Valenhold has doubled its workforce in the past 12 months and increased productivity, with revenue up from $700,000 to $22 million in three years.

Boasting a high employee retention rate, the company has not lost any workers in six years.

That flies in the face of the experience most mining and mining services companies have faced through the recent mining boom.
The demand for workers has been extremely high and larger players have been using their financial muscle to get staff through significantly higher wages.

Travel restrictions posed by COVID-19 have added to the staff shortages.

Most smaller miners and mine service players do not have the financial resources to outbid other players for staff.

That is why Valenhold's approach is interesting. It is not throwing money at the problem in the traditional sense.

The perks it has on offer, which include three personal training sessions a day in a private gym, staff bar and lunchtime knock offs, no doubt play a big part in this.

Valenhold managing director Garth Chester said workouts in the office gym were a way to build team culture and provided great stress relief.

"It gets the blood pumping and it's better for both the mental health of our staff and ultimately the productivity of the business," he said.

The gym time is not discounted from staff lunch breaks.

The office is also equipped with a bar.

Chester said when they started the company they were adamant it would not be anything like the one they had left.

"Friday afternoons are an important time, we call it beers and ideas," he said.

"We don't make it after the traditional finish time at 5pm.

"It's on company time because we talk to each other in a relaxed environment about business and we find it gets great results."

Valenhold general manager Scott McMahon said businesses that did not use the post pandemic era as a time to enhance company culture would miss out on key talent.

"We haven't had a staff member leave in six years," he said.

"That's something we are very proud of and just offering work from home flexibility is not enough."