28th May, 2025
By Mark Dyson, Practice Director – Southern Region, HR Crowd
When I joined HR Crowd just over 18 months ago, the Southern Region was a blank canvas. It was just me — no team, no clients, just a vision. What drew me here wasn’t a flashy pitch, but a deep sense that this was a business where people truly came first.
I’d worked with Judith (HR Crowd Co-CEO) on a project around two decades ago. When she and Hernus (HR Crowd Chairman) reached out, it wasn’t just about a role, it was about building something meaningful. That leap of faith has turned out to be one of the most rewarding chapters of my career.
📍 Territory: VIC, SA, TAS (WA coming soon)
👥 Team: Rapidly growing, regionally anchored and nationally connected
💼 Clients: From zero to 10 complex, large enterprises onboarded in just 12 months
🏥 Industries: Health, Government, Mining, Not-for-profit
🔧 Work: From 2-week health checks to 10-month SAP implementations
🌐 TeamModel: Cross-regional collaboration with wider ANZ-based consultants 🧭 Approach: Roadmap-led, outcome-focused, and truly client specific
Starting from scratch gave me the rare opportunity to be intentional. Every client, hire and process was built with care. We weren’t aiming to be the biggest — but we could be the most hands-on, values-led, and pragmatic.
That focus has paid off. In the past 12 months, we’ve grown to ten complex large-enterprise southern region clients — from quick-turnaround advisory to full-scale SAP SuccessFactors implementations. We’ve built a passionate and capable (and still growing!) team, supported by amazing colleagues across the HR Crowd network, including in New Zealand.
We’ve also delivered across the people experience: EC, payroll, talent, time, and AMS— always with a boutique, relationship-first approach that sets us apart.
Why we’re different — and why that matters
Plenty of consultancies say they deliver value, but few have the model to back it up. Every major engagement starts with a roadmap — a structured, collaborative approach to uncover real pain points, priorities and potential. From there, we scale our support to fit what the client needs, not what suits our resourcing model.
Clients consistently tell us they appreciate the depth of experience and the quality of insight they get, not just from our advisory team, but from every consultant we place. That’s because everyone here brings more than technical skill, they bring care, curiosity, and a commitment to seeing the big picture.
Of course, growth brings its own challenges. Talent is always front of mind, particularly in the payroll space, where finding enough great people in the Southern market can be tough. But the upside is that our brand is now known. The shift from “who’s HR Crowd?” to “I’ve heard really good things” has opened doors to incredible people.
The other big one? Culture. We’ve worked hard to protect the small-team energy, even as we grow. That means encouraging openness, recognising contribution, and supporting each other. You can feel the difference when you’re part of it. People share knowledge freely and genuinely want each other to succeed.
One thing I really value at HR Crowd is how much we support each other, not just at work, but in life outside of I play in a band called Dog’s Breakfast, and a some of the team has come along to gigs (no pressure, then!). And when my daughter Caitlin needed a work base in Sydney, she w as able to use the HR Crowd office. It’s those small, genuine gestures that show what kind of place this is. People care. They pitch in and they make space for the things that matter outside of work too.
The next phase of our journey is about smart, sustainable expansion, both geographically and in terms of capability. We’ve got our sights on WA and Tasmania, while deepening our work in Victoria and South Australia.
Demand from state and federal government is also rising, a space where our team’s experience, especially with complex requirements and integration challenges, is proving hugely valuable.
And through it all, we’re focused on staying true to what made us successful in the first place: meaningful relationships, honest conversations, and delivering tangible value at every step.
What I love most about HR Crowd is that we don’t just talk about values — we live them. Whether it’s mentorship from senior leaders, quick kudos for a job well done, or just the openness to ask for help when you need it, this is a place where people show up for each other.
In a market that’s heating up, that kind of culture isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s our edge. And as we continue to grow, my job is to protect it and help more people experience what it means to be part of something genuinely different.
Here’s to another big year ahead and building something even better, together.
If you're curious about how we work, want to collaborate, or are looking for your next consulting opportunity, get in touch with Mark Dyson or the HR Crowd Team!
Author biography
Mark Dyson is the Southern Region Practice Director at HR Crowd.
Mark has over 25 years of SAP expertise in the HCM and SuccessFactors space. Mark spent 10 years at SAP and has since moved into key Enterprise Architect roles for large enterprise organisations across mining, banking, retail, FMCG and more.
