Staff Recruitment and Retention in the Early Childhood Workforce

Staffing a childcare center is easily one of the most difficult tasks a director must tackle in the early childhood work place. Recruiting, hiring and retaining high quality, professional early childhood educators who possess the skills and knowledge base to perform successfully in a classroom environment directly impacts the overall quality of care a center is able to provide. Further, the stability of the teaching team is dependent upon the director\u27s ability to recognize and effectively control the environmental issues related to recruitment and retention. Directors must be knowledgeable about the current job market and willing to be creative and enthusiastic about the benefits and joys of working at their center. The literature review contains information addressing the critically important components affecting the stability of the early care and education workforce, namely recruitment, compensation, definition of job duties and retention methods. The individual sections of the literature review may be used alone to provide guidance and support to school administrators needing additional information or as one complete body of work addressing all aspects of this weighty issue. Additionally, a professional portfolio of tools for administrators is included. The professional portfolio contains a complete PowerPoint presentation for training on the topic of organizational climate, a list of ideas for staff benefits, sample job descriptions, and evaluation forms