We love working with businesses that have a clear vision and ambition, and there’s nothing more satisfying than watching them evolve and grow with our support.
Good communications strategy and planning isn’t just about a brand, media or content – it’s about how all these align and pull together to help a business thrive and achieve its goals.
One benefit of an external strategic PR consultancy is that its team can take a step back and see the bigger picture – providing valuable insight into how to shape a brand and its messaging to help get it where it wants to be.
Another is that a consultancy can be incredibly flexible, providing support where and when it is most needed at any given time.
The team at Basingstoke-based Reality HR understand this perfectly.
Like Polymedia’s team, they are highly experienced consultants who collaborate closely with clients and work hard to meet their specific needs.
They can run the entire HR function for an organisation, step in for larger projects, run training, or temporarily fill gaps in staffing – whatever it takes.
Reality HR engaged Polymedia in 2018 to collaborate with the in-house Marketing Manager for media and communications, helping to ramp up the business’s visibility as the CEO, Sally-Ann Hall-Jones and her leadership team set the business on a path for growth.
As the relationship developed, Reality HR and Polymedia identified a need to update the brand and website to better reflect its target audiences – especially its ability to support larger businesses and to work with in-house HRs on major projects.
Working alongside Jodie Case, Marketing Manager, we made sure Reality HR’s core message – helping people reach their full potential so businesses thrive – was at the heart of a new-look website.
With those foundations in place, the scene was set for planned, strategic and regular content campaigns providing employers and managers with valuable information and insight into employment legislation, employee health and wellbeing, and how to get the best from their teams.
A series of blogs, guides, LinkedIn posts and selected media opportunities all work together to draw audiences back to the website, which has become a treasure trove of resources for businesses.
The Reality HR consultant team developed and delivered a series of free webinars, using guides created in collaboration with Polymedia. These webinars have been hugely successful in driving new business, showcasing the team’s ability to transform resources into impactful campaigns. Social media training for the Reality HR team also helped the business and its consultants build an engaged audience on LinkedIn.
The flexible approach came into its own when a period of maternity leave in the in-house team coincided with an increase in demand for HR support from businesses during the pandemic.
During this period, Polymedia supported Reality HR by helping to keep their audience up to date with new concepts such as furlough, the sudden enforced period of working at home, employee health and wellbeing during lockdown, and the challenges of the various periods of restrictions.
Towards the end of 2024, Polymedia supported Reality HR as the business achieved one of its key objectives – the growth through acquisition of another HR company. The deal between Reality HR and Hertfordshire-based HR Initiatives, which came in Reality HR’s 20th successful year, created one of the largest independent HR consultancies in the UK.
A strength of the partnership has been seen in how the relationship has evolved according to need, with periods of increased support such as those during the brand exercise and pandemic campaigns, and other times when Polymedia has supported the in-house team with content at a level that works with them.
Jodie and Molly Henson, Polymedia’s Senior Consultant, who leads on the Reality HR account, have formed a strong partnership, combining their respective strengths and skills to ensure the seamless delivery of blogs, employer updates and social media posts each month.
At all times, the team know that the wider Polymedia team are on hand to provide whatever is needed – whether that is day to day support, a media push, or to act as a sounding board.
Jodie Case, Marketing Manager, Reality HR, says: “The Polymedia team are there when I need them – they are highly responsive, creative and always able to collaborate with us in a way that complements and enhances our work in-house.
“They really do feel like an extension of our own team, helping us deliver a planned and consistent programme of topical content that showcases the knowledge and insight of Reality HR’s specialists.”
Sally-Ann Hall-Jones, CEO, says: “Polymedia are a long-standing and trusted partner, always at our side, and have played a significant role as our business has grown, making sure the brand and communications reflect our position as a leader in HR consultancy.
“We greatly appreciate the strategic view they bring as well as their ability to be flexible, working in true partnership with our in-house team and always there to provide extra support when we need them.”
