyond awareness-raising to an opportunity for managers and staff to learn new knowledge and develop some practical skills in how to go about building respectful workplace cultures and fostering these through their daily actions and interactions with others.
Veronica is easy to work with, responsive to the client’s needs and feedback, and I always appreciate her focus on providing a high quality of service.
We engaged HRM Matters in 2011 to provide Respectful Behaviour Training to the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology (DFEEST) and TAFE SA, with an initial focus on leadership teams. I immediately appreciated HRM Matters willingness to work with the material we had developed, but to ‘value add’ to it with their own insights and tools.
Their delivery of the sessions was excellent, with high levels of engagement and feedback such as the following: ‘Was better than I expected due to good pace, good knowledge, respected the participants’ input and experience’; ‘It is a ‘tough gig’ to deliver respectful behaviour training to time-poor managers on a Friday afternoon. However, workshop was well delivered, was useful and exceeded expectations’; ‘good to be reminded of values and a chance to reflect on improvements. Veronica encouraged humility – none of us are perfect so keep on trying’; ‘Helped people to refocus their energies and bring a sense of self awareness to how we react to our circumstances and the people around us’, ‘One of the most useful and relevant sessions I have attended. Certainly broke the ice for our workgroup’, ‘Veronica was very helpful, informative, and gave many ideas and guidelines that we can implement in our workgroups and programs’.
As a result, I received many requests from managers wanting to continue work with Veronica and her team at the local level. HRM Matters developed a proposal in 2012 for a ‘team working program’ designed to help teams build values-based, respectful cultures as well as to build the capacity of team leaders and managers in this regard. The combination of group work, individual coaching, and group evaluation that makes up the ‘team working program’ has been effective and Veronica and her team have worked, and continue to work, with around 20 teams across the Department. This work has also helped us embed values and behaviours as an important part of the organisation’s approach to individual performance plans.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Veronica and her team for organisational development projects; not only have I found them to be highly capable in delivering customised, practical solutions, but it is also a great pleasure working with Veronica.
I have known Veronica since 2002 and have engaged her services to work across the organisation in a number of ways over the years, including change management, individual management coaching, facilitation, job design, and performance development.
A significant recent assignment for which I engaged Veronica through 2012 was to design and deliver workshops for around 250 middle leaders, both academic and professional staff. The purpose was to build management know-how, engagement, and insights on effectively leading conversations in the context of the organisation’s updated Performance Management and Development system.
As always, I valued Veronica’s ability to listen and work collaboratively with us in designing the program, as well as her flexibility, energy, professionalism, and ability to engage constructively in delivering it to a diverse audience.
The feedback from the program was more positive than we could possibly have anticipated, with nearly 90% of participants rating the workshop as good to excellent and comments including, from academic leaders, ‘productive, useful and informative’, ‘liked interactive style and side tracking was handled well’, ‘clear and engaging’, ‘good slides and relaxed style’, ‘Veronica not only had a good understanding of PDM but also the Uni environment’, ‘a worthwhile workshop’, and, from professional staff managers, ‘excellent real-world experience’, ‘good answers for tricky questions’, ‘very well presented and good use of exercises’, ‘very knowledgeable’, ‘good blend of information and activities’.
I know I can depend on Veronica to deliver consistently high quality outcomes and readily recommend her services to others.
I have known Veronica for a number of years and first engaged her consulting services in 2005 to facilitate a 2 day strategic and business planning workshop for the State Emergency Services leadership team. This included Veronica using the Myer Briggs Type Indicator to foster greater understanding and appreciation of each other’s strengths. Veronica’s facilitation skills were exceptional; she kept us ‘on track’ with outcomes, at the same time as motivating and inspiring us.
Since that time, HRM Matters has been used by the SA Fire and Emergency Services Commission for different organisational development activities, including the successful review of the administrative workload of volunteers across the Emergency Services Sector in 2008. This involved surveying volunteers and retained firefighters through a hard copy and on line survey as well as face to face regional and metropolitan focus groups. Of particular value was HRM Matters experience of working with volunteers, industry sector knowledge, and capacity to deliver a very inclusive approach to the review. It resulted in a 56% survey response rate and provided us with a range of useful recommendations to inform improvement opportunities.
In 2008 I implemented a new structure in the Marketing and Development Unit, a team of around 50 staff. The restructure resulted in a range of changes for the team, including recruitment of new roles and redesign or disestablishment of some existing roles. HRM Matters was contracted to assist with provision of advice during the change process, preparation of documentation in line with the University’s Staff Collective Agreement, development and updating of over 30 position descriptions, and support to staff, in particular affected staff who needed career guidance.
I was extremely pleased with the quality of support provided by HRM Matters; they provided empathetic support and clear advice to staff, quickly developed position descriptions and other documentation without compromising thoroughness, and made it easier for me to provide leadership in a time of uncertainty.
I approached HRM Matters to design and deliver a customised development program for the corporate leadership team of the Nurses Board of SA. Over a period of 12 months, the HRM Matters Consulting team facilitated us in gaining a common understanding of the role and expectations of the corporate leadership team, as well as insights into our individual differences and strengths. This process helped us to develop a range of tangible outcomes including problem solving and decision making tools to assist us with our ongoing operation. Facilitated group sessions have been effectively supplemented by one to one coaching to enable a focus on specific individual development needs.
Our decision to use HRM Matters emanated from our previous positive experiences in their provision of effective and timely HR advice and assistance with the recruitment and selection process for our new HR Advisor position. I appreciate HRM Matters focus on building long term relationships that enable more thorough understanding of their client organisation and its specific challenges and on their capacity to deliver a breadth of human resource management services aligned to organisational needs over an extended period of time.
I have known Veronica since 2000 when she worked successfully as an internal senior organisational development consultant with the Department for Environment and Heritage. Since she has established HRM Matters, I engaged her to assist the Department in ‘revitalising’ its existing performance management system. Veronica refined our policy and procedures and developed an online guide for managers and staff. The development and communication process Veronica designed involved awareness raising sessions with staff and managers across the organisation, a marketing kit to engage Executive Directors, and close collaboration with the internal HR team. Evaluation undertaken by Veronica following implementation of the revitalised system provided us with invaluable feedback on the quality of performance management system from the perspective of line managers and staff. Take-up of performance management across the agency in the following 12 month period increased by over 25%.
Veronica is very committed to working in partnership with clients and is successful in facilitating change aligned to client needs through her strongly consultative and inclusive approach. People respond positively to her engaging style and value her focus on listening and understanding to inform change. I would have no hesitation in recommending Veronica’s services for performance management systems and processes and organisational development. We continue to use the services of the HRM Matters team, including contribution to our High Potential Employees’ Development Program in 2009 as well as assistance with job design and classification advice.
I have known Veronica since 2004 when she became an adjunct at Flinders University. Since that time, she has successfully lectured, assessed and reviewed curriculum for the Human Resource Management topic in the Graduate Program in Public Administration that is offered by Flinders Institute of Public Policy and Management (FIPPM). My observations are of Veronica as a highly knowledgeable and passionate human resource practitioner who freely shares her understanding of theory along with her practical experiences as a manager and HR consultant. These observations are supported by student feedback that is highly positive about both topic content and teaching approach.
Over these years, Veronica, and now other members of the HRM Matters team have become involved in delivering human resource management training and mentoring support to managers from overseas on behalf of FIPPM. Some of the team are also assessors within elements of the Public Sector Management Program, a joint venture between the Commonwealth, State and Territory and Local Governments to deliver first-class public sector leadership education.
I engaged Veronica to develop and deliver some key workshops on Developing Staff and FeedbackThat Works in the University’s WorkSmart program for supervisors. These were received so positively by participants that we not only continue to offer them as an integral part of our development program for supervisors, but I also asked Veronica to design a suite of on line quick guides for supervisors on developing, coaching and motivating staff. She produced comprehensive, yet succinct guides with an excellent practical focus.
Feedback from the workshops facilitated by Veronica is consistently high – ‘very engaging format’, ‘very informative with great notes to take away’, ‘thought-provoking’, ‘very interactive and makes you really think’, ‘approachable, knowledgeable, and positive’. Consequently, I expanded Veronica’s workshop delivery for supervisors to include Lifting Performance of Staff and a session on Power and Politics in the Workplace that she facilitates in our Leadership Program. This has been equally well received – ‘thoroughly enjoyable, thought provoking and very useful’, ‘gives immediately accessible techniques for us to use’, ‘the workbook will be a very useful resource’, ‘the workshop was excellent, I was very impressed’.
I engaged HRM Matters through 2008 to design and deliver tailored Planning, Development and Review (PDR) training for academic and professional managers and human resource consultants. The training focused on familiarising managers with the new system and tools, and on developing key skills in performance management.
Veronica demonstrated a clear understanding of the University context and our specific needs. Her responsiveness and flexibility, as well as her ability to work effectively with diverse groups, comprising both academic and professional managers, proved invaluable. In addition, Veronica provided us with a detailed report offering key learnings to inform the ongoing effective implementation of PDR at the University. I would highly recommend Veronica’s expertise in the area of performance management.
I initially engaged Veronica to facilitate a team planning and development day for the Human Resources team. The group responded well to Veronica’s engaging facilitation style that enabled every team member to participate in the day. She challenged us constructively, shared freely her own experiences, and enabled us to finish with a ‘way forward’.
Following this, Veronica and the HRM Matters team provided a range of expert support to various parts of MINDA, including team leader development, individual coaching, mediation and position description development. The beauty of HRM Matters Consulting is that the team are all experienced practitioners who have also operated as managers and their combined skills and experiences enable them to offer a suite of human resource management and organisational development services to their clients. I have valued their professionalism, energy, and pragmatic approach to their work and would highly recommend their services.
Veronica worked with me over a 12 month period in 2007 to assist with the implementation of an updated Performance Review and Development system for General Staff at Flinders University. She worked closely with the Human Resources Division to raise awareness across the organisation of the refined system, to develop guidelines and to build enabling tools, including discussion templates and training for managers and staff to effectively implement PRD. The approach recommended by Veronica was to establish a cross section of pilot sites to trial documentation and training. She facilitated the pilot process in 5 different work areas and another member of the HRM Matters team evaluated the process, in order to provide feedback for finalising new, on line documentation as well as internal training workshops for managers and staff.
The expertise of Veronica and her team in developing and implementing performance management and Veronica’s knowledge of the university culture were invaluable to the successful development of an updated PRD system. Veronica’s approach to her work was consistently professional, enthusiastic and supportive and I would highly recommend her company’s services in performance management and training.