Franchise system focuses on HR needs in SMEs

With a tagline of ‘people perform profit’ the HR Coach franchise is helping SMEs boost productivity and profits and retain key staff, which are vital elements in today’s tight labour market.

GIVEN AUSTRALIA’S ageing population and existing skills shortage, forecasters are suggesting the workforce shortfall will hover around 200,000 within three years. Although many larger corporations are implementing strategies to soften the impact on their business, not all SMEs have the resources to prepare themselves.

Foreseeing the emergence of labour shortages, founder and CEO of HR Coach Louise Broekman has positioned her business to guide SMEs. “With the outlook for employers somewhat bleak, it is imperative they implement employee retention strategies that address productivity and efficiency,” she said. “Robust HR plans are necessary, and that is our charter.”

The landscape was a little different back in 2000 when Broekman launched her first HR Coaching business. “Several years ago businesses were focusing on IR compliance and tangled in red tape. It was a culture of risk and fear with union warnings, and under the awards system employers resorted to the lowest common denominator,” she said. “But all that has now taken a back seat. Today’s fear is: ‘how do I retain people’?”

Implementing effective employee retention strategies is paramount, she says. “The biggest cost for business – and its biggest asset – is its staff. Business coaches and accountants can only help SMEs to a certain degree, our coaches go further.”

s most companies with more than 75 staff employ human resources managers, HR Coach’s core market is businesses employing 15 to 75. “It all starts by gaining an understanding of the company and its people. Working closely with business owners and managers, our coaches measure employment capabilities and employee satisfaction and motivation plus their contributions by way of productivity and performance,” Broekman explained, “hence our logo ‘people perform profit’. The process is always subjective but we measure it within an objective framework so we can understand trends and create plans.”