Today’s podcast is a little different. We’re not going to be talking about you, your business, or your product. We’re going to focus on your staff.

You probably know by now that if you want to grow your business, you can’t do it on your own. You need a skilled, reliable, and happy team behind you. That’s right – happy. If you’re staff aren’t happy, they won’t perform their best, and if they don’t perform their best, your customer’s probably won’t recommend your services to their friends and family. And that’s money lost.

There are a ton of things to consider when it comes to hiring staff and keeping their job satisfaction high. You might be thinking:

• Where do I find quality workers?


• What am I legally obliged to do?


• How can I be an encouraging, inspiring leader?


• What happens when it all goes wrong?

Claire Harrison

Lucky for you, we have Human Resources expert Claire Harrison joining me today to talk you through each of these points. She is the CEO of Harrison Human Resources, which provides HR advice for a range of businesses across Australia. Claire comes from a family of builders, and is married to a builder, so she has plenty of industry experience when it comes to managing trade staff and contractors.

Claire has some invaluable advice for trade business owners, so sit back and have a listen.

Key Learnings

Here’s what I took away from my chat with Claire:

1. Ignorance of your legal obligation to staff is no excuse. Getting it wrong could cost you truckloads, as the roofing company discovered. Remember, contractors and employees are very different.


2. Your team culture is all about ‘how things are done around here.’ What kind of team culture do you have at your place?


3. Be a great leader and walk the talk. Set an example for your staff. While some people are natural born leaders, most of us have to learn how to do it. Be the kind of leader you’d like to have managing you.

To sum up – don’t muck around when it comes to recruiting and managing your staff. Disgruntled staff can damage your company and reputation. Happy motivated staff will help you grow and survive.  Hey – if you have the right team, you could even take some time off. How good would that be!

Let’s finish wi