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Nearly one in three Australian workers plan to leave their current employer in 2026 (Perkbox/YouGov). In agencies and consultancies specifically, 18% are actively thinking about a move right now, and 10% expect to be gone within two years (Culture Amp, 2025). Most leaders are not surprised by those numbers. What tends to surprise them is where the data points next: excessive workload has overtaken pay as the primary driver of intent to leave, at 26% versus 18% (Perkbox/YouGov

January is when professional services firms lose their best people. But this seasonal exodus isn't inevitable. The secret? Start your retention strategy in Q4—before employees mentally check out. Stay interviews, career conversations, and strategic flexibility can reduce turnover by up to 40%. Don't wait until resignation letters land on your desk.

Informal listening works well in a small team. A founder who knows everyone, picks up on shifts in mood, and checks in regularly over coffee can stay reasonably connected to what is happening across their business. Around ten people, that starts to break down. Not because the founder stops caring, but because the signal-to-noise ratio changes. There are more conversations happening, more perspectives in play, and more ways for real concerns to get absorbed into the daily nois

Adapted from an article originally published in Inside Small Business, June 2025. Most small professional services firms do not have a formal onboarding process. They have a rough first day, a login to hand over, and a manager who tries to cover the essentials between client calls. That gets the person started — but it rarely sets them up. Only 29% of new employees say they feel fully prepared and supported after their onboarding experience (Gallup). That is a lot of people b

It is easy to look at what the larger businesses are offering — sign-on bonuses, unlimited leave, stock options, in-house everything — and conclude that small professional services businesses cannot compete on employee experience. That framing is wrong, and it leads to the wrong strategy. The businesses that try to replicate what large organisations do with employee experience rarely win. They spend money on initiatives that do not fit their size or culture, and they end up w