Randstad Report - CareforKids.com.au®

Randstad Report
Early childhood education fosters happy workers - filling critical vacancies biggest concern for employers

A new report by Randstad has shown that the early childhood sector offers employment terms and conditions which cultivate happy workers but that the skills shortage is still a critical concern.

This editorial by the Operations Director of Randstad, Ms Christine Curphey, offers some fascinating insights for child care professionals.

It seems if you're looking for flexible working arrangements, training and development opportunities, work-life balance and job security, a position in early childhood education is ideal.

Employees working in early childhood education are among the most satisfied in Australia, revealing healthy levels of happiness in Randstad's Early Childhood World of Work Report 2012. The report highlights 'flexicurity' (flexibility and job security) as a key component of their love for their work.

More than half (54 per cent) of employees intending to stay with their current early childhood education organisation say good work/life balance and flexible work options are the primary reasons.

Yet employee retention is an escalating issue - a third of employees in this sector are intending to leave their job — citing a lack of opportunity for growth and development as the main reason. This is almost three times the number that will leave due to uncompetitive salary. This highlights the need for early childhood centres to work closely with employees to develop individual career paths and think creatively about how to offer opportunities for growth. The message is loud and clear — retention of high performing talent will depend on it.

With a skills shortage evident in this sector, it's little surprise 82 per cent of employers in the industry are planning to maintain or increase staff numbers in 2012. Given the impending regulatory burden of the National Quality Framework and the introduction of minimum qualifications for early childhood employees, it's not surprising qualified early childhood education professionals will be in strongest demand.

Early childhood employers are particularly anxious about filling critical vacancies with almost two-thirds slating this as their biggest concern in their world of work. Other key concerns are government legislation impacting workforce flexibility and costs (55 per cent) and developing leadership skills for the next phase of growth (40 per cent).

It seems there is a divide between what is expected of leaders and what they are delivering in the sector. Almost half (47 per cent) of early childhood education employees believe the single biggest attribute of a successful leader is the ability to motivate and inspire others, yet 32 per cent rate their own direct manager as poor or average in this area. This is something that needs addressing quite urgently to ensure ongoing growth and success of early childhood centres.

Employees also have high salary expectations with 38 per cent of early childhood employees expecting a salary rise of up to 4 per cent this year; 21 per cent expect a 5–10 per cent rise, and 11 per cent hope for more than a 10 per cent rise. Employers need to manage expectations if pay rises are not possible this year by looking at other creative ways to offer benefits and retain talent within the organisation.

Organisations also need to work smarter to harness knowledge and talent as 41 per cent of all early childhood education employers surveyed believe their business doesn't have effective processes to capture ideas for improvement or innovation. To create better services and ensure ongoing growth and development, early childhood centres must find a way to tap into the knowledge of their staff and even their customers.

The early childhood sector is particularly exposed to the ageing workforce and the impact of one of the country's biggest mass exodus' of workers with Baby Boomers moving into retirement. With such a high number of Baby Boomers among its workforce, many mature-age workers in early childhood education may leave the workforce prematurely, particularly when faced with the requirement to gain a new accreditation from the National Quality Framework.

A quarter of early childhood organisations anticipate an increase in staff turnover, and of those, 37 per cent cite the reason being retirement. Despite this, just 56 per cent of survey respondents agree or strongly agree the nation's ageing workforce will have a negative impact on their organisation in the next ten years. This means one of two things - organisations are largely uninformed about this impending challenge, or they have already developed attraction strategies to combat it.

Christine Curphey, Operations Director, Randstad

Download the report here