6 Reasons Why You Should Work at a My Ohana Nursery

But first, to the role that recruitment and retention play in how we run our nurseries.

At My Ohana, we know that while recruitment is about attracting the best nursery workers in the business, retention is how we keep them. All of the processes and strategies listed in this article are designed to showcase how we support our team, in order to give our children a stable and reliable team of people who care for them and help them to learn and develop.

To us, recruitment and retention isn’t just about building a great business reputation – it’s about giving children the stability of a home from home, with people who they recognise and feel safe and secure with. A high turnover of staff is disruptive for everyone involved – with our retention strategy designed to avoid this at all costs.

That strategy can be seen in each of the benefits and reasons listed below, as defined by team members across all levels.

The following are the strategies and management models that we focus on at My Ohana, to entice the best nursery workers and to keep them in our nursery family for as long as they want to stay!

Here at My Ohana, we consider our management model to be our worst kept secret. It’s something we’re incredibly proud of, underpinning our core values which emphasise the integral role that each and every member of the team plays in delivering the best care to all of our children.

In the simplest possible terms, this model sees our colleagues supported directly by the leadership team known as Central Support. Central Support’s core role is to be as involved as possible in supporting colleagues to deliver a great experience to all our families, set on a foundation of excellent support from our founders and directors.

This model delivers an enticing opportunity to new recruits and is one of the reasons why our retention rate is so high. No nursery worker is ever without the full breadth of support they need.

In the last year, 10% of our existing employees were promoted – highlighting a major benefit that boosts both recruitment and retention across virtually every sector. We believe that by promoting from within, we give all our workers and colleagues an opportunity to build their careers in the childcare industry from within the My Ohana family.

This in turn boosts our commitment to upskilling and helping our colleagues to develop their own skills and experiences – which brings us onto our third tip…

When employees feel like they have an opportunity to learn, and that their employer is committed to their development, they are far more likely to stay in a role for longer.

We highlight our commitment to each nursery worker both through opportunities to learn and attend training sessions, and with our increasing rate of promotion and in-company hiring.

This is an attractive benefit that all nurseries can showcase and talk about during the recruitment process, which is an enticing concept to prospective workers as well as a reason why so many will choose to stay.

We try to work with our team to give them access to the working hours that work best for them. In addition, we hire nursery workers with experience as well as those in more junior positions who may not have the same qualifications and experience but who are full of passion for childcare and for learning.

We believe that everyone needs that first opportunity to learn and to build experience and are happy to offer support to new nursery workers who boast the attributes the skills that we need.

We’ve already talked about our upside-down management model and how the higher level employees in our business are directly responsible for supporting those beneath them. However, it doesn’t end there.

At My Ohana, and across some of the most successful nurseries in the UK, support and a welcoming environment is part and parcel of the experience – for families and team members alike. Not only do we ensure that support is at the heart of staff management, but we also facilitate respectful communication between our team and parents / families of our children.

Rewarding and recognising achievement and dedication is a fundamental part of the workplace, with My Ohana fully committed to recognising the little things that mean a big deal.

Some of the ways that we recognise the people at the heart of our business include the presenting of birthday cards and celebrating personal milestones and occasions with them. Our management team can also hand out rewards relating to successes which are posted via our online reward system, empowering colleagues to nominate their peers and celebrate their workplace wins. These rewards can be used at any time across a range of online retail outlets, and help us to create a culture of support and celebration across the business.

Suffice to say, rewarding our team members with opportunities as well as tangible rewards forms an integral part of our retention strategy, and is one of the reasons why a My Ohana nursery is considered such an exciting and supportive place to work.

With opportunities open across our nursery settings on a regular basis, we urge both experienced and budding childcare specialists and nursery workers to check our Careers page on the My Ohana website to keep track of openings and vacancies.