At vivoHR we always like to make sure you have the basics right; this starts with making sure you have up to date documents. It’s an important foundation to any business and a positive step in the right direction. Sometimes companies grow so fast they need to get those foundations down quickly to catch up and sometimes, things have been ticking along for a while without anyone reviewing it. We had a small to mid-sized tech company who wanted to do just that and had vivoHR review all their documents to bring them up to date with current legislation. They weren’t struggling or stuck, but they knew their HR documents needed some tweaking to make sure they were as compliant as could be with all the changes that have taken place over the last few years.

The company had been around over two decades, and like many businesses, they needed a refresh. The employee handbook and contracts hadn’t been properly reviewed in a while, and there was no central system for tracking important HR info. It was all working fine, but they wanted to make some changes that helped manage HR effectively saving them time moving forward. They also wanted to bring everything together in one place.

They brought us in to help them on a retained monthly basis to regroup, review what was working, and put better systems and documents in place. They also wanted some on hand advice and a designated resource they could use to help share the HR workload so as a business they could focus on other areas as we would look after the HR side.

We started by going through all their current HR materials — the handbook, policies, contract templates, and the way they were managing HR tasks day-to-day. From there, we could see what needed to be updated, what needed to be rewritten completely, and where there were gaps. They had also recently finished overhauling the first phase of their company benefits project and needed contract variations, memos, handbook and contract updates to reflect this, as well as how to communicate the message effectively across the company.

We helped to bring all HR documentation up to date and in line with their current needs. By the end of the project, they had a clean, consistent set of HR documents, a legally compliant handbook, and an HR system that made admin and storing data easier. It wasn’t about changing everything it was about getting back to basics and making sure the foundations were solid.

Once the documents were in good shape, we turned to the day-to-day management of people and their data. Everything was being handled manually, which meant things like onboarding, annual leave requests, absence tracking, and document storage were taking up too much time. We helped them select and implement a Human Resources Information System (HRIS) that fit their needs. Nothing over-complicated or hard to use but an easy-to- use system that brought everything into one place. This made it easier to manage and store. It also made things like holiday requests easier as employees could also download the HRIS app, making it easier, efficient and more accessible for the employee.

Everything is now up to date, organised, and far less stressful for the company. Their HR setup is now compliant and solid. They plan to continue using us to manage their recruitment, onboarding and other HR issues as and when they arise.