Having worked with a diverse range of clients, such as the Port Adelaide Football Club, Department of Trade and Investment, South Australian Produce Market, Vater Machinery and Majestic Hotels and Apartments, The Woohoo Co. knows a thing or two about creating and fostering workplace culture.

The Woohoo Co.’s directors Sue Newberry and Rebecca Jaensch each have decades of experience in the human resources field. They suggest that the ‘human’ in human resources is, at times, not at the centre of the conversation.

“I think HR at times, has built a reputation of being feared, but in fact HR has the responsibility to bring together the people in an organisation in a manner that is respectful and engaging, by being a connector to deliver great outcomes for the business” said managing director Sue Newberry.

“We come in and say the regulations are there, we’re not here to enforce them. But let’s apply them in a more human way and build culture in a way that creates the space to have genuine conversations with people.”

“HR are guided by regulations, but you can apply them in a way that puts people in the centre of the conversation by taking a human approach, while still achieving what the business needs.”

This desire to humanise the workplace has been reflected in the company’s rebrand after eight years as Newberry Paterson to The Woohoo Co. – a move they said authentically represents the essence of the company and the people behind the scenes. This is also summed up in the slogan, ‘Crazy about Culture. Serious about People’.

“It’s really about finding your Woohoo. Not just as an individual, but helping businesses find their Woohoo as well,” said Jaensch, whose expertise involves being a HR Business partner with organisations, including senior leaders and HR teams.

The Woohoo Co.’s finance director Melissa Taylor, directors Sue Newberry and Rebecca Jaensch, and marketing and project lead Sharan Velauthan

The team brings a high level of empathy and emotional intelligence to their work. Their use of humour “in a way that lands on people appropriately” has helped Sue and Rebecca to engage at all levels and build trust for cultural change.

“It creates the space and trust to come along on the journey with us,” Jaensch said.

The consultancy works with private businesses and government departments of all sizes and across all sectors.

“A lot of the businesses we go into, they have a friction point or a pain point initially. HR can be a bit of a legislative nightmare and it’s not typically their wheelhouse,” Newberry explained.

“Our expertise is in cultural organisational development – ensuring that people are in the right seat on the bus.”

Port Adelaide Football Club CEO Matthew Richardson said the team were pivotal in helping with one of their key workforce planning rollouts.

“This was carefully planned and supported, and they ensured the process was delivered with as much care for our people as possible while managing the sensitive nature of the change,” Richardson said.

Newberry believes HR consultancies often make the mistake when conducting workforce planning and organisational design by focusing on ‘fit for purpose’ without properly understanding the people, their capability and skillset.

“If they have a conversation, there might be a role that could be created individually for that person rather than just saying, ‘okay, will you fit into our cookie cutter?,” she said.

“While our methodologies are the same, we don’t apply them in the same way – because you’ve got to understand the nuances of the people that you’re dealing with.”

She said people were often promoted because of their technical capabilities or they are given an opportunity due to their loyalty.

“The unintended consequence can be that you actually over promote them. They can be put into a position where they do not make decisions at the appropriate level, which can become a roadblock for the organisation and be harmful to the individual.”

The resulting overwhelm could see them focus on micromanaging and other defensive behaviours, rather than propelling the company forward. Harming both the individual and the organisation.

She noted that underperformance could also cause unintentional emotional and psychological  harm to the employee.

“We conduct certified decision-making capability sessions with people that can show a business where an individual’s capability is in the present and five, ten, fifteen years into the future.

“So, from a succession planning perspective, you can ensure that you have a roadmap for success.”

Port Adelaide’s Richardson said the club also called on The Woohoo Co. to work on a decision-making framework to ensure they hired correctly for the role and what is required. Individual and group coaching also helped “staff understand where they perform to their best”.

The Woohoo Co uses a range of proven frameworks, and their ability to understand people, to create the space for self-awareness around each person’s capabilities.

“It’s also about providing an opportunity and equality for people within the business,” Newberry said.

“You might have a really good and capable individual that hasn’t had access to some cultural capital because of their education level or social background and this can impact their progression, however we see these as opportunities to invest in, benefiting both individuals and the business.”

Clients have engaged The Woohoo Co. for many reasons, including to overcome disruptive workplace behaviours, to implement good communication and practices to drive performance, and to restructure teams and ensure ‘flow’.

This latter point around finding flow – being in a state of energised focus – is something Newberry and Jaensch are passionate about.

“When you find flow, there are no points of resistance within an organisation, which means that the organisation thrives,” Newberry said.

“Equally, when people are out of flow and are being under-utilised, they can be problematic, because you start to see behaviours within an organisation play out that are quite disruptive and ineffective.”

This is where restructuring of teams can be beneficial and sensitively approached conversations are had. These conversations can uncover underlying problems, a lack of expertise or interpersonal issues. Sometimes, the issues are with the leaders themselves, whose ways of communicating can affect interactions.

Post-restructure, clients have remarked on the transformation to a self-sustained, high-performance culture.

“Another thing we look at is, from a leadership perspective, how do you know you’re a good leader?,” said Newberry, who does coaching sessions with leaders.

“So, gathering the data, doing a ‘health check’ and saying, here are some of the things you need to look at.”

“We find the best leaders are self-reflective and self-aware … leadership comes from self-leadership first.”

As to the motivation behind The Woohoo Co.’s work, Newberry and Jaensch both agree , “It’s about humanising the workplace”.

“We’ve all had our own stories and worked in difficult workplaces … we believe in helping businesses and individuals craft great working cultures. After all, it’s all about people.”

Learn more about The Woohoo Co.