Since partnering with the team at EKKA, we’ve been proud of our ongoing work in supporting their growth and transformation. Their commitment to quality, speed, flexibility and culture has been the cornerstone of their success.

EKKA’s results speak for themselves. Since engaging Checkside in FY19, they’ve boosted revenue by a massive 128% and nearly doubled their profitability. This kind of growth doesn’t happen by accident – it’s the result of deliberate, strategic choices and a clear focus on execution.

Our partnership has been key to the achievement of these results. Specifically, we’ve delivered our Strategy Development, Strategy Execution, and Leadership Turbocharge (leadership development and coaching) services to ensure that EKKA’s team is equipped to handle the challenges and opportunities ahead. Dave Marcon, General Manager at EKKA was also a graduate of our 2023 Leadership Accelerator cohort.

Dave highlights the impact of our collaboration: “A lot of the recipe for success is due to Checkside’s guidance and support. Scott and his team have provided that third-party accountability that has been crucial in driving our results and keeping us on track with our goals.”

CEO Darryn Doble shares a more personal perspective: “Checkside’s involvement has been a game-changer for me as a business owner. Their strategic insights and practical advice have not only helped us navigate challenges but also significantly reduced the dependency on me as the principal. This shift has allowed me to focus on what truly matters, both in business and in life.”

EKKA has recently expanded its workshop footprint, setting the stage for continued growth.

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The ECH programs and services are provided by more than 800 staff with a wide range of skills. The ECH team of home support workers, health professionals, maintenance teams, administrators and volunteers are committed to enabling people to live the best life possible as they age.

The regulatory environment and funding models associated with the aged care sector in Australia have been under significant review in recent times and as a result, seismic shifts are occurring, and business models are being challenged to ensure the sector remains viable and continues to deliver what its residents and stakeholders are seeking.

ECH recognised this and identified that a significant shift in strategic thinking and approach will be required to continue to thrive in the sector moving forward.

Engagement Focus

ECH engaged Checkside in mid-2022 with a view to supporting the organisation with a significant shift in strategy and operating structure to address the changing landscape.

Change was already underway, with board evolution occurring and the successful appointment of a new Chief Executive in Claire Scapinello.  These changes provided the catalyst for a new outlook and delivered the desire and impetus to completely revisit the organisations approach to strategy and strategy execution.

The first engagement task involved engagement with the Board to ensure clarity and alignment existed at Board level.  Working closely with the Chair and Chief Executive, this process provided the ability for the executive leadership group to engage with the Board through facilitated workshops to ensure both parties could hear views directly from the other and ensure real alignment was present.

Armed with aligned feedback from the Board, Checkside facilitated a series of workshop sessions with the Executive leaders to develop a fresh 5-year plan with clear deliverables and accountability defined for the first 12 months.  These facilitated group workshops, supported by Checkside’s process and IP, drove engaging conversation amongst the Executive team which allowed Checkside to document and capture the strategic drivers and direction for ECH.  The outputs then went through a thorough edit process to produce the finalised new 5-year plan, which was subsequently endorsed by the Board.

Checkside then shifted engagement focus to assisting ECH to cascade this plan into the various divisions and functions of the organisation by developing functional and divisional plans with the functional leaders that are intrinsically connected to the overarching corporate strategy.  We worked closely with the Executives and their teams to develop these plans, with the primary purpose of creating a framework of clarity, alignment and accountability to support the execution of the strategic plan.

During the entire engagement, Checkside has provided regular 1:1 coaching support and guidance to the Executive Team, to ensure plans are well developed, learnings are maximised and tools/processes are embedded into the organisation.  This has assisted the Executive Leaders to ensure they are well set up to deliver on strategy execution and both they and their teams feel supported throughout the process.

The final focus of the engagement has been to weave in capability building for the broader leadership group of ~38 Executives, senior managers and managers through the design and delivery of a tailored leadership development program.  This work, alongside monthly 1:1 Executive coaching, remains ongoing.

Client Outcomes

ECH now have a clearly articulated and completely revamped 5-year plan that the Board has endorsed and that the Executive are fully engaged with (and starting to execute).  A summary of this strategic plan and future direction was also successfully launched to the entire business at a group wide function.

The plan outlines a significant turnaround in financial performance (from running operating deficits to surpluses) which will support the ability to provide a greater volume of better quality services moving forward.

The plan also clearly articulates how ECH will lead the way in terms of next generation aged care providers.  They have a clear focus on three main areas:

• Creating better “connected communities” across the ECH network;
• “Pro-active Wellbeing” through providing greater access to a broader range of preventative health and allied services; and
• “Supporting Enablement” by providing a better quality of greater support for those that choose to stay at home

The 5-year plan places ECH at the forefront of sector thinking and the revamped business model and structure of the organisation allows it to continue to sustainably develop and grow a forward facing business underpinned by a healthy financial platform.

ECH also has a clear accountability framework for strategy execution and shared ownership of delivery into the strategic plan from all the Executive Team.  The team is aligned, energised and well set up for success.

Finally, ECH has recognised as part of the strategic plan the critical importance of its people and continuing to invest in them.  As a result, the broader leadership group of executives, senior managers and managers are all receiving leadership development alongside other training programs.  This will support the leaders at ECH to develop skills and capability to be able to lead well and engage with and support their teams to help deliver on the strategic objectives.

Alignment with Checkside Values

One of Checkside’s core values is “Make an Impact” and the work ECH does in the community and the people involved with ECH fit squarely into this bracket.  The number of people they are impacting, both directly through their aged care services and indirectly for family and friends of ECH residents and clients is incredible.

In addition, the work Checkside has been able to do with Claire and the Executive team is having a big impact on the organisation and its ability to deliver into its Purpose more effectively.  This provides a very rich and impactful engagement that aligns strongly with a core Checkside value.

Chief Executive commentary:

Chief Executive Claire Scapinello said “Checkside have done and continue to do a wonderful job. They have enabled us to envision our 5-year strategy and challenged us through the process to tackle strategy differently and create an accountability framework that is tailored for ECH.”

“Checkside’s support along the way has assisted me to focus on the key strategic pieces and provided a solid sounding board for me as a new Chief Executive in the organisation.  They have also provided great support for our Executive team – many of whom are new and adapting to the new approach to strategy as we progress.  The Executives are engaged and feel well supported which has been an enormous outcome”.

“Finally, their ability to provide flexible, tailored solutions has meant we now have a great fit with ongoing Executive 1:1 coaching being combined with leadership development for our broader leadership group.  The ability to provide a direct connection between understanding the strategy, supporting the ongoing strategy execution, and building leadership capability across our team provides a very powerful multiplier effect for us.”

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With return on investment (ROI) at the foundation of everything they do, Bonfire engaged Checkside to ensure the company was well positioned to handle future growth.

Following our initial business analysis and strategy and structuring workshop in May 2019, we developed a game plan focused on engaging the team with the business strategy, embedding a high performance operating system, establishing a consistent approach to leadership and building on Bonfire’s strong company culture and people management systems.

Since then we have worked alongside Bonfire’s key leaders to update their strategy, review their functional structure, design and implement a high performance operating system and deliver our Leadership Turbocharge program. We have also provided direction on the selection of a fit-for-purpose HR information system (HRIS) and advised on the recruitment of several key roles.

Client Outcomes

The outcomes for Bonfire have included greater focus, increased accountability, comfort that their business structure is aligned with the business strategy and a greater propensity to take advantage of strategic opportunities and solve key issues. Bonfire’s leadership team are also enjoying stronger communication and teamwork.

Founder & CEO Commentary

Clay Cook, Founder & CEO of Bonfire, commented: “I engaged Checkside because I wanted to ensure that Bonfire continued to deliver bottom line results as we grew. Checkside has helped our leaders to connect their teams to our business strategy – and the high performance operating system they’ve helped us implement is driving accountability and results through the business.

I’d recommend Checkside for anyone who is ready to get serious about high performance. The fact that Checkside took the time to really understand our business has meant that they were able to tailor our high performance operating system to suit our culture, our technology stack and the way we work. I’m confident that we’re well placed to achieve continued success as a business”.

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Joyce approached Checkside in mid-2021 seeking assistance and guidance around reviewing and re-setting its strategic framework to establish a solid foundation from which to further develop and execute its strategic direction.

Checkside worked with Board and management over a series of management and board workshops in mid-2021 to capture and clarify the revised strategy and reposition the business to drive a clear focus on distinct markets and opportunities that leverage the core Joyce competencies and competitive advantage.

The engagement solidified a view around the fundamental “Why” for Joyce together with a renewed Corporate Vision underpinned by a clear Purpose and Values, coupled with a strong primary objective that resonates with both the Joyce team and the market.

This work also set the foundation for future growth by delivering clarity around the unique value proposition that Joyce presents which in turn allowed the board and management to focus on the “swim lanes” they should be operating in, and which potential growth and expansion opportunities should be pursued (and ignored).

Client Outcomes

The outputs from this engagement have since been adopted by the business and embedded into corporate presentation materials, company website and annual reports published by the company.  A clear messaging platform has been established for both internal and external stakeholders which has set the scene for further maturation and deepening of the corporate strategy moving forward.

In summary, Checkside has helped to lay critical foundational work that will help Joyce to deliver on their primary corporate objective of driving revenue growth and delivering above average returns.

CEO Commentary

According to their MD and CEO Dan Madden “As a result of a management restructure and planned Board transition we wanted to bring a refreshed strategic lens to our business and engaged Checkside to assist with this process.  Checkside played an invaluable and integral role assisting myself and the Board in the review and re-assessment of our Vision, Purpose and Values and our Strategic Direction.

As a result of the review, we have a renewed clarity around our purpose and identity and clear foundations for a strategic direction that seeks to take advantage of both our organic growth opportunities and to leverage our core Joyce competencies and competitive advantage in a focused and disciplined way.

Checkside understood the job to done and brought a clear appreciation of the nuances involved with being an ASX listed entity.  Both myself and the Board enjoyed working with the Checkside team and appreciated and valued the insights, advice and facilitation provided throughout the review process which was delivered in a clear, open, honest and engaging way.”

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KCA’s recruitment services division provides clients with hundreds of skilled and experienced resources every year: from entry level exploration drillers’ offsiders – to underground drillers, operators and service crew – to mobile plant operators – to a range or technical and white-collar roles.

KCA’s equipment hire and sales department offers a wide range of machinery to service the mining and construction sectors: from underground integrated tool carriers to excavators and jumbo drill rigs.

KCA approached Checkside in mid-2021 seeking guidance around business strategy and execution support to help plan for the acceleration from a successful scale-up business – Adam was a recipient of the WA Business News 40under 40 Award – to a sustainable professional business.

Adam and Kade had energy and enthusiasm – and were considering several concurrent growth initiatives. Our first step was to ensure the current state, envisioned future and alternative growth options were carefully considered – and to clarify and distilled a winning strategy through a series of strategic workshops.

With the strategy clarified, the high-level organisational structure was reviewed, culminating in some challenging decisions around roles, responsibilities and succession planning for the founders.

Following completion of the strategy development work, we worked with KCA to engage their team with the business strategy.

KCA then engaged Checkside to assist with strategy execution. As business seeking to grow by diversification – whilst simultaneously leveraging its core business – it was critical that all divisions were operating effectively and delivering their contribution to the group’s strategic growth plans.

With a mix of tenured and new managers, KCA believed it was essential to build an operating system that ensured all team members understood the KPIs, strategic objectives and demonstrated a high level of accountability.

An operating rhythm has been successfully established, with Checkside facilitating regular sessions to check in on performance against KPIs, delivery against strategic objectives and accountability for key actions – as well as resetting strategic objectives on a periodic basis. We also provide regular coaching and consulting services to KCA’s founders and managers to drive high performance and help them successfully deal with issues and opportunities as they arise.

Client Outcomes

KCA are now more focused and accountable than ever – despite a particularly challenging operating environment marked by labour shortages, rising costs and supply chain issues.

The results for KCA so far have been strong. On the back of a clearly articulated strategy, KCA is operating with an increased awareness of long-term financial sustainability – which has in turn driven a sizeable increase in both revenue and profitability.  KCA’s founders and management team is focused, well organised and has settled into a disciplined rhythm of strategy execution, underpinned by a robust and tailored operating system.  This operating system is facilitating clear, concise communication and a collegiate focus on the most important issues and opportunities. KCA are well positioned to break through to the next stage of business maturity and scale.

Managing Director Commentary

According to their Managing Director and co-founder, Adam Wilson “Checkside have done a great job already. They have nailed our strategy and this has given my co-founder, the team and I renewed focus, confidence and energy. The two things that have given me the most confidence are:
1) Checkside 100% understands our business and what we want, and
2) We have a strategic plan and are developing an operating rhythm that is delivering real productivity and performance increases from our team.
We value Checkside’s approach and industry experience – and have had a number of breakthrough moments in our coaching and consulting sessions already. I am excited about the direction we are headed in – and would strongly recommend Scott and Checkside to any business owner looking to take their business to the next level“.

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With a desire to drive growth and develop their internal succession plans, Tradeware engaged Checkside in March 2019.  Kicking off with our initial business analysis, we then ran strategy and structuring workshops with the management team in Adelaide resulting in a strategy on a page (SOAP) being developed with clear priorities and objectives outlined for the FY20 year.

In line with the initial strategy development, we reviewed the structure from both a functional and succession planning perspective, culminating in the decision to recruit a new National Sales Manager to free up the Managing Director to focus on important strategic initiatives (including acquisitions)  moves that have subsequently delivered strong returns for the business.  Changes have since also been made within the product development and marketing functions, which has allowed one of the working directors to implement their own succession plan.

This alignment of organisation structure with strategy was further complemented by the decision to commence our Leadership Turbocharge program across the business.  Commencing with a program for the senior management team, relevant modules of the program were then cascaded to a number of other leadership groups within the business, including regional sales managers, regional warehouse supervisors and future leaders.

Client Outcomes

Cascading the development program across all levels of leadership at Tradeware enabled a consistent language around leadership and a common approach to coaching and developing people. Tradeware has also widely adopted the use of PRINT®, a motivational model and assessment tool incorporated into our Leadership Turbocharge program, rolling it out through a number of their teams to assist them in strengthening relationships and adapting to new ways of working through COVID-19.

Alongside their investment in people, Tradeware have embraced the disciplines of a high-performance operating system to regularly review and clarify their strategy, priorities and objectives – and continue to ‘raise the bar higher’. The system in place has been built to incorporate and influence the business’ individual performance feedback process, ensuring that strategic objectives and KPIs are cascaded effectively through the business.

The results for Tradeware have been excellent. The business enjoyed record growth in FY20 and again in FY21 despite the challenges of COVID-19, and they have kicked off FY22 with further growth as they go from strength to strength.

Managing Director Commentary

According to their Managing Director, Gavin Carey, “It was an important decision to find the right partner to advise and help develop our team and organisational structure. Time has shown this to be a super decision. Checkside took the time to understand our people and our business using a clear and pragmatic approach. It has become a strong relationship where they continue to provide insight and structure to help optimise and drive our business priorities.

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The first step was to conduct a detailed organisational review, which included a formal staff feedback process. A foundational pillar of the engagement was to subsequently develop an integrated business plan and Strategy on a Page (SOAP) to guide group decision making.

Two critical elements emerged for Pacific Finance from this initial review:

1. the need to streamline its structure and build a strong support network around each Director by training new graduates from the ground up; and
2. the importance of continuing to invest in its core team and ensure success is adequately rewarded

Checkside also established a new series of operating rhythms for Pacific Finance in order to support the execution of the strategic plan and worked closely with a highly-capable financial partner (Your Financial Controller) from Checkside’s network of trusted partners to develop and embed a detailed financial dashboard for the business.

Client Outcomes

Once established, the financial dashboard significantly improved visibility, developed stronger accountability and facilitated more timely decisions making for the business.

The engagement also highlighted the requirement to support the internal management team in order to deliver both operational efficiencies and succession pathways for key staff.  A crticial element of facilitating these changes was to support the emerging management team with expert capability building and coaching.

Checkside’s Leadership turbocharge program provided the necessary development and coaching for the operational leadership group to iteratively shape the business to create clearer lines of accountability, and build a comprehensive monthly operational dashboard to compliment financial reporting.

The results for Pacific have been impressive, streamlining the organisational structure and allowing key personnel to be retained and grow.  The group recorded increased growth of 20% in FY21 and the impact has continued into FY22, with significant outperformance being delivered compared to budget.

Managing Director Commentary

According to Managing Director, Jeff Doig “Pacific engaged Checkside to ensure we were well structured and equipped to take the business well into the future. We wanted to set in place succession planning and business growth. Checkside helped identify and implement what we needed and has assisted us to put in place clear foundations for the longevity of the staff and the business.”

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The initial focus of Checkside work centred around organisational design and workforce planning to ensure the right structure was in place to support strategy execution, and importantly the right talent was identified and secured at the right time to lead and drive performance in the business.  This resulted in the MOD senior executive and management team being significantly bolstered and matured over 2018.

The Checkside engagement with MOD grew exponentially in late 2018 as the business began to expand and the T3 project gathered significant momentum.  Over a 24-month period Checkside assisted develop a framework to mature the organisational capability to manage the growth in headcount and drive high performance as the team and business expanded. This included the following elements:

• Strategy – generation of a Strategy Roadmap (including a Strategy on a Page) to clearly capture and communicate the corporate strategy and enable the broader business to connect with the critical drivers and objectives.
• Purpose and values – defining the core purpose and values of the business and the behaviours and standards to help drive accountability
• Organisational design and development – further detailed organisational design work was completed and a full workforce plan developed to complement and dovetail with the feasibility study being completed
• Strategy execution – setting the right KPIs and ensuring they are simple, important and measurable (SIM).  Creating the right meeting cadence to ensure feedback is delivered and objectives are adjusted accordingly.
• Remuneration strategy – setting the remuneration strategy and policy, addressing a remuneration strike in 2018 and communicating the actions taken to address concerns. Also establishing appropriate incentive plans and structures that were focused on strategy execution to drive the right behaviours and help achieve corporate objectives.
• Board capability assessment – board capability assessment undertaken to underpin succession planning at the board level

Work was also done to leverage technology via the selection and implementation of an appropriate cloud-based platform to manage online performance reviews and drive engagement and feedback.  Guidance was also provided to manage risk via coaching and oversight to help develop template policies and contracts to standardise agreements and establish risk management frameworks.

Our engagement with MOD assisted the company through a significant growth curve and helped to position it well to deliver a valuable outcome for shareholders via Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR) takeover of MOD for in excess of AUD$160m.

Chairman of MOD, Mark Clements, commented:

“When you’re a sub $100M market cap company striving for rapid growth you need to entice quality people into the organisation and strengthen your register with a supportive institutional investor base. You can only do that if you can demonstrate how you are planning to deliver upon your vision and that you’re setting processes in place to behave like an ASX300 company. Checkside understood our strategy and recognised where the gaps were right from the start. Importantly they had the full suite of resources available for us to immediately improve aspects of our board capability, corporate governance, human resources and remuneration strategies. With the assistance of Checkside we were able to assemble a great team and establish tailored governance practices that reinforced the positive culture within the organisation, instilled confidence with institutional investors and ultimately rewarded all shareholders.”

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With a significant product development strategy in play, Total Synergy engaged Checkside to ensure the company was well positioned to handle future growth.

Following our initial business analysis and strategy workshop in 2015, we developed a game plan focused on engaging the team with the business strategy and objectives – and building strong cultural foundations. We designed and embedded the people and performance framework needed to support future growth, developed a clear and distinctive employer brand (in conjunction with Total Synergy’s amazing marketing team) and trained team leaders in implementing key people and performance processes, including delivering our Leadership Turbocharge program.

Over the last 5 years we have developed a high performance operating system and worked with team leaders to set company objectives, cascade these to all team members and drive performance and engagement via regular 1:1s and feedback meetings. We also helped select and implement a fit-for-purpose HR information system (HRIS) and have implemented a new recruitment process to ensure the company is well positioned to attract, select and retain A-Grade talent.

The outcomes for Total Synergy have been clear alignment between employee and business objectives, increased efficiency from their HRIS, consistent processes and improved recruitment outcomes. The company is also enjoying stronger engagement in the brand identity as they gain traction and take on the world!

Scott Osborne, CEO of Total Synergy, commented:

“I engaged Checkside because we needed help to improve the way we managed our people — leadership, people management and recruitment. Checkside has helped our leadership and management teams become smarter and more effective at dealing with people and performance matters, and they’ve helped us prioritise important things like employer brand so we’re positioned as an employer of choice in a competitive recruitment environment.

I’d recommend Checkside for companies looking to improve their people and performance processes and embed effective leadership habits. They’ve made a real impact at Total Synergy.”

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We began working with Stevenson Logistics in 2012. After setting a game plan for business transition and change, we helped their executive team build stronger engagement with their teams and implement new people and performance management systems. We also helped with their succession plans and recruited A-Grade executives into the team, including a CEO to devise and implement Stevenson Logistics’ future strategy.

On the back of successful changes, Stevenson Logistics was the joint-recipient of the Australasian ‘SME Turnaround of the Year’ by the Australian Turnaround Management Association in September 2014.

Stevenson’s also engaged Checkside to deliver our Leadership Turbocharge program to the management team in 2015. On the back of a ‘fast track’ six month program, the management team had a framework for making better, more commercial decisions – and leading more engaged and productive teams.

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