Staff retention: part 1 - Prioritising people

Finding good-quality staff has consistently been a major problem in the early years. That is quite aside from the task of keeping them. But with the age-old battle between quality care and affordable rates now exacerbated by stress on funding levels, why should managers throw staff retention into the mix?

Long before changes to Government policy on qualifications, recruitment of staff, especially at Level 3, was an issue. In 2004 research from Sure Start, about half to three-quarters of all settings had recruited over the past 12 months, while many also lost staff in the past 12 months, but at a lower rate than they were recruiting. Yet to improve recruitment, and create and retain a viable workforce, you have first to understand staff retention. Various studies, including the Effective Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education research and the Institute for Public Policy Research's Early Developments report, find that low turnover is an indicator of a good-quality setting. High turnover also makes parents and children unhappy. For parents, it will impact on their satisfaction levels and reduce the likelihood of them recommending the setting.