#98 Why Your Best People Are Leaving: CLAIRE BATEMAN on EMPLOYEE RETENTION That Actually Works

Claire Bateman, General Manager of People and Culture at Uniting Church Queensland, reveals why traditional one-size-fits-all retention strategies fail—and how her organization achieved a 2025 award for best recruitment and retention by ditching the 'magic pill' myth. Instead of blanket policies, Uniting Church built tailored team agreements that let employees co-design their work rhythms—whether that meant hybrid office days, shift flexibility, or even booking desks across teams. The result? Higher engagement, stronger collaboration, and a 300% increase in participation in their 'Cuppa Connect' cross-team coffee initiative. Claire emphasizes that retention isn’t about perks—it’s about trust, psychological safety, and understanding that flexibility isn’t just about location, but when, how, and why people work. She warns against the '2% myth' of remote work abuse and urges leaders to listen to their teams, not just their boards. The real power lies in small, intentional actions: start with one high-impact issue—like pay or shift fairness—and build from there. The episode dismantles the myth of universal solutions, showing that the most effective retention comes from deep listening, team-led agreements, and designing work around people—not the other way around. Claire’s advice to 'listen to your gut feel' isn’t just a platitude—it’s a call to trust the human insights that data alone can’t capture.