Daycare center employee turnover is a big problem.
Staff quitting or missing days is a major challenge in the childcare industry. Daycare center employee turnover is pretty high even compared to other high-stress industries. According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), staff turnover in early childhood education averages 30% annually. That’s a lot of staff leaving work when you want them to stay (and be happy).
It’s not always easy, so here’s our advice on minimizing daycare center employee turnover:
Want to minimize your daycare staff turnover (but don’t feel like reading)?
The basics
Higher wages, a positive work culture, benefits, periodic retention bonuses and minimizing extra demands all help. In addition, another big factor that’s often overlooked is consistency of hours.
When not enough kiddos show up and part-time staff are sent home, this can create tension and, as a result, decrease loyalty.
When staff quit, this often causes a domino effect. Remaining staff get stressed at having to always adjust to new coworkers and new ways of doing things. Frustration rises as more staff quit.
The benefits of consistent work schedules
As a provider, you want to be in a position to offer consistent hours. Being able to promise set hours goes a long way to increasing job satisfaction and longevity. It also helps a lot with recruitment. When childcare workers know that they can depend on certain hours and a full house, they have higher job satisfaction.
When a daycare center has a steady number of kiddos, consistent hours become more feasible. Keeping open spots filled and giving existing part-time kids flexible options is what my Hopping In app is all about. With an easy-to-use system, free download and small commission, classrooms go from a few youngsters missing to more and more full.
Benefits to providers
As a provider, when you know your daycare center is going to be full most days, you can start offering consistent hours. Having a full daycare means that staff are always caring for the maximum amount of infants, toddlers or kids allowable under student-to-teacher-ratio regulations. This is a definite plus for us as daycare center providers.
As a provider you’d much rather your staff member looks after four youngsters than two. Let’s be honest: even one or two kiddos missing a day starts to cut into a daycare’s business model. Or, to take another scenario, consider regulations requiring one childcare worker for every four infants. In a situation with five babies, this means the employer is paying an extra employee to care for that one additional baby. Every child is precious, of course! But as a business, you need to fill those three extra spots.
Daycare is a competitive business and even though you know your vacant spots, the parents don’t. Display your booking calendar clearly with Hopping In, let parents select the time they need, and show your appreciation for employees with consistent hours.
In return, you get staff that’s not just professional. They are happy.
Author: Hopping In Blog
Sholom Strick is an expert on the business of running daycare centers and founder of Hopping In, a tool that helps childcare centers and family daycare providers fill unused spots.
To contact him or for media inquiries email s.strick@daycareteam.com
