Meet The Team
Karen Vercoe
Founder & Director
Karen Vercoe founded The HR People in 2010 following an extensive 20-plus-year career in the professional services sector, primarily within law firms. Her career includes international experience, having managed HR and Operations for a law firm in the Middle East. Upon returning to Australia, she established The HR People.
Karen began her academic journey in 2000, earning a Bachelor of Commerce over six years while balancing full-time work and raising two young children.
Karen has been married since 1986 and has two grown daughters, two sons-in-law, and two grandchildren. She currently resides on the Sunshine Coast with her husband, where she leads a dedicated team of HR experts, providing comprehensive Human Resources services to a diverse clientele.
Contact Information:
For any HR-related assistance, please reach out to Karen Vercoe at:
Email: kvercoe@thehrpeople.com.au
Phone: 0408 008 678
Karen Vercoe is here to help - when experience matters.
Brigit Steindl
HR Consultant
Brigit Steindl brings over 20 years of extensive experience in Human Resources and Employment Relations to HR People. She began her distinguished career within the Queensland Government, contributing to the Departments of Health and Emergency Services.
Subsequently, Brigit dedicated 15 years to Government Owned Corporations in the Energy Sector, where she held HR specialist and senior managerial roles in both Industrial Relations and Human Resources. During her tenure, she built strong and effective relationships with managers across various businesses, leveraging HR partnerships to drive significant business success. Brigit's expertise includes dispute resolution, negotiation, and representation before industrial tribunals.
Her areas of special interest encompass Diversity and Inclusion, Leadership, and Performance Management, with a focus on enabling individuals to deliver their best performance at work. Her expertise extends to conducting thorough workplace investigations into allegations of bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment and providing structured reports to support decision making and guide appropriate action for resolution of these matters.
Brigit is committed to providing high-standard HR support to help businesses thrive. She holds a Bachelor of Science and a Graduate Diploma in Human Resources and Industrial Relations. Brigit Steindl for all your HR consulting needs.
Contact Information:
For any HR-related assistance, please reach out to Brigit Steindl at:
Email: brigit@thehrpeople.com.au
Phone: 0418 786 090
Brigit Steindl for all your HR consulting needs.
Karen Howe
HR Consultant
Karen Howe is a highly accomplished Human Resources Consultant with decades of experience partnering with organisations ranging from small businesses to large corporations across diverse industries. With extensive expertise in human resources management, workforce strategy, compliance, and organisational development, Karen is passionate about helping businesses build strong, productive, and engaged workforces.
Throughout her career, Karen has successfully led a range of complex HR initiatives, including directing NDIS funding strategy for Team Dylan Collective Pty Ltd and implementing integrated Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) to streamline payroll, improve administrative efficiency, and strengthen compliance frameworks.
Karen has extensive experience managing large and complex payroll systems within fast paced, multi industry environments. Her strong technical and analytical capabilities ensure payroll accuracy, legislative compliance, and the timely delivery of critical business services.
A skilled policy and compliance specialist, Karen has successfully reviewed and updated employee handbooks to align with legislative changes while improving clarity and accessibility for employees and management alike. She has also developed comprehensive position descriptions and selection criteria frameworks that support effective recruitment, workforce planning, and performance management.
Known for her practical approach and strong stakeholder engagement skills, Karen works closely with business owners and leadership teams to improve workplace communication and employee relations. By establishing effective communication frameworks between management and staff, she has helped organisations increase transparency, reduce misunderstandings, and significantly decrease employee grievances.
Karen is committed to delivering tailored HR solutions that support business growth, minimise risk, and create positive workplace cultures where both organisations and employees can thrive.
Contact Information:
For any HR-related assistance, please reach out to Karen Howe at:
Email: khowe@thehrpeople.com.au
Phone: 0407 387 476
Karen Howe for all your HR consulting needs.
Sally Loudon
Payroll Specialist
Sally has more than 18 years of experience in the complex field of the Australian payroll system. She began her career with data entry and advanced to the position of Payroll Manager for a medium-sized construction company, primarily working within the Oil and Gas and Mining Industries.
In recent years, Sally has expanded her expertise to include the Retail and Manufacturing Industries. She completed a Diploma of Payroll Management with the Australian Payroll Association in 2014.
Throughout her career, Sally has gained extensive experience across a broad range of payroll activities. She is highly skilled in interpreting Awards and Enterprise Agreements, calculating termination and redundancy payments, and ensuring compliance with superannuation and taxation regulations, as well as managing all other aspects of payroll.
Contact Information:
For any payroll-related assistance, please reach out to Sally Loudon at:
Email: sloudon@thehrpeople.com.au
Phone: 0404 303 859
Sally is here to provide expert guidance and support for all your payroll needs.
Taryn Ashton
HR Consultant
Taryn Ashton is a Toowoomba local and joined the team in September 2014 to provide our services to our Toowoomba clients and all over Australia. Taryn has generalist experience in Human Resources, starting her career within Organisational Development and Training. Taryn enjoys all aspects of HR, with particular expertise in implementing HR systems to improve business operations, end to end recruitment, induction development and delivery, resume development and formatting and training.
Taryn has worked across a number of industries including Oil and Gas, Higher Education, Government and Aerospace. Taryn has a particular interest and flair for developing client relationships, an important aspect in working together to achieve a successful outcome for our clients.
Contact Information:
For any HR-related assistance, please reach out to Taryn Ashton at:
Email: taryn@thehrpeople.com.au
Phone: 0421 178 762
Taryn Ashton for all your HR consulting needs.
Nicole Catterson
HR Consultant
Nicole Catterson brings extensive experience across Human Resources, Employment Relations, Organisational Behaviour, and Workforce Capability. Throughout her career, she has partnered with leaders, business owners, and organisations across industries including heavy industry, construction, finance, education, and sport, helping them navigate complex people challenges while building capable leaders, engaged teams, and positive workplace cultures.
Nicole has deep experience across the employee lifecycle, supporting organisations to design and implement people strategies aligned with both operational and strategic priorities. Her expertise includes employee and industrial relations, HRIS’s, performance and conduct management, workforce planning, policy development, workplace investigations, recruitment, organisational change, leadership support, psychosocial risk management, and HR compliance. Drawing on both corporate and consulting experience, she helps leaders manage risk and implement practical, fit-for-purpose people solutions.
She is known for her pragmatic approach, trusted relationships, and ability to translate complex people challenges into clear, actionable outcomes, including supporting leadership teams with strategy, governance, and people and policy frameworks.
A key area of her expertise is in training and organisational capability. Nicole has worked with business leaders to identify capability needs and implement learning strategies, overseeing training design, delivery, evaluation, vendor management, and budgets. She has also played an instrumental role in leading the Rail Industry Worker (RIW) Program for a major rail operator and across the national rail industry, supporting workforce capability, compliance, and competency management outcomes. Her experience also includes senior leadership within a global SaaS organisation, where she led learning and capability functions and implemented LMS and workforce compliance systems.
Her academic background in psychology underpins her approach, providing insight into human behaviour, motivation, workplace dynamics, and organisational performance. This combination of HR, learning and development, and business psychology enables her to deliver practical, evidence-based solutions that support both people and business outcomes.
Nicole holds a Master of Business Psychology, a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology, a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Business (Human Resources, Marketing and Management). She combines evidence-based practice with practical HR experience to deliver commercially sound, people-focused solutions aligned with organisational goals.
Contact Information:
For any HR-related assistance, please reach out to Nicole Catterson at:
Email: ncatterson@thehrpeople.com.au
Phone: 0414 797 593
Nicole Catterson for all your HR consulting needs.
Tori Redshaw
Contact Us
