Customer Stories
The Personnel Group
This not-for-profit that services people with disabilities modernised its board work with OnBoard, giving directors easier access to papers, smoother meetings, and a simpler way to manage governance tasks.
Customer Stories
This not-for-profit that services people with disabilities modernised its board work with OnBoard, giving directors easier access to papers, smoother meetings, and a simpler way to manage governance tasks.
Industry:
Not-for-profits
Headquarters: Wodonga, Victoria, Australia
Board Management Goals
Results
OnBoard Capabilities Utilised
Since 1986, The Personnel Group has helped people with disability take part in work and community life. The not-for-profit has grown steadily, expanding across several states while keeping a strong focus on disability employment support. As Executive Assistant to the CEO Libby Pattison explains, the organisation exists to “support people that have barriers to employment or access to being part of the community.”
Today, the organisation continues to place people with disability into open employment roles across Australia. “We’re very proud of the sheer volume of people that we’ve supported to move into the open employment world,” says Libby, who also serves as The Personnel Group’s Facilities Coordinator. “We’ve been a very effective organisation, and we’re still around because of that.”
As the organisation grew, its board work needed a clearer, more practical way to handle meeting papers. That need eventually led The Personnel Group to adopt OnBoard.
Before choosing a board portal, The Personnel Group kept things simple — sometimes too simple. “We literally just put together a big PDF document and emailed it out,” Libby says. The approach worked when the organisation was smaller, but growth brought extra paperwork, more meetings, and higher expectations for security.
The work itself also brought added requirements. Because the organisation delivers federal government-funded disability employment services, its systems must meet strict contract and cybersecurity rules. Libby recalls that early research into board software had to start with compliance checks. “We had to ascertain whether organisations could supply the correct criteria we had to pass,” she says. Their IT team reviewed options closely.
The old PDF-and-email approach also placed extra work on board members, who had trouble keeping past papers together or finding materials quickly. The team needed a central place to keep everything neat, safe, and easy to revisit.
Libby and the former CEO reviewed two or three board portals before making a decision. Once they confirmed which systems met the required security needs, they began comparing features and ease of use.
After speaking with providers and reviewing demos, the choice was clear. “We settled on OnBoard as being the most appropriate and the best at the time,” Libby says. The platform offered a clean experience for board members without forcing the internal team to change how they built board papers.
Another factor was the flexibility of access. Board members are spread across different states, and some live far from the organisation’s head office. OnBoard’s ability to work across laptops, iPads, and phones stood out. “It’s quite versatile,” Libby says. “I’ve seen board members bring in laptops, iPads, even just their phone.”
When the time came to set up OnBoard, Libby led the process. She describes implementation as fast and straightforward. “It was actually quite easy to learn,” she says. “Once anybody gets in and starts using it, it takes very little time to figure it out.”
The training materials helped the team move quickly. “The videos were helpful,” Libby recalls. After a short handover and some exploration, the administration team felt confident running meetings in the platform.
Even new leaders pick it up easily. As Libby prepares for retirement, she has been handing her responsibilities to her successor. “It’s been a simple thing to hand over because it’s quite easy to learn,” she says. Her replacement began using the platform independently after only a day of practice.
The organisation rarely needs outside help now. “Once we got started, we really haven’t needed any assistance,” Libby says.
While the administration team still builds the raw meeting materials the same way it always has, storing and sharing them is now much smoother. Board members can browse papers at their own pace, revisit past meetings, and keep reference materials in one place.
“It makes it easier for board members because it’s all there for them to go back to as they need to,” Libby says. “They can go in and out and find things. They can reference things.”
The team also keeps ongoing resources, like the board manual, inside the platform. Libby says having everything centralised helps board members feel supported and organised.
For her own work, OnBoard simplifies preparation and follow-up. “It’s easier for me to jump on with doing minutes and stuff like that,” she explains. Tasks that used to involve file searches and email threads now sit in one clean workspace.
The Personnel Group holds occasional out-of-cycle meetings when issues arise. On those days, speed matters more than usual. “When we have ad hoc meetings, OnBoard helps with the speed of getting it out there,” Libby says. Board members get notifications and can access new papers straight away.
The platform has also proven helpful for approvals outside regular meetings. “We used it a few years ago for a circular resolution,” Libby recalls. The team keeps the option available when fast decisions are needed.
— Libby Pattison, Executive Assistant to the CEO, The Personnel Group
As The Personnel Group continues to expand its footprint, governance work remains steady. The core board process will stay much the same, even as programs evolve and new services are added.
From Libby’s perspective, the platform will continue to play a key role as the organisation attracts more board members from across Australia. “It’s going to continue to be a good way to share information easily,” she says.
The leadership team agrees the investment is worthwhile, especially for a not-for-profit that must weigh every cost. “We’ve looked at other options,” Libby says. “But we’ve pretty much decided that this is still a good one and it’s worth having.” She adds that the platform “does the trick for us and simplifies things,” reducing the time the team spends managing board logistics.
Having researched several tools before choosing OnBoard, Libby feels confident recommending it to other purpose-driven organisations. “As a product for this purpose, it’s a very good one,” she says. She has already shared the recommendation with board members who asked about it.
For The Personnel Group, OnBoard offers clarity, ease, and ongoing support for board work. As Libby puts it: “We’re pretty happy with how we’re going with it.”
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