Building a strong early years workforce
Recruiting and retaining a professional, skilled and qualified workforce is essential to helping your childcare organisation thrive in an increasingly competitive market. Having the right staff in place supports the effective operation of your organisation and enables you to provide high-quality early education and childcare for children and families.
Promoting the wide range of roles, career pathways and professional development opportunities available within the early years sector can help to:
- encourage new people to consider a career in early years and childcare
- attract suitable applicants to current vacancies
- support existing practitioners to develop and progress their careers
- improve staff retention across the sector
Effective recruitment is about more than simply filling vacancies. Taking time to consider how you plan your workforce, advertise roles, promote your organisation and support career development can help you build a stable, skilled and motivated workforce for the future.
Do you need to recruit?
Employing a new member of staff is a significant commitment and can be costly if recruitment is not carefully planned. Before deciding to recruit, assess whether there is a genuine staffing need and consider all the available options.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Has your organisation budgeted for an additional member of staff?
- Have you reviewed your staff-to-child ratios to determine whether additional staff are required?
- Have you considered the number of children currently on your waiting list and their likely start dates?
- Are there particular times of the day when additional staff are needed to maintain ratios or meet children’s needs?
- Do you require additional staff on a long-term or short-term basis?
- Could existing staff increase their hours, either temporarily or permanently, to meet the need?
- On which days and at what times do you experience the greatest demand for staffing?
- Do you require higher staffing levels during term time than during school holidays?
- Are there specific days when children’s attendance levels are particularly high or low?
- Do staff regularly attend training, professional development, supervision or meetings that take them out of ratio?
- Are there planned staff absences, such as maternity leave, long-term sickness or retirement, that need to be considered?
Taking time to evaluate these factors will help you decide whether recruitment is necessary and, if so, what type of role and contract will best meet the needs of your organisation.
Careful workforce planning may also identify alternative solutions, such as:
- adjusting existing employees’ working hours
- reviewing staff deployment arrangements
- offering additional hours temporarily
- reorganising shifts or working patterns
- using temporary or bank staff where appropriate
If you have determined that recruitment is necessary, the next step is to define the role clearly before advertising the vacancy.