Melbourne SME HR, without the corporate drag

Melbourne’s most trusted HR partner for growing SMEs

Stop losing sleep over payroll, hiring, and performance reviews. Your business deserves an HR engine that moves quickly, keeps compliance tight, and still feels human. Why carry the pressure alone?

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120+

local SMEs served

95%

client retention

Victoria

based, on-site ready

Diverse Melbourne consulting team collaborating around a bright workspace table with laptops and notes

Local support

On-site in Melbourne. Remote across Victoria. Fast when you need it.

Core services

Core HR services tailored to your growth stage

Need a sharper hiring process, cleaner policies, or stronger employee relations? We build the right mix for your team, then implement it properly.

Most requested

Talent Acquisition & Recruitment

We help you attract, assess, and hire people who stick. Better roles, better process, and better fit — because rushed recruitment is expensive, isn’t it?

Role design that actually reflects the work.
Interview frameworks, scorecards, and onboarding support.
Flexible delivery: in-house, embedded, or remote.

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Certified HR Consultants Australia

Built for SMEs that need practical action.

Why it works

We pair enterprise-grade rigour with sensible delivery. No bloated process. Just hiring that gets easier to run.

HR Strategy & Policy Development

Clear policies, modern frameworks, and a roadmap your managers can follow without guesswork.

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Employee Relations & Performance Management

Handle difficult conversations, performance plans, and culture pressure before they spill into churn.

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Industry spotlights

HR built for Melbourne’s most dynamic industries

Different sectors. Different pressures. Same expectation: you need people systems that hold up when things get busy, messy, or both.

Collage-style Melbourne workplace scenes showing healthcare, tech, retail, and clinic teams

Bento hero

A strategy view that fits your sector, not just your size.

Dental clinics, tech startups, sustainable brands, boutique retail — each one gets its own rhythm. Why force a generic HR policy onto a specialist business?

Dental Clinics

Multi-site compliance, roster pressure, and practice acquisition readiness.

12% turnover risk reduction

Tech Startups

Fast scaling, role clarity, and culture protection as headcount jumps.

Build from 5 to 50 cleanly

Sustainable Fashion & Remote Teams

Hybrid policies, contractor clarity, and people systems that travel well.

Remote-ready support

ROI calculator

How much can better HR save your business?

A few small fixes can return real time. Less admin, fewer mistakes, less churn. Curious how much that adds up to for your team?

Number of employees Current turnover rate Hours spent on HR admin weekly

Potential annual savings

$38,400

Time recovered

144 hrs

Payback view

Under 90 days

Want the numbers sent to you?

We’ll turn the estimate into a short report for your business. Clean, plain English. No fluff.

How we work

How we partner with you — in 4 simple steps

A straight path. No mystery. Just a process that keeps your team informed and your risks under control.

Step 1

Discovery & audit

We start with a free HR health check. Where are the gaps, the risks, and the hidden time drains?

Step 2

Strategy blueprint

We map your roadmap, timelines, priorities, and people risks into one clear plan your leaders can use.

Step 3

Implementation & support

We do the heavy lifting. Policy writing, manager guidance, recruitment support, and employee relations backup.

Step 4

Review & optimise

Quarterly reviews keep the system sharp. Because what worked at ten staff won’t always work at forty, right?

Case studies

Real results from Melbourne businesses like yours

Confident Melbourne business owner reviewing growth reports in a modern office with city light in the background

“Stratton & Summers Consulting didn’t just fix our HR — they became our strategic partner. Our people have never been more engaged.”

Sarah Jennings

CEO, Merino Digital

Tech startup

8 to 45 staff

Scaled in 14 months with zero compliance incidents.

Retail chain

60% less turnover

Performance frameworks made seasonal churn easier to manage.

Dental group

100% compliance

Ready for acquisition across multiple states.

Local retail

Healthcare

Tech

Professional services

Melbourne SMEs

Meet the team

Meet your Melbourne HR team

Experienced, approachable, and focused on practical outcomes. Want specialists who know the local market and still pick up the phone?

Ana Mitchell

Retail and employee relations

14 years helping teams tighten culture, reduce conflict, and keep managers calm under pressure.

Daniel Cho

Tech startups and talent strategy

Builds hiring systems that scale smoothly, even when headcount jumps faster than expected.

Priya Nair

Healthcare and HR strategy

Known for clear policies, strong governance, and support that makes compliance feel manageable.

FAQ

Answers to your most common HR questions

What size businesses do you work with?

We work with teams from 5 to 200 employees. If you’re growing, changing, or trying to tidy up the people side of the business, we can help.

Can you come to our office in Melbourne?

Yes. We’re local, so on-site support is absolutely available. Prefer remote sessions? That works too.

How quickly can we see results?

Many clients see the first improvements within four weeks, especially around hiring clarity, manager confidence, and compliance control.

Do you handle remote and hybrid teams?

Absolutely. We build policies and management rhythms that suit distributed teams without making life harder for your leaders.

What if we already have an HR person?

Great. We can supplement, upskill, and lighten the load for your internal HR lead so they can focus on the work that matters most.

How do your fees compare to a full-time HR manager?

Usually, we provide enterprise-grade support for a fraction of the cost. You get senior guidance without carrying a full-time salary overhead.

Free resource

Get your free SME hiring toolkit

Download our practical guide, 10 Steps to Bulletproof Hiring for Melbourne SMEs. It’s templates, checklists, and plain advice you can actually use. No spam, just useful material.

Tablet mockup showing an HR hiring toolkit PDF spread with checklists and templates on a desk

Send me the toolkit

We’ll email the download and one short follow-up with the most useful next step. Want the version tailored to your team size?

Reach us directly at [email protected].

Final call

Let’s build a workplace your team will love

Custom HR without the jargon. That means clearer decisions, fewer headaches, and a stronger people operation from day one. Ready to stop patching problems and start fixing them properly?

Call

+61490847598

Email

Quick response

Visit

7 Turner Street, Melbourne

Start Now — Free HR Health Check Meet the team