Experienced staff are a nursery's most valuable asset. Simon Vevers looks at imaginative ways of rewarding long-serving members of staff.
Shopping in New York, gazing at the Paris skyline from the top of the Eiffel Tower or lazing in a gondola as it carries you through the waterways of Venice. Which do you fancy? Well, that's the question staff at Child & Co are now asked by their employers when they notch up ten years with the company. And if they stay with the nursery chain their long service and loyalty will continue to be repaid in succeeding years.
Just how much of a premium companies, like Child & Co, are placing on the retention of experienced and highly-qualified staff is measured by the expensive lengths being taken to ensure their long-serving employees feel valued. But, while some employers offer subsidised childcare and other more conventional benefits such as extra holiday entitlement, so far not many of the major chains have opted for imaginative treats or been as generous with their largesse as Child & Co.
In many cases the issue has not arisen because companies have only been in existence for a few years and they do not as yet have long-service employees. One personnel manager says, 'We haven't really thought about it yet, but we'll be very interested to see what others are doing.'
While other industries are contracting and shedding staff, government plans to expand the sector mean that in childcare the boot is very firmly on the other foot and experienced staff are like gold dust. And the high turnover, conditioned by the persistence of low wages, means companies have to devise more ingenious and attractive ways to retain them.
Linda Ogilvie, personnel officer at Child & Co, says the rewards for long service are a way of 'thanking our staff for the commitment and loyalty they have shown the company, and obviously if they help to keep staff with the company then that's good for our nurseries, because it helps to keep standards high.'
At Child & Co anyone with five years' service is offered a choice of treats, ranging from a day at the races, tickets to the Chelsea Flower Show, a visit to the theatre, a health spa or a day off shopping. Members of the Five-Year Club recently went as a group to Newbury Races and, after some shrewd betting, raised £200 towards the BBC's Children in Need Appeal - and each was then rewarded with a £75 shopping voucher.
At six years the company offers more adventurous pursuits, with a day at the wheel of a motor racing car at Silverstone, a balloon flight or a flying lesson. Each of the choices available at five or six years are then open to employees in succeeding years until they reach the ten-year milestone.
Samantha Tomlin, human resources manager at Child Base, says she is continually keeping ways of retaining and developing staff under review and realises that a predominantly young workforce needs more than pension provision to tempt it to stay long term. Currently any employee with ten years' service receives a £300 holiday voucher.
She said that staff turnover in the 640-strong workforce between November last year and March 2002 was around 11.7 per cent. Last year the company enlisted the help of the conciliation service ACAS to carry out a survey of staff. The result was an increase in holiday from 20 to 25 days at the expense of some sick-pay entitlement. She adds, 'Once people have been here for 12 to 18 months they seem to stay forever. Certainly anyone who has been with Child Base for five years will have had the chance to be promoted.'
Child Base also encourages its staff to buy shares in the company. Staff can have from £10 rising to a maximum of £125 a month deducted from their salary to buy shares currently worth around £2.65, and for every share they purchase, the company buys another one for them.
Just Learning operates a share scheme for senior management - the result of the recent deal which saw venture capitalist firm Alchemy purchase the chain while allowing the management team to retain a five per cent stake.
Michael Fallon, managing director of Just Learning, says, 'We are constantly looking at our retention packages but since we've only been going for a little over five years, we don't yet have any really long-serving staff.'
But he believes rewarding senior managers has a beneficial knock-on effect on the motivation of the rest of the workforce. 'Good managers attract good staff and this helps staff retention. Rewards for senior managers show those starting off as nursery nurses that they too can get to the top. They can see a proper career path ahead.'
Long-serving staff at the Edinburgh-based Careshare chain can choose a day of pampering at a local health club or a meal in a restaurant to the value of £100 when they have spent ten years with the company.
Resources director Marion Webster says that most staff with ten years'
service choose to be pampered and they go on a weekday so they are paid. 'They can have a body massage, a facial, a manicure and a pedicure. It's really a "thank you" to them for sticking with the company, rather than a perk.'
Staff at three nurseries run by Academy, which are located in Next Generation Health Clubs, get the chance to pamper themselves all year round. Academy pays for membership of the health clubs at sites in Chorley, Lancashire, Brierley Hill in the West Midlands and Ipswich in Suffolk, which start at £46 a month. Facilities at the clubs, previously part of the David Lloyd fitness empire and now run by his son, include a range of sports such as tennis and badminton as well as swimming pools, saunas and a beauty room.
Chrissie Richards, HR and operations director at Academy, says that staff who get itchy feet and want to go travelling for up to six months can take unpaid leave and return to their jobs when they get back from their globe-trotting.
At Kinderquest long service is largely rewarded with extra holiday - an additional day at five years and two days when an employee has been with the chain for ten years. But the 12 staff who have reached the ten-year mark also have the choice of a visit to a health spa, a night in a hotel or a meal out for two. A meal out for two worth £100 is also the reward for ten years' loyalty at Kidsunlimited.
Kinderquest group personnel manager Sharon Williams says, 'Keeping someone for ten years in the childcare sector is something of a miracle. They are highly valued because their numbers are dwindling.' NC