Meet Natasha Hawker – Member Podcaster
How would you best describe your podcast? What is the show about?
This podcast is for business owners, entrepreneurs, managers and employees who are working through the COVID-19 pandemic.
I am hoping to help as many people as possible be happy and productive through the pandemic and reduce the number of mental health illness and D&FV incidents keeping more people safe. We have free tools and templates for listeners which can help them today and also give them knowledge and resources to get help now.
We share HR best practice and talk to experts from the fields of:
- HR
- Legal
- Accounting & Tax
- Mental Health
- Medicine
- Domestic & Family Violence
- Negotiation
- Workplace Health & Safety
- Teaching
- Business Coaching
- Health
- Leadership
- COVID-19 FAQs
There is something for everyone.
The format is a mixture of interviews and content.
Why did you decide to start a podcast?
I have always wanted to do a podcast but it always fell off the to do list because of not understanding the technical side, not having the time or other initiatives took priority.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit our world and millions of people started to work from home. Now my team and I have been working from home business since 2011. I am worried people have moved to this model overnight but it is more than having an IT set up.
There is a different style of working and management required. Mums and Dads are struggling with holding down a job, managing everyone’s IT needs and home schooling. Flatmates are squashed in their living rooms with multiple desks side by side.
There is going to be an increase in mental health illness and also Domestic and Family Violence.
“We saw a desperate need for information and support for business owners and employees but they didn’t want to pay for it. We saw that HR Heroes was a way of getting great support out to the many, at a time of great need.”
Tell us about your business…
I am a HR and Employee Expert. At Employee Matters we specialise in helping SMEs create exceptional business performance through their team. We believe that your employees are your greatest asset and also potentially your greatest liability and should be treated as such. We help businesses build employee assets.
Think Employee Relations, recruitment, investigations and exits. We are very involved in JobKeeper at the moment making sure that businesses get the most out of the package.
I have a team of 16 Recruitment and Employee Experts across Australia & New Zealand.
How does your podcast support your business activity? Or is it a separate, hobby project?
We saw a desperate need for information and support for business owners and employees but they didn’t want to pay for it. We saw that HR Heroes was a way of getting great support out to the many, at a time of great need.
We believe that it is a long term client acquisition strategy for the most part but in the interim, we are helping a lot of people.
It also allowed us to do a test run – was it successful – yes season 2 will be coming.
What advice would you offer women who are thinking about starting their own podcast?
I have long avoided it more because I did not understand the technical side but it is not as hard as I thought and can be done fairly cheaply.
Someone shared with me that podcasting is a very intimate relationship as you are often being listened to on a walk or drive and the listener gets to know, like and trust you. You are in a sense eavesdropping on a conversation.
This is another asset that you can share with prospects.
We are super proud of what we produced and are getting some great feedback.
