How to Develop And Train Child Care Staff

Do my staff need formal training? Won’t new hires learn best by just getting to work? Even successful companies make the mistake of neglecting formal training from time to time. The fact is, formally training the staff at your child care center contributes to your center’s success by helping staff carry out their job effectively. It also creates an atmosphere of on-going learning and development.

Although up to 70% of learning happens on the job, formal training allows you to teach specific skills that your staff needs to complete their job to the best of their ability. As duties change and your center grows you will need to make sure that you continue to grow your staff’s skill set as well. 

Having an intentional plan for staff training will help you as a director or owner stay on track by spacing out the learning over time. Staff training and development has also been proven to increase employee satisfaction. Research shows 91% of employees stay on for at least a year if their company has structured training.

By training staff you will increase the talent pool to choose from, boosting internal staff promotion and increasing the quality of care at your centre. People want to work in a center that has room for them to grow, both personally and professionally. As you sit down to plan for your staff training and development, here are 5 things to consider. 

Host In-person Training

‍If at all possible offer training in person. It’s a great way to train your team, while improving team bonding. Try to offer training during school hours, immediately before or after school ends. This way your team doesn’t have to travel just for training and you will get the highest attendance possible.

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Offer Reimbursement

‍Especially if your center is licensed there are many certifications to keep up with. Do the research for your team to find any available tuition assistance and consider covering any remaining cost as a center. Depending on where you are located, much of the training required will be eligible for reimbursement from the state or federal government. 

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Keep Training Regular

‍Keeping on a regular schedule when it comes to training is a great way to make sure you accomplish your goals, while encouraging ongoing professional development. Schedule your training throughout the school year to ensure that you cover each required skill once a year. This will help keep all required skills up-to-date while allowing newer staff members to get caught up as well. 

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Track Certification

‍Keeping track of mandated certifications for your team is no small task. Using child care software like Sandbox will ease the workload here. In Sandbox you can track all required training, see when each is due to be completed, and find when they have last been done. This is a great way to stay up to date and keep everything organized while saving you time and hassle. 

Offer Online Training

‍Although in-person training is ideal, there are seasons and times when you can’t all meet together in person. In these situations offering online training options can be helpful. Safeguard classes online offers online training in many different areas and most of their classes are recognized by licensing agencies which is a huge benefit. 

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Final Notes

Keeping your staff training up-to-date is critical to maintaining a high quality child care center. Although informal training on the job is important, creating a plan to implement formal training programs throughout the year will ensure that you stay ahead of government regulations while creating an environment of development and growth that will motivate and retain quality employees. Start slow by planning a formal training session this month and see where your plans lead you!