14 Mar Turnover rates in Early Childhood Education are way too high!
Turnover rates in Early Childhood Education are way too high!
Turnover rates in Early Childhood Education are way too high! We need to look at this as ECE leaders and fix it. The new conversation starts now. Who’s with me?
For us, the experience begins before they engage with us as a candidate.
How you ask?
Everyone has a reputation, good, bad, or non-existent. We, aka Piazza, have worked really hard to maintain a good reputation. This happens and is monitored on many levels. Relationships with current employees (Teachers) and clients (Partner Schools) are HUGE and I’ll save that for another post.
Today let’s talk about what your online presence is. Social media is a big way you show the world who you are. What are you posting about? Are you sharing your core values? (Again, that subject is another post.) Do you authentically share yourself or your program? Does what you share actually match with what is happening on a day-to-day basis? How often do you sharing? Where are you sharing? Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, Glassdoor.
Do you have a website? Is it updated? Does it have a section about why someone would want to work with you? You want to talk about things like the day in the life of a teacher at _________ (insert your school name here). What are your benefits, pay range, paid holidays, programs that happen throughout the year. Give them just enough information that they want to learn more from you.
Next you place a “Help Wanted” ad somewhere like Indeed.
Next you place a “Help Wanted” ad somewhere like Indeed. Be sure to give a lot of details about the job. Be thorough in describing the job and use it in the advertisement. Be sure to include the pay range. Be transparent about that and what benefits are offered. Candidates shouldn’t have to wait until the interview ends to learn this information. If the pay doesn’t fit what they need no one should waste their time going through the interview process.
So now you’ve written the perfect ad and you start seeing applicants come in. Let’s tell them more. Send a video. It can be one that tells about your program and why it’s a great place to work. Show them around the environment, inside and out. Highlight the special areas and other staff to keep them interested. You can also send a personalized video telling them how much you are looking forward to meeting them and why.
When they connect...
Once they connect, you want that relationship to develop in the most excellent and authentic way. That’s why we use video messages to begin that engagement so they can see who we are and what is important to us. (Hint: Core Values – gotta have them, live them, share them, and point to where we see them every day.)
When they arrive for the interview, tell them about you personally, show them around then sit down and have a conversation. More on that later too. Craft the conversation around your Core Values. If they align great, if not, that’s ok too.
We will continue this deep dive into the employee experience and crafting the best first 90 days for them once you have offered them the position and they accept. This is just the start of a new way of looking at the world of ECE recruiting, hiring and retention. Stay tuned for more!
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