Hello Monday has been a key partner for Caltex Stokes Valley for years, helping them easily manage all the HR and Health and Safety issues a small business faces. “We want to get it right”, says Reece Lewis. Find out how they do it.
Reece Lewis and his wife Christine run Caltex Stokes Valley which has been in Christine’s family since the 1950’s. A lot has changed since the ‘50s so when Reece and Christine needed some help with staff contracts they turned to Hello Monday for help.
Hello Monday’s Director, Will Allan says, “Reece and Christine are passionate about their business and really want to do well. They understand their obligations as an employer and since we’ve been working together have really been dedicated to getting the right advice around all things HR and Health and Safety”.
“We started working together four or more years ago”, says Reece, “and it’s been really good. Even though we’re cities apart; the level of service has been exceptional.”
“While big businesses have all the knowledge in house, it’s really hard for a small business like ours. We’re doing everything ourselves and it’s really important to us that we do it right.”
In the last few years Hello Monday has provided a full range of services for Caltex Stokes Valley from employment contract review, employee handbook and policy reviews through to consultation and advice on employment matters as well as Health and Safety.
Says Reece, “I’ve never felt I couldn’t just get on the phone and talk to one of the team at Hello Monday for advice. It’s been absolutely brilliant.”
At the end of last year Reece and Christine decided to implement enableHR; the essential self-help Human Resources, and Health and Safety tool for businesses fully supported by Hello Monday. enableHR is the Xero of Health and Safety and HR practice in New Zealand.
Will says, “they’ve really embraced the technology and that lets us help even more. Because the information is stored in the cloud; we can log on and access exactly what we need remotely so when we’re talking together, we know we’re on the same page.”
“We actually met Will for the first time when he came down to Wellington to implement enableHR but it was like meeting an old friend after all our years of working together”, says Reece.
“The set up was straight forward. We haven’t used it to its full potential yet but it’s good to know we have what we need for the new Health and Safety changes coming up.”
He continues, “We’ve used it for new employee procedures and steps and for a Health and Safety incident recently as well as for a disciplinary action. That was a lot easier than we thought – it gave us a simple step by step guide to make sure we ticked all the right boxes”.
“In a small business like ours we have to use common sense. I’m a firm believer in following the process but we have to treat our employees as individuals too. For one instance, a disciplinary process might be the right thing to do… but we have to be able to use our discretion. ‘enableHR’ was written for pretty serious misconduct but it was adaptable enough. And we had Hello Monday on call to help us with any questions which was perfect.”
Says Will, “Solving HR and Health and Safety problems is a core part of what we do. But it’s as important to have a real relationship with our clients so we can be proactive and avoid those potential problems down the track. That’s why we stay in close contact and listen to what our clients tell us. A really good relationship and understanding of their business is essential to what we do”.
We give Reece the last word, “I’ve been recommending Hello Monday and Will for a long time now. They’ve more than met my expectations – they’ve been absolutely brilliant.”
