Staff Retention Guidance

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Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework

Suitable people 3.9. "Providers must ensure that people looking after children are suitable to fulfill the requirements of their roles. Providers must have effective systems in place to ensure that practitioners, and any other person who is likely to have regular contact with children (including those living or working on the premises), are suitable."

Recruiting employees is just a start to creating a strong workforce. Next, you have to keep them. High employee turnover costs the childcare sector valuable time and productivity

Consider the following elements that are likely to have a positive impact on the working environment:

Clear Induction process for new/recently returned employees

Induction is a structured and supportive method of introducing/re-introducing new staff members/recently returned staff members to the organisation.

acas.org.uk/acas-guide-to-staff-induction

3.21. "The daily experience of children in early years settings and the overall quality of provision depends on all practitioners having appropriate qualifications, training, skills and knowledge and a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Providers must ensure that all staff receive induction training to help them understand their roles and responsibilities. Induction training must include information about emergency evacuation procedures, safeguarding, child protection, and health and safety issues. Providers must support staff to undertake appropriate training and professional development opportunities to ensure they offer quality learning and development experiences for children that continually improves."

Effective Line Management/Supervision and Coaching

Requiring managers to motivate, communicate with, and listen to employees, helping good performers move to new positions and mentoring/coaching to minimise poor performance. Helping to address issues early on and agree on actions for improvement. Holding team meetings. Agreeing to support an employee might need to improve and understand processes and protocols. Training and CPD plan for progression.

3.22. "Providers must put appropriate arrangements in place for the supervision of staff who have contact with children and families. Effective supervision provides support, coaching and training for the practitioner and promotes the interests of children. Supervision should foster a culture of mutual support, teamwork and continuous improvement, which encourages the confidential discussion of sensitive issues."

3.23. "Supervision should provide opportunities for staff to:

discuss any issues – particularly concerning children’s development or wellbeing, including child protection concerns
identify solutions to address issues as they arise
receive coaching to improve their personal effectiveness."

Identifying low engagement

Reduced effort and performance
Influencing colleagues and morale negatively
Unfocussed and easily distracted staff
High absence and lateness
Low energy and enthusiasm

If you spot these signs, manage them with sensitivity and care, find out what is causing the disengagement and address it quickly.

Communicating your business aims and objectives

Feeling connected to the setting’s goals is one way to keep employees mentally and emotionally engaged.

Career development and progression

Maximise opportunities for employees to develop skills and move on in their careers. Promote from within whenever possible. Where promotions are not feasible, look for sideways moves that vary experience or ways to expand responsibilities to make the work more interesting.

Clear organisation staffing structure

Will show employees how they fit into the organization and how they could progress through the business.

Consulting employees

Ensure that employees have a 'voice'. Where there is no opportunity to voice dissatisfaction and influence outcomes, resigning may be the only option.

Be flexible

Wherever possible, accommodate individual preferences on working hours and times. As part of this, it's also important to monitor workload and ensure it is manageable within working hours and the business needs.

gov.uk/flexible-working

mindtools.com/pages/article/flexibility-at-work

Avoid a culture of presenteeism

Where people feel obliged to work longer hours than are necessary to impress management. It can lead to burnout. Presenteeism is the practice of employees being present at work when they're disengaged or unwell. It's especially important to emphasise that being absent because of ill health will not affect their standing at work.

Employees who socially bond at work will stay with a company longer, report lower levels of stress and take less time off work – most likely because they feel connected and supported.

Conduct stay interviews

In addition to performing exit interviews to learn why employees are leaving, consider asking longer-tenured employees why they stay. Ask questions such as: Why did you come to work here? Why have you stayed? What would make you leave? And what are your nonnegotiable issues? What about your managers? What would you change or improve? Then use that information to strengthen your employee-retention strategies.

cmswire.com/digital-workplace/9-ways-to-improve-employee-retention-with-stay-interviews

Succession Planning

What is succession planning and what are the benefits?

Succession planning focuses on identifying and growing talent to fill leadership and business-critical positions in the future. In the face of skills shortages, succession planning has gained popularity and is now carried out in both large and smaller organisations.

So, it’s the process of identifying and developing potential future leaders and senior managers, as well as individuals, to fill business-critical roles. The aim is to be able to fill key roles effectively if a current post holder leaves the organisation. Succession planning programmes typically include practical, tailored work experience relevant to future roles within an organisation.

Succession planning can help retain talented individuals as they are aware of internal opportunities to progress in their careers. It’s therefore central to the internal elements of talent management programmes.

For more information on succession planning read the fact sheet produced by CIPD:

cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/resourcing/succession-planning-factsheet

Top tips for succession planning:

Have more than one person trained in designated roles
Use formal supervision to identify and plan CPD opportunities
Invest in your team and start succession planning early
Empower your team
Harness staff members' expertise
Develop senior roles
Be flexible
Delegate aspects of your work to empower others.