We are Purple Playground, a team of HR & Recruitment Consultants dedicated to
CLIENTS WE SUPPORT
Trusted by
OUR APPROACH
What we’ll help you achieve
Shift from fighting fires to fuelling growth
We look at your operation as an entire ecosystem, considering all moving parts as a whole rather than just a specific “problem” or task at hand. Having this understanding of how each component influences others allows us to be proactive about sustainable growth and change.
Shift from fighting fires to fuelling growth
Inspire a culture of connection
Inspire a culture of connection
Nothing is more powerful than an employee who feels connected to the business vision. Through getting to know your people, we can support you in creating a culture where everyone feels connected to what they do, why they do it and who they do it with.
Find (and leverage) your edge in the market
Find (and leverage) your edge in the market
Anyone can replicate what you do, but no one can replicate the people or culture behind it. Working as an extension of your team, we’ll help you stand out in the market by creating and leveraging a high-performing team.
Redefine your potential
Redefine your potential
When everything (and everyone) works in sync, it’s amazing what you can achieve. We’ll explore ways to maximise the potential of your people to really push the limits and do more than what you ever thought possible.
Your Trusted HR and Recruitment Partner in Australia
Welcome to our HR and Recruitment Consulting agency, your go-to destination for exceptional HR solutions in Australia. We work by partnering you with the right mix of our HR Team Members whose skills and expertise align with the challenge at hand. With our extensive industry knowledge and a dedicated team of HR professionals, we are committed to delivering outstanding results that drive your organisation’s success.
Recruitment Services
You don’t need a recruitment agency…you need a team. A team of real people with expertise to find you your ‘A’ players…so you don’t have to spend all your time managing your ‘B’ players! Through pro-active sourcing tactics and meticulous candidate screening, we ensure that the individuals we present to you align perfectly with your organisation’s goals and culture. Trust our expertise and let us find the best talent for your team.
HR Consulting Expertise
Unlock the full potential of your organisation by working with a HR Company that partners with you every step of the way…the better we know your people, culture and brand, the better the results we’ll achieve. Our human resource consultancy is unique in that we take a pro-active approach in everything we do. Whether it be a one-off request or an ongoing HR need, we are dedicated to providing tailored solutions that address your specific challenges and objectives. Whether you require assistance with HR operations, strategic planning, or employee relations, our experienced HR consultants are here to guide you. We can be as hands-on or hands-off as you need, covering everything from HR admin to Strategy and everything in between.
Re-Imagine HR & Recruitment with Purple Playground and see how easy it is to discover that with our pro-active HR Services and bespoke recruitment solutions, you can transform your organisation’s capabilities.
ABOUT PURPLE PLAYGROUND
Supporting you in what you do best
We’re Purple Playground, a group of Human Resources Consultants working to empower purpose-driven businesses to build and leverage their most important asset – their people.
Acting as an extension of your business, we’ll help you create a high-performing team that will help your business go further, faster. We can also explore ways to maximise the potential of your people to really push the limits and do more than what you ever thought possible. And what could be more exciting than that?
Tell me more
HOW WE DO THINGS
Reimagining HR Consultant services
We’re not the kind of HR Consultants that tell you what to do then leave without a trace. Specialising in practical advice and hands-on execution support, we work with you to ensure you’re optimising every aspect of your operation to give you the greatest chance of success.
Find out more about how we’ll work with you and your team to redefine your business potential.
I'm ready
Frequently Asked Questions
Your business may need HR support when people issues start taking up too much founder or leadership time, decisions are becoming inconsistent, or your existing employment documents and processes no longer match the size or complexity of your company.
Common signs include:
- You’re unsure whether employees are covered by the correct Modern Award or classification.
- Employment contracts, policies or position descriptions are missing, inconsistent or out of date.
- Managers are dealing with performance, behaviour or conflict issues without clear guidance.
- Pay rates, leave, overtime, penalty rates or allowances are becoming harder to manage.
- Your business has grown quickly and your people processes haven’t kept pace.
- Recruitment and onboarding are becoming more frequent but remain inconsistent.
- Communication, accountability or culture issues are starting to affect performance.
You don’t necessarily need a full-time HR Manager to address these challenges. For many growing businesses, external HR support can provide experienced advice and practical help on a flexible basis. The right level of support depends on what’s happening in your business; sometimes a targeted project or HR review is enough; at other times, ongoing support can help build stronger foundations as the business grows.
For growing Australian businesses, common HR risks include incorrect Modern Award coverage or classification, underpayment of wages and entitlements, outdated employment contracts, inadequate workplace policies, poor record-keeping, and inconsistent handling of performance, conduct or termination matters.
These risks can become more difficult to manage as a business grows. For example, a founder may have been able to manage a small team informally, but as managers are introduced and the workforce becomes more diverse, inconsistent decisions or undocumented processes can create greater risk.
Key areas to review include:
- Modern Award coverage and employee classifications
- Minimum rates, overtime, penalty rates and allowances
- Employment contracts and salary arrangements
- Leave and other employee entitlements
- Workplace policies and procedures
- Employee records and payroll practices
- Performance, conduct and termination processes
- Manager understanding of workplace obligations
The right response isn’t always a comprehensive HR overhaul. A targeted compliance review can help identify the highest-priority risks and provide a practical action plan, particularly when a business has grown quickly or hasn’t reviewed its HR foundations for some time.
Growing beyond 15 employees can mark an important transition for an Australian business, both legally and practically. Under the Fair Work Act, businesses with fewer than 15 employees are generally considered small business employers, with different rules applying in areas such as unfair dismissal and redundancy.
But the peoplechallenges often change well beyond this threshold. As a business grows, informal founder-led management becomes harder to sustain. More managers become involved, roles become more specialised, and employees expect greater clarity around performance, communication and development.
Common challenges include:
- Managers being promoted without enough leadership support
- Roles and responsibilities becoming unclear
- Different teams applying inconsistent performance standards
- Communication becoming harder as the workforce grows
- Recruitment and onboarding becoming more frequent
- Employment documents and policies falling behind the business
- Greater reliance on managers to handle employee issues
- Culture becoming less dependent on direct founder/CEO involvement
This doesn’t mean a growing business needs to become overly corporate. The goal is to introduce enough structure to support consistency, clarity and compliance without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
For some businesses, this may mean reviewing contracts and policies. For others, it could mean introducing a clearer onboarding process, manager training, performance rhythms or more consistent leadership practices.
Growing businesses should prioritise HR foundations that reduce risk, create consistency and make it easier for leaders and managers to manage people well.
The starting point will vary depending on the business, but the fundamentals typically include:
- Legislatively compliant employment contracts and position descriptions
- Correct Award coverage, classifications and pay practices
- Employee records and document management
- Essential workplace policies and procedures
- A consistent recruitment and onboarding process
- Structured probation and performance review processes
- Clear processes for managing performance, conduct and employee relations
- Manager guidance and training
- A regular rhythm for employee communication and feedback
The priority should be practical implementation, not creating HR infrastructure for its own sake. A 20-person business doesn’t need the same systems or processes as a 500-person organisation.
A useful starting point is to identify the people processes you repeat most often and ask where inconsistency creates risk, frustration or wasted time. Those are usually the areas worth systemising first.
Start by understanding why the employee is underperforming before deciding what action to take.
Underperformance can have different causes, including unclear expectations, inadequate training, lack of resources, capability gaps, competing priorities or a genuine performance issue. The appropriate response depends on the circumstances.
A good starting point is to:
- Clarify what the employee is expected to achieve
- Identify the specific performance gap, using clear examples
- Discuss the issue with the employee and understand their perspective
- Provide appropriate support, feedback, resourcesand/or training
- Set clear expectations and a reasonable timeframe for improvement
- Document important discussions and agreed actions
- Review progress and determine the next appropriate step
A formal performance management process may be appropriate where informal feedback and support haven’t resolved the issue, but it shouldn’t automatically be the first response to every performance concern.
Managers also need to distinguish between underperformance and behavioural concerns, as these can require different approaches. If there is uncertainty about the circumstances or the potential consequences, getting HR advice early can help a business respond fairly, consistently and appropriately.
The right HR partner should understand your business stage, industry, workforce, risk profile and growth plans – and be able to translate HR requirements into practical actions.
When evaluating an HR partner, consider whether they:
- Explain workplace obligations in plain English rather than relying on jargon
- Understand the realities of small and growing businesses
- Provide advice that is tailored to your circumstances rather than generic templates
- Can balance compliance, people and commercial considerations
- Have the capability to support both day-to-day HR matters and longer-term people priorities
- Help your managers build capability rather than creating ongoing dependency
- Can scale their support as your business changes
- Are clear about what they can and can’t advise on and when specialist legal advice may be appropriate
It’s also worth asking how they work with your existing team, what level of senior expertise you will have access to, and how they prioritise issues when there are multiple things that need attention.
The right HR partner should feel like a trusted extension of your leadership team; helping you make confident people decisions, reduce avoidable risk and build practical foundations that support your business as it grows.
There isn’t one right answer. The best option depends on the size and complexity of your business, the amount and type of HR work required, and the capability you already have internally.
An internal HR Manager may make sense when there is enough ongoing HR activity to justify a dedicated role and the business needs someone embedded in the organisation day to day.
External or fractional HR support can be a better fit when a business needs experienced HR expertise but not necessarily a full-time internal resource. This can be particularly useful when a business needs help to:
- Create or strengthen HR foundations and compliance
- Manage complex employee or workplace matters
- Support managers and leaders
- Develop practical HR systems and processes
- Address a specific project or period of growth
- Access broader HR expertise without employing a full-time specialist
It doesn’t have to be one or the other. An external HR partner can work alongside founders, managers or an existing HR resource, providing additional expertise or capacity when needed.
The important question is less about which model is better and more about what level of HR capability your business actually needs now and how that is likely to change as you grow.
TESTIMONIALS
Our Happy Clients
The Purple Playground team has been outstanding in every aspect of our interaction with them over the past six months. Their support across compliance, recruitment, systems, and culture has been invaluable to our business. Always professional, responsive and knowledgeable, I couldn’t recommend them more highly.
Kelly Richmond
Managing Consultant - Bidwrite
Working with Purple Playground was absolutely pivotal and the best thing we could have done for our business. We were snowed under internally and were lacking compliance, and knew we needed help without needing a full time internal HR staff. Purple Playground were awesome to work with, they mapped out exactly what we were lacking within the business and filled all our gaps seamlessly. They really helped to bring our compliance up-to-date, and even more importantly brought together our team through workshops and catchups. Our whole team absolutely grew to love Sally, Jemma, and everyone at PP as one of our own…we don’t know how we ever survived without them!
Laura Day
Macro Mike - Business Development Manager
The team at Purple playground have added tremendous value to our business throughout the recruitment process. By taking the time to truly understand our needs and matching suitable candidates it has helped us to recruit high quality candidates. I could not recommend them more highly to any business who needs support with the recruitment process.
Jason Thompson
Budget Pet Products - Head of Commerical Operations
Professional, knowledgeable, reliable, innovative and supportive. The team from Purple Playground have not just been a pleasure to work with to move our HR people development and processes forward, they have become an integral part of our business and deliver outstanding value. If you are looking for first class support from a professional HR team, you won't find better.
Malcolm Schulstad
MOVUS - Head of Operations
Extremely happy with the insightful advice and ongoing support that Sally and the whole team have provided to us at Amazonia.
Purple Playground has delivered on all our HR needs from recruitment and leadership team & cultural engagement to implementing a robust internal HR framework. I have no hesitation in recommending Purple Playground for any business needing to outsource their HR.
Yohann Azlee
Amazonia - CEO
We were a business with culture issues and inconsistent HR strategies. Purple Playground has helped us become positive people focused and has introduced time-saving save systems to bring better efficiency. The team we work with are first class in their field and more importantly FIT into our business seamlessly. Such a great team to work with and always there to support us. HR is no longer a headache here at FIT Merchandising.
Julie Allen (nee Chalmers)
General Manager at FIT Merchandising
Purple Playground's outsourced HR function is an outstanding affordable service. The team is exceptional at what they do best, leaving you to do what you do best! The ongoing support from the team and Megan's technical expertise have been invaluable. Keep up the good work team. Highly recommend!
Toni Eisenhut (nee Dickson)
Associate Director at ABA Legal Group
