Day: September 5, 2019

ChildCare Education Institute Offers No-Cost Online Course on Program Leadership: Staff Retention and Motivation

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ChildCare Education Institute® (CCEI), an online child care training provider dedicated exclusively to the early care and education workforce, offers ADM112: Program Leadership: Staff Retention and Motivation as a no-cost trial course to new CCEI users September 1-30, 2019.

Employees are much more likely to feel motivated when they are part of an organization with effective, dedicated leadership.  An organization’s success begins with its leadership.  But success is produced and maintained by the staff as they bring leadership’s vision and policies to reality.  As an organization’s leadership improves, so does the sense of unity and common purpose among staff members.  This course discusses the role that effective leadership has on staff retention and motivation.

Staff retention is one of the most troublesome issues facing child care centers and education related facilities today. In fact, child care centers have some of the highest employee turnover rates of any industry in the Unites States.  A high employee turnover rate can add layers of stress to a manager’s job.  Rather than focusing on improving your education program, you could end up spending too many hours on recruiting, interviewing, and training staff, not to mention dealing with personnel issues that arise when your staff members are not used to working together. 

Quality leadership plays a critical role in the creation of an environment where employees are motivated and invested.  Strong leaders purposefully focus on the needs of employees to ensure retention and consistent caregiving for the children enrolled in the program.  Strong leaders purposefully focus on the needs of employees to ensure retention and consistent caregiving for the children enrolled in the program.  Effective leader are able to enrich program quality and increase teachers’ motivation promoting a culture of improvement.

“Benefits of this course to managers include less time focused on hiring and training new employees, team cohesiveness, and parent satisfaction, which can lead to strong program enrollment,” says Maria C. Taylor, President and CEO of CCEI.  “Employee retention also has proven positive outcomes for young children who are able to create bonded relationships with consistent caregivers.”

ADM112: Program Leadership: Staff Retention and Motivation is a two-hour, intermediate-level course and grants 0.2 IACET CEU upon successful completion. Current CCEI users with active, unlimited annual subscriptions can register for professional development courses at no additional cost when logged in to their CCEI account. Users without subscriptions can purchase child care training courses as block hours through CCEI online enrollment.

For more information, visit www.cceionline.edu or call 1.800.499.9907, prompt 3, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. EST

ChildCare Education Institute, LLC

ChildCare Education Institute®, a division of Excelligence Learning Corporation, provides high-quality, distance education certificates and child care training programs in an array of child care settings, including preschool centers, family child care, prekindergarten classrooms, nanny care, online daycare training and more. Over 150 English and Spanish child care training courses are available online to meet licensing, recognition program, and Head Start Requirements. CCEI also has online certification programs that provide the coursework requirement for national credentials including the CDA, Director and Early Childhood Credentials.  CCEI, a Council for Professional Recognition CDA Gold Standard™ training provider, is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), and is accredited as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET).

September 2019 Student Spotlight – Natalie Taylor

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I began my career in early childhood as a summer job at the age of 16 at a local childcare facility. After being in retail for about a year, I felt a deep need to help take care of others again and went back to work in childcare and have been loving it ever since.

My favorite time of the day to spend with the children is morning circle time, to see them grasping the information is very rewarding. Watching them grow and develop social and cognitive skills. I enjoy witnessing when the children engage in free play and bring along the knowledge learned during circle time. Other than circle time, I enjoy the teachable moments that are not given a scheduled time. As an early childcare provider, I can work and play at the same time. There aren’t too many jobs that allow you to do that. Outdoor playground time creates a new learning experience and opens up more doors for learning opportunities with the children.

The children enjoy their creative activities since it allows them to freely express themselves. Seeing how they interpret art into their own by adding their own twist and story line is always enjoyable. Knowing that I can have a positive impact in their development is motivating. When I see the children making improvements in their behavior, it makes what I do extremely rewarding and it is the best feeling in the world.

I currently reside in Winter Garden, FL but I am originally from sunny Miami. When I’m not engaged in school work, I usually entertain myself by playing word games, catching up on my favorite animes, and reading books and articles pertaining to social justice. Beginning in the Fall 2019, I will be starting the master’s program at Florida Atlantic University within their College of Arts and Letters. In the future, I see myself as a professor educating others on subjects that affect society. I will be working towards my doctorate in sociology and hopefully after that I will obtain my juris doctorate to be able to pursue law and fight for social justice amongst children and families.

With ChildCare Education Institute, I have completed multiple courses that have helped me reach my certification each year and I am currently working on more coursework with CCEI to meet my annual certification requirements for 2019. CCEI provides excellent coursework and information that professionals in early childhood education can readily apply in the classroom. They have educated me on how to understand and properly address each individual child’s emotional needs correctly. I also appreciate the quick responses given when I had any comments and concerns. For anyone who wants to receive more knowledge in early childhood education, I would highly recommend courses with ChildCare Education Institute.

Supporting Team Development

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Did you know that there are distinct stages of team development, just like there are stages of child development?

In this month’s newsletter, we explore ways to effectively onboard new employees. However, your work does not stop there.  As team members work together over time, their relationship to the team and as a team, evolves. 

According to phycologist Bruce Tuckman, there are 5 stages of team development:

  • Forming – As a team is forming, members of the team display different emotions.  Some are excited, some are anxious, some may be hesitate or even confused about the work they will be asked to do.  They will depend on leadership for direction and guidance. Activities that allow team members to get to know one another, communicate, and build trust are vital at this stage.
  • Storming – As teams begin to work together on tasks, leaders may notice conflicts or differences of opinions are common. People have different values and approaches to problem solving.  This can cause team members to clash with one another, divide amongst themselves, or give up due to undue stress.
  • Norming – As team members work through their differences and learn to communicate more effectively with one another, they start to come together as a cohesive team. Now, the goals of the team are front and center, rather than individuals’ opinions or ideas.  Compromise and collaboration are key indicators of the norming stage of a team.
  • Performing – During this stage, a bulk of the work can occur with everyone onboard. Team members are aligned with the goals and vision of the project.  Most tasks can be completed independently by team members, while leaders focus on coaching and building skills.
  • Adjourning – Once the project is complete, the team may stop meeting, as you might see happening with sub-committees. Adjourning may also occur is one or more team members leave a long standing team, which is what happens when employees turn over. This can be a disruptive and upsetting time for team members, who have built important relationships with one another. 

Keep these stages of team development in mind as you work with newly established teaching teams, staff meeting subcommittees, and family committees. How you plan activities and respond to team members will depend on the team’s stage of development.

September 2019 Newsletter – Investing in New Employees: Effective Onboarding Experiences – Strategies for Effective Onboarding

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In addition to creating an onboarding schedule that spreads tasks out over the employees first few months of employment, you can also incorporate some of the following ideas into your onboarding practices:

  • Assess current knowledge and values:  The interview process is a great time to learn about a candidate’s knowledge and values related to ECE. Use this information to tailor the orientation schedule to meet the needs of the new employee. 
  • Incorporate technology – Utilize online training, such as CCEI, to provide basic orientation information to new employees.  This will save you time and allow the employee to gather new information during nap time or in the evenings.
  • Make it fun – include a variety of games to make learning fun and engaging.  Scavenger hunts, trivia games, and activities where students have to identify something missing from a picture can be fun and meaningful. 
  • Boost engagement – Create ways that new employees can get to know their coworkers on a more personal level. Plan activities that encourage staff to cooperate and collaborate throughout the onboarding process. 
  • Plan Check-ins – Even after an employee seems to be settled in, be sure to check in on a regular basis to ask about successes and challenges.  Ask specific questions and consider using texts or emails in addition to face to face conversations. Sometimes indirect contact will elicit different feedback.
  • Gather feedback – Use surveys or other tools to learn about new employees’ experiences during the onboarding process.  Ask about changes or enhancements that would have made a difference for new employees. Reflect on how these suggestions could be incorporated into future onboarding sessions.
  • Goal-setting – It is important to set goals throughout the onboarding process.  Don’t forget to set goals at the end of onboarding.  Have a conversation with the new employee to determine what is next for them in their development as an early childhood educator.  Help them identify the resources they will need to reach their goals.

What are some of your favorite onboarding activities or practices? Share with us on our Facebook page here.

For the main article Investing in New Employees: Effective Onboarding Experiences, CLICK HERE

For the article Statistics about Onboarding, CLICK HERE

For the article Elements of Onboarding, CLICK HERE

For the article Creating an Effective Onboarding Schedule, CLICK HERE

September 2019 Newsletter – Investing in New Employees: Effective Onboarding Experiences – Creating an Effective Onboarding Schedule

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According to a survey conducted by Allied HR IQ, it takes an average of 8 months for a new employee to become fully productive in their new position.

However, a different study discovered that only 37% of companies hold onboarding activities after the first month.

Consider that gap for a moment.  It typically takes 8 months to become productive, but intentional onboarding support stops after one month. Perhaps you can image the level of frustration and lack of support new employees may feel after the first month. This is especially true if the underlying message is, “It’s been a month; you should know what you are doing now.”

To create an effective onboarding schedule, reflect on the topics that you need to cover for your specific program.  Identify the things that new employees need to know about immediately. Determine the information that you need to receive from the employee early on. These are going to become elements of your orientation program. 

Everything else becomes part of the remainder of the onboarding process, which could stretch for the employees first year of employment.  For example, employees need to be familiar with the evacuation procedures on day one; this is part of orientation. Employees do not need to know all of the details of the assessment system that your program uses on the first day. This is a topic to include in your schedule for later in the onboarding process, perhaps during month two or three, after the employee has gotten to know the children and families. 

Create a schedule that lays out when each topic will be introduced, practiced, and reviewed.  Adult learners benefit from hands-on practice and relevance.  They need to be introduced to a topic at a time when the information in relevant to their experience. An obvious example would be introducing family style dining during a meal or snack. After introducing the topic, provide modeling and allow the employee multiple opportunities to practice the skill. 

Observe the employee and provide specific and strength-based feedback so that the employee is clear on the expectations and how their performance compares to those expectations.

It might seem like this will take a lot of time and you would be correct – this is an investment of time and effort into the success of your new employee, but it is worth it!  Utilize the other leaders in your program to help you. Delegate onboarding responsibilities to other staff members. This will empower them and sharpen their skills as well. 

For the main article Investing in New Employees: Effective Onboarding Experiences, CLICK HERE

For the article Statistics about Onboarding, CLICK HERE

For the article Elements of Onboarding, CLICK HERE

For the article Strategies for Effective Onboarding, CLICK HERE

September 2019 Newsletter – Investing in New Employees: Effective Onboarding Experiences – Elements of Onboarding

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Sometimes people use the words orientation and onboarding interchangeably.  Technically, these words mean different things and it is important to use the correct terminology (especially if you want to make enhancements to your onboarding practices).

First, there is orientation, which includes:

  • A welcome to the program
  • An overview and introduction to responsibilities
  • Paperwork completion

It is typically conducted in a lecture format where the new employee is responsible for absorbing lots of information.  It usually last between 1-3 days.

Orientation is an important element of an effective onboarding process. Onboarding, however, also includes:

  • Descriptions and demonstrations of what success looks like
  • An intentional series of activities that build skills
  • On-the-job training with coaching and specific feedback
  • Goal-setting and action planning
  • Deliberate participation in ongoing professional development

As you plan your onboarding process, consider including the following topics:

  • Program philosophy
  • Team & culture
  • Health and safety procedures
  • Curriculum & assessment
  • Materials & supplies
  • Food service
  • Documentation/paperwork
  • Family relations/customer service
  • Building & administrative information

This is a lot of material to cover and we want to make sure that employees retain the information we are sharing with them.  Therefore, it is important to consider your onboarding schedule, or how you will cover the topics over the course of a few weeks or even months. 

For the main article Investing in New Employees: Effective Onboarding Experiences, CLICK HERE

For the article Statistics about Onboarding, CLICK HERE

For the article Creating an Effective Onboarding Schedule, CLICK HERE

For the article Strategies for Effective Onboarding, CLICK HERE

September 2019 Newsletter – Investing in New Employees: Effective Onboarding Experiences – Statistics about Onboarding

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The hiring process is lengthy and expensive.  It takes time and money to interview, hire, and train new staff members to an adequate level of proficiency.  When employers stop short of providing new employees with the tools they need to be successful, those employees may experience frustration and failure. A Digitate survey from 2018 found that new employees who experienced a negative onboarding experience were twice as likely to look for a new job opportunity soon after being hired.

If you don’t believe that effective onboarding makes a difference in staff retention and job satisfaction, take a look at the results of additional research done by the experts:

According to the Brandon Hall Group –

  • Organizations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%. Companies with weak onboarding programs lose the confidence of their candidates and are more likely to lose these individuals in the first year.

The Human Capital Institute found:

  • Only 40% of organizations say onboarding is effective at retaining new hires, which is most likely because it has been focused on paperwork and processes rather than people and performance.
  • In most organizations, onboarding activities stop after the first week in the new role; this is not nearly enough time to orient, prepare, and develop a new hire to be successful in their new position.

The Wynhurst Group discovered:

  • 22 % of staff turnover occurs in the first 45 days of employment.
  • New employees who went through a structured onboarding program were 58% more likely to be with the organization after three years.

And finally, a survey by O.C. Tanner found:

  • 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding

After looking at the statistics, it becomes clear that effective onboarding strategies have a significant impact on staff retention, job performance, and job satisfaction.

You can explore more facts about onboarding here.

For the main article Investing in New Employees: Effective Onboarding Experiences, CLICK HERE

For the article Elements of Onboarding, CLICK HERE

For the article Creating an Effective Onboarding Schedule, CLICK HERE

For the article Strategies for Effective Onboarding, CLICK HERE

September 2019 Newsletter – Investing in New Employees: Effective Onboarding Experiences

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One of the most important elements of a successful business is the staff and its ability to meet the needs of the clients or customers.  This is true for virtually every organization, including child care programs, which count on their employees to maintain a safe environment, support the development of each child, and build strong relationships with families. There are so many specific skills that early childhood educators must possess to accomplish these tasks.  Some of these skills are easy to learn and reproduce, such as the proper steps to handwashing.  Other skills take many years of practice to master. 

In order to ensure that every employee is set up for success, early learning programs need to spend time reflecting upon and making enhancements to their onboarding procedures.  Onboarding procedures include all of the direct instruction, coaching, and teachable moments that occur during a new staff member’s first few months of employment.

This month, we will explore a number of best practices related to onboarding. Some of these practices may require extra time and energy be spent with new employees.  The goal of investing in new employees in this way is to reduce the number of times you need to conduct onboarding throughout the year.  Effective onboarding means that the people you hire have the tools and guidance they need to remain successfully employed at your program.

For the article Statistics about Onboarding, CLICK HERE

For the article Elements of Onboarding, CLICK HERE

For the article Creating an Effective Onboarding Schedule, CLICK HERE

For the article Strategies for Effective Onboarding, CLICK HERE