Proudly Regional . Supporting Local Business
SHEPPARTON, VICTORIA. REGIONAL BUSINESSES ACROSS VICTORIA
If your business falls apart when you're not there,
that's not a staffing problem.
It's a systems problem. And systems can be fixed.
The Hayhart Group works with regional businesses across Victoria to build the people systems and processes that let's owners step back without things falling apart. We're not city consultants who added Shepparton to a service map. We live here.
In regional Victoria, you've often had to choose between the HR firm and the operations consultant. The Hayhart Group is both. Under one relationship. At a price point that works for regional organisations.
- WHO WE WORK WITH
Sound Familiar?
Our clients come to us at a turning point. Something has broken, is about to break or they've hit a wall with how things are running. We stabilise first, then we build something that lasts.
THE BOTTLENECK OWNER
"I can't leave. If I go away, the whole thing falls apart."
You're the answer to every question in your business. Which sounds like job security but feels like a trap. The knowledge lives in your head. You think you need more staff. Usually you don't. The capacity is already in the business, it's just buried under the way things currently work.
What you actually need: better processes, not more people.
THE COMPLIANCE TRIGGERED ORGANISATION
"We had an incident and it made us realise we don't have the right things in place."
A WorkSafe visit. A Fair Work complaint. Rapid growth that outpaced everything else. Whatever brought it to a head, the gap is now visible and urgent. A policy document purchased online is not going to fix it. You need a systematic build of your people infrastructure, done properly and in the right order.
What you actually need: a system that holds up under scrutiny. Not a paper exercise.
THE GROWN-BEYOND-THEIR-SYSTEMS BUSINESS
"We've been around for 40 years but we're still running on gut feel."
You started small and grew through hard work and reputation. Somewhere along the way the informal 'how we do things' stopped scaling. There are no documented processes, no performance frameworks, no policies that exist outside your head. The software is a patchwork of workarounds. Your gut feel for who's working hard and what's getting done is still the primary measure. The business has grown. The systems and structure haven't kept up
What you actually need: clear systems, documented processes and a structure that supports the growth.
- FREE, NO OBLIGATION
If you had to leave the business tomorrow for two weeks, what would break first?
Most owners already know the answer.
The problem is, knowing isn't the same as fixing it.
This is a free, 10-question check that gives you an honest read on where your business is carrying the most risk. No scoring system. No generic advice. A direct, personalised response written specifically for what you tell us.
10 questions. About 15 mins. Walk through at your own pace. You'll then hear back from us within 24 hours with direct feedback about your business.
- WHAT WE DO
Two disciplines. One relationship
We don't make you choose. The Hayhart Group brings operational improvement and HR support to the table together, a reflection of exactly how things run in real businesses. Grounded in the reality of regional operations, delivered by people who understand the pressures you're actually under.
Business improvement & operations.
We work alongside your team to understand how things in your business actually run, not just how they are supposed to. We've been in a lot of businesses. The same patterns often come up and knowing where to look can save a lot of time. We document what good looks like and build the structures to make it stick after we leave.
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Process mapping and current-state analysis.
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Work instruction and procedure development
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Identifying and removing bottlenecks and waste
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Daily management routines so managers stay ahead of problems
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Workflow automation and digital tools
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Embedding change so it holds
HR & People Management.
Practical HR support built around compliance and real industry context. Not policy templates you could find anywhere online, not a Melbourne firm managing your people via email. HR that's grounded in the challenges of the industry you work in: manufacturing, primary production, trades, retail, services.
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Policy and procedure development
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Performance management frameworks
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Workforce planning and recruitment strategy
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Onboarding and offboarding systems
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Digital compliance and training records
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People management coaching for managers and team leaders
- WHERE MOST CLIENTS START
THE HAYHART DIAGNOSTIC PROGRAMME
Most businesses come to us knowing something is wrong but not quite sure what. The Diagnostic Programme is designed for that. A number of structured sessions that gives us a thorough understanding of your business: it's people, it's processes, it's risks, and it's opportunities.
At the end, you get a prioritised improvement plan. It's not a sales document dressed up as a deliverable. Its a valuable piece of work. You keep it regardless of what you decide to do next.
$2,995
Flat fee.
Sessions conducting in person where possible. (Central, North East Victoria) In-person means we get to see what is really happening, not just what is described.
WHAT YOU WALK AWAY WITH
A working document, The Improvement Plan, that you keep no matter what. It's an honest account of what we found, what needs to happen, and in what order.
Current state summary
Opportunities and risks prioritised by urgency and impact
Recomended improvement sequence
Dependancies: what has to happen first before something else can begin
Indicative scope for implementation if you choose to proceed
At the end of the Diagnostic, you have a clear picture and a plan, whether you choose to continue with us, work on it internally, or shelve it for later.
History, ownership, leadership, team make-up, and culture. Who the key people are and what the business would lose if they left tomorrow.
The business and it's people
1
Core processes from enquiry to delivery. Where the bottlenecks, duplications, and breakdowns are. Where time and money is being lost and why.
The work and how it flows
2
HR and compliance infrastructure: onboarding, training, performance, policies. What exists, what doesn't, and where the exposure is.
The people systems
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4
Synthesis and planning
Findings presented back to you. Priorities agreed together. A sequenced roadmap covering what to tackle first and why.
- REAL WORK
What this looks like in practice
We've seen businesses with many years of industry knowledge but not much documentation. Organisations onboarding hundreds of seasonal staff via fax. We get it. This is a small selection of problems we've been brought in to fix.
OPERATIONS
MANUFACTURING
Faster staff training. Less downtime. Fewer calls to whoever's been there the longest.
Grading facility. Robotic equipment. Multiple crews.
Clear, plain-language work instructions covering shift set-up, changeovers, troubleshooting and wash-downs. Written so a new starter could follow them without asking someone who's been there for years.
OPERATIONS
GROWTH
The owner stopped fielding calls about every decision to be made.
Multi-site services business running across the state.
Built a live dashboard tracking the numbers that actually mattered, so the owner could see everything in one place. Then, a clear escalation framework so every person in the business knew which decisions were theirs to make, which needed a manager, and which genuinely needed the owner. Weekly check-ins replaced constant interruptions.
HR
COMPLIANCE
250 seasonal staff. Now properly onboarded and tracked for the first time.
Primary production. High-turnover seasonal workforce.
Digitised the entire onboarding process: employment agreements, policies, safety information. Acknowledgement tracked per employee. Full compliance visibility, payroll integration, across a workforce that previously had none.
OPERATIONS
AUTOMATION
Two hours of admin a day. Gone.
Workflow automation across multiple clients.
Repetitive, manual tasks replaced with automations that just run. No complex enterprise software. No expensive implementation project. Tools that match where the business actually is, are useful, and easy to understand. Enabling staff to spend more time on value adding tasks rather than 'busy' work.
HR
TRAINING
A training system people actually use. Not one that lives in a folder.
Manufacturing operation.
Learner questions, trainer observation checklists, and supervisor check-in tools built alongside updated procedures. Staff trained consistently. Records captured accurately. "I showed them once" is no longer accepted as evidence of training.
HR
LEADERSHIP
Practical people management tools. For farmers who manage people, no HR professional.
Regional farmer workshops. Delivered on behalf of a national industy body.
Developed and delivered tailored workshops for regional farmers covering recruitment strategy, keeping good staff, and having performance conversations. Participants left with tools they could actually use the next week, not a folder full of theory.
- WHY HAYHART
We're not city consultants pretending to understand regional business.
We live here. Work here. Raise families here. The tight labour markets, the community reputations, the reality that the owner is wearing ten hats before 9am, none of that is abstract to us. It's what we know.
01
One relationship. Every specialist you need.
You shouldn't have to manage a separate HR firm, an operations consultant and a different technology person. We coordinate the right specialists for your project and you deal with one relationship. No hand-offs. No gaps between advisors who never actually talk to each other.
02
We build things that last after we leave.
The goal isn't a dependancy. It's a business that runs on systems, not personalities. Everything we build is designed to be owned and operated by your team long after the project is done. We measure success by how little you need us at the end. That's not a common way for a business like ours to think about its own work. We think it's the right way.
03
Priced for regional SMEs. Not for enterprise.
We price for regional businesses with less than 250 staff, not for companies with a dedicated consulting budget. And we're honest about what's realistic, not just what sounds compelling in a proposal.
Have a bigger project? Let's chat. (We are a business after all)
Primary Production and Farming
Family farms managing a seasonal workforce, succession planning, safety obligations, and the shift from informal to structured operations. Often the first time proper HR infrastructure, and process documentation has been in place.
Manufacturing and Trade
Local manufacturers building more efficient operations, developing local leadership, and reducing the owner's operational burden. Without losing the culture that made them good in the first place.
Retail and Service Businesses
Organisations that have outgrown the informal model and need systems, people frameworks, and some clarity. Without becoming a corporate. The businesses we work with best are the ones that still genuinely care about their staff.
Ready to find out what's actually going on in your business?
The Diagnostic Programme is where most clients start. Four sessions. A clear plan. You keep the plan no matter what happens next.
Got a project in mind already?
If you already know the kind of help you are looking for; a specific program, a team problem, a compliance gap, something you want you automate, get in touch directly and we will talk through what makes sense.
PHONE
03 8593 7788