How AHT Strengthened its Workplace Culture with Support from The Woohoo Co.
As Adelaide-based electrical infrastructure specialist company AHT grew, so too did its people’s needs. Working with The Woohoo Co. helped Managing Director Andrew Russell in many ways. It helped him understand what his team was experiencing, which enabled him to set clearer expectations and navigate a challenging period for AHT’s workplace culture.
For Andrew, the partnership has also brought something personal: support from people who care about how he is going, as well as how the business is going.
Meet AHT
Formerly known as Adelaide Health Tech, AHT specialises in electrical work specifically for the healthcare sector. It boasts a team of skilled electricians whose specialist knowledge is highly valuable to the business and the environments they work in.
Earlier in AHT’s journey, Andrew managed much of the HR and industrial relations work himself. As the company grew, he recognised that their approach to supporting people needed to evolve too. The Woohoo Co. helped him see needs he had not yet identified and build a deeper understanding of the individuals behind the work.
Healthcare Electrical Services | Adelaide, SA |
HR Consulting & Advisory
Website URL: https://ahtgroup.com.au/
Number of staff: 22
Established: 2013 (as Adelaide Health Tech before changing to AHT Group in 2018)
Hear from Andrew
Andrew shares how The Woohoo Co.’s support has helped him understand his people and feel supported in his own role as a business leader.
So they care about my people. They’ve cared about me. I think that says everything about these guys.”
- Andrew Russell, Managing Director, AHT
Challenge
Understanding what was happening beneath the surface
As is the case in many workplaces, the individual strengths, perspectives, and needs of the specialist AHT team meant navigating a melting pot of differences. Understanding those differences became particularly important during a difficult period when behaviours within the business were affecting workplace culture.
Approach
Listening to the team and supporting the leader
Andrew engaged Sue and Bec from The Woohoo Co. to hold one-to-one conversations with AHT’s people. Those discussions brought underlying feelings and concerns to the surface, and offered a clearer view of what employees were experiencing.
The conversations also challenged Andrew to reflect on his own approach. As the team developed a better understanding of how individuals affected one another, AHT could then work through the issues over time.
Alongside the culture work, The Woohoo Co. supported the development of AHT’s policy and procedure library, including inductions and handbooks. For Andrew, these were tangible changes that helped make expectations clearer and gave people something they could refer to.
AHT also used IRIS capability assessments to gain insight into their peoplooksle’s capabilities and maturity levels. Andrew found this useful when considering development: doing a current job well does not necessarily mean someone is ready for the demands of managing others. He also recognised that AHT could do more with the tool.
Throughout the partnership, Andrew valued the personal care Sue and Bec brought to their work. Leadership could be a difficult and lonely experience, and having people who asked how he was navigating it mattered to him.
The Value of IRIS Capability Assessments
Results
Andrew describes the cultural change within the organisation as gradual. Understanding developed over days, weeks, and months as people reflected on their experiences and their impact on colleagues. At the time of the interview, he said AHT was back to enjoying a positive and engaged culture.
The documentation provided another practical outcome: a stronger library of policies, procedures, inductions, and handbooks that clarified team expectations.
For Andrew, the value of the AHT/Woohoo Co. partnership also lies in its focus on people. He wants AHT to be a business where people can thrive, while recognising that commercial success remains necessary. The Woohoo Co.’s support has helped him better understand his team and feel cared for in his own role.
A more positive culture and clearer expectations
Let’s chat
Is your business growing, or are you working through a people or culture challenge? Talk to The Woohoo Co. about what your team needs and how we can support you.