How the HR2day team keeps HR relevant and personable
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It’s a company that provides HR with plenty of TLC – and it does so across the country and beyond from its Tees Valley base.
Back in 2010, experienced HR manager Nicky Jolley and husband Mark, a self-employed financial adviser, set up HR2day and gave themselves six months to see if it would work.
Well, it clearly DID work. Fourteen years on, the firm has 10 staff and a loyal but still growing 70-strong client base – all attracted by its business model of providing expert, friendly and bespoke HR services for a fraction of the cost of an in-house team.
And if you think HR can be stuffy, think again in HR2day’s case.
Clients named the company’s orange and blue Smart car “Bertha” in a charity raffle (#beepbeepbertha) and Nicky’s springer spaniel Bella regularly pops into the office.
Nicky even has a racehorse, Miss Snuggles, who’s become an extension of the HR2day family and has a loyal following via her own Instagram page, miss_snuggles_racing.
The firm also donates £100 each month to a good cause chosen by staff, while the fourth HR2day charity ball will be at Hardwick Hall on November 9, in aid of the Great North Air Ambulance.
But at the heart of HR2day’s business is a determination to treat each client individually and personably, with HR support programmes drawn up on a bespoke basis.
Nicky told This Is Tees Valley: “We don’t want to be too big – we don’t want to be that impersonal call centre. We offer a very thorough, comprehensive and personal service and I don’t ever want to jeopardise that.”
Based at Endeavour Court on Lingfield Way, Darlington, Nicky says the Tees Valley is a fantastic place to be based, especially with ongoing developments such as Teeesworks and the relocation of government offices to the town.
She said: “We recently won a tender with one of the government departments and we’re always looking for opportunities that come along.
“But we’re a family-run firm that wants to provide the best service by working with people. We’ve just had a client of 10 years renew for another three – that, to me, screams confidence in what we do.”
HR2day offers everything from retained HR packages and leadership development to employee training and one-off consultancies on a specific project or issue.
And with HR requirements constantly changing, Nicky says they pride themselves in keeping on top of what’s going on.
She said: “We’ve just done 49 updates in our employee handbook – and as our handbooks are bespoke to our clients, that’s hard work. We update our handbooks twice a year and I don’t know any in-house HR person that has the time to do that, but this is what we do – delivering and being as current and forward-thinking as possible.”
Getting to know a client is crucial, Nicky believes. She said: “Our ‘onboarding’ with a client usually takes three to six months. That’s so we can tailor and bespoke
their policies and procedures but, more importantly, build a relationship.”
And it’s not only a Tees Valley operation. HR2day has clients across the UK and has worked with companies from as far afield as Dubai, Houston, Singapore and Brazil.
But when it comes to the Tees Valley, Nicky wouldn’t want HR2day to be anywhere else.
She said: “Everybody wants to help each other and is so friendly and approachable. You never hear of feuds or one HR company fighting another – it doesn’t exist. And, of course, the Tees Valley is cheaper than elsewhere, so you can be more competitive.
“But for me, it will always be about keeping that personal touch. I know every client and I want to keep it that way – the moment you lose that, you’d lose what we’re about.”
