The constant struggle to find quality, reliable and trustworthy employees often keeps Early Learning Directors and operators anxious. It takes away valuable time and costs more money than you planned to spend on employment advertising costs as well as causing a dysfunction to the day to day operations where staff quality standards are being compromised.
Getting it right is not as easy as people might think.
Early Childhood employers are hiring more frequently than ever before. Often, organisations are finding it harder and harder to retain staff. This perpetuates the cycle of replacing people when they leave, and it is no wonder that Directors report hiring as one of their biggest concerns.
Much of the hiring that takes place is necessitated by poor retention, and poor retention can be alleviated by hiring the right employee from the very start.
It might take a little more effort to achieve employee fit, but placing the extra effort from the beginning is well worth it. Sometimes when you are in a fix and you haven’t found the right person yet, you might be tempted to settle for someone who is not well suited for the position.
This always turns out to be a costly decision because often they just don’t last.
You can’t make an employee fit into your culture, the chemistry just won’t be there, or you might end up firing them for poor performance. This process in itself also takes more time and attention, as well as the cost of having to pay out.
This leads to a ripple effect …
Every time an employee leaves, multiple issues arise: problems complying with the required staff-to-children ratio, dissatisfaction among parents, overworked staff, staff morale drops and the risk of losing your valued employees.
In the past, if you have worked with Recruitment Agencies who gave you Poor-Fit candidates, without caring what happens after the placement, you will understand this frustrating experience.
You need a Recruitment Agency with a proven process that gets it right the first time – and that is willing to replace a poor-fit candidate. The right agency will take the time to understand and cater to your unique needs.
In this article, we’ll tell you a little more about the MH Recruitment & Consulting difference …
We use principles of psychology to find the right candidate
MH Recruitment & Consulting applies formal principles of psychology to help you get the best possible candidate for your Early Learning Centre.
We make a concentrated effort to understand your unique needs, as well as the needs of every candidate. Our transparent approach to hiring makes both clients and candidates more comfortable.
Our techniques for using interviews and other tools to evaluate candidates help us to identify people who are resilient, have a strong worth ethic, and who possess a strong sense of fulfilment.
We are a boutique agency that provides a personal touch
As a boutique Recruitment Agency, we care about the Early Childhood sector.
By building close relationships with our clients, we are constantly finding ways to serve Early Learning Services better. We understand the anxiety as well as the specifications in your mind when you are evaluating candidates. When you have the responsibility of choosing the next member of your team, you feel just as much pressure as the candidate does, because you are making a decision that can either be good or bad for your organisation.
You can leverage our experience working with Early Childhood Centre managers and operators just like yourself to take care of the hiring for you.
And, we won’t move on right after placing a candidate. We stick with you throughout the process to make sure that you have the right person for your unique needs.
We won’t provide incompatible candidates
We assess candidates based on principles from formal psychology and always consider Employee-Director personality fit.
We use this to achieve optimum employee fit and longevity.
One of the ways to do this is to ensure that candidates have a realistic idea of what their new role at your service will be like.
Psychologist John Wanous has shown that candidates who had unrealistic expectations would be unhappy at work and more likely to leave.
Some of the things that might impact employee fit are personality type, traits that you consider to be indicators of success, as well as the candidate’s unique strengths and weaknesses.
Our team has extensive experience working with Early Learning Centres
Our Recruitment Agency was founded on more than a decade of experience in both Early Childhood and Recruitment.
Borrowing heavily from an intimate knowledge of the staffing expectations, challenges, struggles and anxieties of Early Childhood Leaders. We work to combine our leadership experience with Recruiting and Psychology to help Early Learning Centres offer better services to families under their care.
Our goal is to take on the stress of finding the right candidates so that you can focus on running your business.
We stick with you after placement
95% of our hires stay with their new employers long-term.
And don’t worry – should you happen to fall under the 5%, we’ve still got your back!
We continue to walk with you while your new employee is on probation to give you peace of mind and the opportunity to replace poor-fit candidates. We want to ensure that you have the right team so that you can get on with serving your community.
Wrapping it up …
A poor hiring decision can have a major impact on your cost of doing business, group productivity, organisational culture, effectiveness, and the overall morale of the team.
Psychological assessments help us understand how well a candidate will fit in with the rest of your team. And to make sure we got it right, The MH Team will stay with you after a successful placement, .
Contact us if you’d like to find out more. We offer consulting solutions to make sure you get the most out of your Early Childhood business, or we can handle the recruitment process for you and make sure you get the absolute best candidate available.