If you follow Your People Matter(s) on social media, you may have noticed that we’ve taken part in a PR campaign with Crystal Clear Compliance about the benefits of collaborating with other specialists. Here is our story…
Two local businesswomen are working together after meeting on the networking circuit to offer their clients a more joined-up approach to HR and health and safety.
Lucy Walsh, Director and founder of health and safety company Crystal Clear Compliance, and Mary Dovey, founder of HR and workplace mediation consultancy Your People Matter(s), are working with businesses who are scaling up or down and going through periods of change, creating bespoke, tailored support to ensure they are protected against the health and safety and HR risks associated with that change.
“Mary and I met at a Women in Business (WIBN) event just over two years ago,” says Lucy. “We realised immediately that we had very similar values, working styles and type of client and started recommending each other to clients. That gradually evolved and now we work together on various projects, such as office moves and mergers and acquisitions. For me it is all about identifying any health and safety risks before they take on a new site or alter or merge any processes or systems. Mary looks after the people in those situations, making changes to employee terms and conditions, ensuring required legislative steps to consult their teams in an engaging manner are built in, and if team members aren’t working as effectively together due to poor relationships and might need workplace mediation.”
Lucy and Mary now work together on multiple projects. One recent project involved a client of Lucy’s that was looking to expand out to new locations. Mary supported the company with the restructuring of its teams, which included the transferring of staff to another business (TUPE), and ensuring all staff were properly consulted, while Lucy dealt with various risk assessments and operational procedures.
“One of the main reasons I wanted to work with Mary is that, like me, she does not believe in turning out generic solutions but works to fully understand a business and tailor those solutions to suit each business,” said Lucy. “We’ve also worked on projects that required multiple health and safety and HR policies and, by working together, our documents became one, cohesive system. The terminology and layout were the same and, of course, where there are overlaps, we discuss and work to ensure all areas are covered and the client is protected by them, meeting their legal requirements. Our approach to work is the same – dedicated, thorough and we are both passionate about what we do.”
“A business owner’s time is precious, so anything that we can do to cut down on them duplicating by speaking to two different service providers is key,” adds Mary. “Although Crystal Clear Compliance and Your People Matter(s) are two separate businesses, Lucy and I make time to work together, often in the background, to ensure due diligence. Another benefit of either one of us introducing the other is that our clients have confidence we’re suggesting someone who is not only credible, knowledgeable and trustworthy, but who stands a much better chance of fitting in within their business, culture and values. For us, it’s about providing a more flexible offering.”
While business owners are often tempted to sign up to services that allow them to call generic helplines or download template policies and contracts, working with specialists like Mary and Lucy can help businesses to put these things into context, which is important to get accurate.
“With effective HR and health and safety support, it really shouldn’t be about offering a ‘text book’ answer,” says Mary. “Separately Lucy and I work with our clients and coach them through their situations, letting them know what they need to do to remain compliant with the law and what will work for their organisation. Together, we can work in a more joined-up way and the client gets to speak to the same two people who have taken time to understand their business.”
Following the success of their recent collaborations, Lucy and Mary are planning to build relationships with other growing SMEs to support them with their HR and health and safety needs.
“We are keen to work with businesses who are considering going through change to provide strategic recommendations at an early stage in the change management process, giving them a structure to support their business growth and save them time and minimise risk longer term,” says Mary. “We say it’s worth the investment to work with us before you need us rather than after you’ve needed us.”
“Lucy and I get on well and can laugh along the way together, which is important,” adds Mary. “This means we have a friendly, engaging and approachable manner when dealing with our clients, which sets us up nicely to continue building long-lasting professional relationships with them. This gives them confidence in the support and services we each supply.”
For further information on Crystal Clear Compliance, see www.crystalclearcompliance.co.uk.