Driving success through strategic staff retention in insolvency
27/05/2026
Guest Contributors
- Oliver Tompkins, Restructuring & Insolvency Supervisor, Cor Cordis
- Broghan Phillips, Senior Manager, Worrells
- Julie Scardamaglia, Partner - People, This Friday
In a competitive workplace environment, retention is now a vital strategic necessity. This article explores insights from an emerging practitioner, a senior manager, and a specialist consultant to discover what drives long-term staff commitment. Key factors include fostering trust, providing genuine flexibility, and prioritising clear career development. Implementing these strategies ensures consistent service while significantly enhancing firm productivity..
For modern insolvency firms, the most valuable asset doesn’t appear on a balance sheet. It sits at a desk, manages a complex liquidation, or mentors a new graduate. As the profession evolves, retaining these human assets has moved from a HR footnote to a core strategic priority.
To understand the mechanics of a sticky workplace, ARITA spoke with three distinct voices: Oliver Tompkins, an emerging young professional and supervisor at Cor Cordis in Perth; Broghan Phillips, a 14-year insolvency professional and Senior Manager at Worrells in Queensland; and Julie Scardamaglia, a Partner at specialist professional services consultancy firm This Friday. Together, they reveal that modern retention is built on a foundation of trust, deliberate career pathing, and the embrace of flexibility.
The business case for staff retention in professional services
For insolvency firms where people are the product, the cost of churn is more than just a recruitment fee, as Julie Scardamaglia explains.
"It is critical that firms are able to deliver the best possible outcomes and service for their clients consistently in order to succeed and thrive," she states.
"Acquiring, integrating, and training staff is costly and demanding. Losing people is therefore not just expensive but disruptive for continuing service and the wellbeing of those who remain".
Oliver Tompkins echoes this perspective from the front lines, noting that when a colleague leaves, they take a piece of the firm’s intellectual and social capital with them.
"You're not only losing the time and investment you put into train them, but also the knowledge they have on the files they're working on, the connections and contacts that they bring to the team, and also the cultural aspect," he notes.
A strong retention strategy is also a powerful recruitment tool. As Oliver observes, "Happy staff don't just stay with you, they sing it from the rooftops... if you're happy and you've got good policies, then you're going to tell other people in the industry, and you might just be recruiting more successfully as a result".
From a management perspective, Broghan Phillips equally argues that long-term staff are the ultimate brand ambassadors.
"What you get from [long-term staff] is a workforce that is committed to the product, because we're all selling a product at the end of the day in insolvency services," Broghan says.
"When you have staff that have been there for a long time and are entrenched in your culture and your values, then they're living and breathing that in how they deliver your product".
A path to progress: development and mentorship
If retention is the goal, what is the primary driver? For Oliver, the answer is relatively straightforward: "The headline [is] making staff feel trusted and valued above all else… And just fostering, a collaborative and welcoming culture," he says.
When a sense of being valued is missing, Broghan warns of the rise of "a transactional culture. People don't have ownership of their work... and then your engagement drops," she says.
“Then you don't have a tight-knit workforce that’s all working together with a common goal. It's a lot more of a scattered approach.”
These sentiments are backed by Julie, who points out that for staff, resignation is often about personal experience rather than money.
"People value their day-to-day enjoyment and future prospects more than the salary they receive," she says.
In this context, a recurring theme across all three interviews is that employees stay when they can see a future for themselves. Oliver highlights that for junior and mid-level practitioners, work must be about more than a payslip.
"Everyone's at the early stage of their career and they're wanting to build something and build up their skills. So, giving people a path and a way to do that in a good environment certainly helps," he notes, adding that Cor Cordis utilises a formal internal mentoring program where juniors meet regularly with seniors to discuss specific goals and the types of work they want to be doing.
Broghan similarly suggests that mentoring prevents staff from feeling like they are "just churning through job after job". She advocates for regular mentoring touchpoints on development, so that employees feel the business is genuinely invested in their progression.
Adapting to modern expectations
Perhaps the most significant shift in the profession is the rising demand for work-life integration. Julie observes that "successive generations have placed greater importance on wellbeing and the cultural elements that contribute to this".
She notes that younger professionals seek "greater meaning in their lives and work," and that status is no longer the prime motivator it once was.
Firms are responding with innovative policies. Oliver points to a "bonus leave policy" at Cor Cordis, which provides staff with an additional two weeks of annual leave on top of the standard four, which are cashed out as a bonus if not used.
"Giving people the flexibility to take extra time off in down time and refresh and recuperate I think is a good initiative. It helps to combat burnout and makes everyone feel supported," he explains.
He stresses that a "general attitude of flexibility" – such as allowing for school drop-offs or appointments without "punishing or mistrusting staff" – is becoming increasingly critical.
Broghan also acknowledges that while the industry "got good" at working from home during the pandemic, some firms are sliding back into old habits.
She believes newer generations are "valuing their mental health a lot more than we did back in the day" and are looking for a "whole package approach".
Setting the tone from the top
As Julie defines it, culture can be thought of as "the way we do things round here" in both the overt rules and the "unwritten rules or customs,” and she emphasises that leaders have the greatest impact on this culture.
"By modelling desired behaviours and calling out those that are unacceptable, they clarify what is important to the firm and show that the policies are real," she says.
Broghan provides a practical example of this from her experience of moving away from individual offices at Worrells.
"The managers, myself included, we’re just out in the open with everybody else. I think that's actually something that really helps because it makes your leaders more accessible and more like just one of the team," she says.
Citing Globle – the popular daily geography-based browser game inspired by Wordle – Broghan also highlights the power of informal team-based office engagements to break the ice and create a "professional family vibe".
Oliver adds that when leaders participate in informal activities, whether it's footy tipping or Friday drinks, it "helps to build that welcoming culture and make people want to stay.”
Advice for firms: how to close the retention gap
To improve retention, firms must be willing to look in and beyond the mirror. Julie advises leaders not to rely on the "grapevine" to understand their staff, as information is often filtered or misinterpreted. Similarly, internal feedback loops can be compromised if staff lack confidence in the anonymity of the process.
Instead, independent third parties can provide a more objective view for cultural assessments or exit interviews, potentially surfacing underlying issues such as systemic bullying or deep-seated dissatisfaction that may remain invisible to leadership.
Broghan recommends that firms regularly review their "employee value proposition" to ensure they are in line with the market regarding remuneration, benefits, and flexibility.
Oliver similarly suggests that failing to keep up with other industries and firms has its own risk.
“The junior staff member who’s just come off a big job and is feeling a bit tired or in need of a break - if they don't feel supported and don’t get a little bit of flexibility and be able to work in a way that suits them while still getting the job done, well, if the other firm or industry down the road is offering what they're looking for, they’re going to go down the road aren't they?” he states.
Subsequently, the Chair of the WA Young Professionals committee offers perhaps the most direct advice: "If you don't know how to do that [make staff feel valued], ask them. They probably have a much better idea of what they want".