Leading the way: Being a firm where people love to work and want to stay

22/05/2026

Contributors:

• Amanda Jones, Director & Founder, Leadership Shapers

This article examines strategic leadership frameworks for fostering high-performance cultures and sustainable talent retention within professional services firms. Drawing on insights from Amanda Jones’s presentation at the 2026 ARITA Small Practice Conference, it details the critical roles of emotional intelligence and psychosocial safety in driving organisational performance. Practitioners are provided with structured approaches to change management and mentoring, highlighting the necessity of aligning leadership impact with firm-wide objectives to ensure long-term employee commitment.

At the ARITA Small Practice Conference in Hobart earlier this year, the program expanded beyond technical insolvency insights to address a fundamental pillar of firm sustainability: the strategic management of employees. Amanda Jones, Director and Founder of Leadership Shapers and a veteran of the insolvency sector delivered a session titled "Leading the way: Being a firm where people love to work and want to stay".

Amanda challenged practitioners to move beyond a reactive "survival mode" and take intentional responsibility for cultivating high-performance cultures, arguing that the success of small practices depends less on brand recognition and more on a leader's ability to foster an environment where staff feel supported, motivated, and committed. Centred on the intersection of emotional intelligence, leadership influence, psychosocial safety, and structured frameworks for change, the session provided a strategic roadmap for ensuring long-term employee engagement and retention.

Read the full article here.