all about us
Employee Matters provides employee support to small businesses who want to maximise profitability through their employees but struggle with hiring the best, understanding the legislation and firing non-performers.
We will help your business by providing Employee Experts, as and when you need them, for example to conduct an investigation, or on an ongoing basis – say once a week enabling you to tap into highly skilled expertise for a fraction of the cost. Imagine being able to have expert support to complete a complex restructure of your business with redundancy impacts and risks of unfair dismissal claims.
We have a team of highly skilled and resourceful Recruitment Experts who can source the best candidates, giving you back time and costing you 30% of an agency fee for a far superior service.
Founded in 2011 by Directors Natasha and Mark Hawker, Employee Matters was created when Natasha realised there was a gap in the market where small businesses could access HR expertise when, and only when, they needed it. She could see the frustrations, time wasted and trouble that small business was getting into and could see that many businesses were not fully utilising their employee resources to get maximum productivity.
All Employee Matters Experts have upwards of ten years experience with many having over 20 years. Our Team has both extensive corporate and small business experience, meaning that we can apply corporate knowledge in a way that makes commercial sense to small business.
Natasha turned her back on a successful career within professional services after having three kids in three years. She has always enjoyed helping people and loves the direct & really positive impact she and her team can have on the success of small businesses.
Our goal is to help you maximise productivity and ultimately profitability through your employees.
Our expertise in HR for small business is on display at Flying Solo & HerBusiness, an online resource brimming with small business advice.
Natasha has been quoted in articles for the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the Australian Financial Review and the Huffington Post and she has often been interviewed on the radio, including the ABC.
Senior HR Practitioner
Speaker
Author
Trainer
Industries: Professional Services, banking and finance, corporate travel, recruitment consulting & IT
Expert in Employment Relations, recruitment, performance management, terminations and mediation. Natasha has been quoted in articles for the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the Australian Financial Review and the Huffington Post and she has often been interviewed on the radio, including the ABC. Standard Mental Health Australia First Aider. Natasha is a recent graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors course (GAICD) and achieved an Order of Merit result.
Natasha is a sought after speaker and has a proven track record of educating and engaging audiences both small and large around the country. To inquire after her availability and learn more, visit her webpage Here.
Early in my career, I worked in Banking & Finance and as a Recruiter before focusing on Human Resources. I now have over 22 years’ experience and I have worked and lived in Australia, the UK and India. I have delivered training in Australia, USA, Asia, UK & New Zealand. I have managed employees across all aspects of HR and have sensitively and compliantly terminated hundreds if not thousands of employees in my career.
I believe SMEs are the backbone of this country and work harder than anyone else – I am driven to help them grow their businesses through their employees, lose their ‘employee headaches’ and do what they love. This is why I wrote my book ‘From Hire to Fire & Everything in Between’ to help business owners who have limited time, money and employee relations knowledge – hire better, manage better and fire better.
Together, my team and I have over 190 years of hands-on experience – we are happy to have those difficult conversations you may not wish to have yourself, script them for your or sit with you and support you through the process. We know what you, as an employer, should and shouldn’t do when managing your employees.
I also want to make the world a better place and we do this through our lifetime partnership with the Global Giving Institute, B1G1: Business for Good. When you work with us, you too will be changing the world for the better.
Outside of work, I am a qualified yacht skipper, play squash at 6am a couple of mornings a week and I’m a mum to 3 fabulous kids; and I enjoy a glass of wine or two!
Compliance and Risk Management
Personal Banker
Industries: Banking and Finance, Investment and Securities.
I have 22 years banking and finance experience in the UK and Australia working for companies such as Coutts (UK) and Macquarie Bank across Private Banking, Compliance and Margin Lending. Since the end of 2011, I have been running Employee Matters focusing on Finance, Payroll, Compliance and editing Natasha’s blogs and articles. Yes, sometimes extensive red pen is required.
We have spent considerable time developing great tools to help small businesses maximise profitability through their people. We understand the challenges of running a small business as we are one ourselves. I believe that Natasha and I bring extensive corporate experience and compliance to small businesses to use for their competitive advantage.
Outside of work, I love reading, soccer and running around after (and trying to keep up with) our children