Recruiting early years staff who stay past the first year

7 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 19 hours ago

Introduction

A vacancy is advertised, three applications arrive, one is appointable, and they start a fortnight later with a folder of policies and a room to work in. Five months on they leave, and the whole process begins again.

Recruitment in early years is genuinely difficult and it is not usually where the problem sits. Most settings can eventually find somebody; far fewer keep them past the first year. The cost of that cycle — advertising, agency cover, induction time, and the disruption to children who have just settled with someone — dwarfs anything spent on preventing it.

1. Recruiting early years staff who stay begins with the first six months

Where the loss concentrates.

A large share of departures happen inside the first half year, which means the decisive work happens after the appointment rather than before it. A setting that improves induction typically gains more than one that improves advertising.

2. Describe the actual job in the advert

Mismatch is a leading cause of early departure.

The age group, the room, the hours including any early or late shifts, the ratio they will work in, and what the setting is genuinely like. Adverts written to attract everybody attract people who discover in week three that the job is not what they pictured.

3. Say the pay

Withholding it costs you candidates.

Adverts without a figure are skipped by people who cannot afford to waste an application, which in a shortage means most of them. Publishing the rate also removes the awkward late-stage conversation where a good candidate discovers the offer is below what they need.

4. Let candidates spend time in the room

The most effective filter in both directions.

A paid taster session shows you how somebody is with children and shows them what the job actually involves. It ends more mismatches before appointment than any interview, and candidates consistently value being shown rather than told.

5. Induct properly rather than handing over a folder

The step that determines retention.

A named buddy, a phased introduction to responsibilities, scheduled check-ins in the first weeks, and someone whose job it is to notice how they are doing. Settings that do this well retain people that identical settings lose.

6. Make the progression route visible

People leave when they cannot see forward.

Qualification support, a route to room leader, and what would need to happen to get there. Even where progression is limited by the size of the setting, saying so honestly and offering development instead is better than silence.

7. Fix the rota before fixing the pay

The complaint behind many resignations.

Unpredictable shifts, late notice of changes, breaks that do not happen and constant covering for absence wear people down faster than the rate does. Rota stability is frequently within a manager's control when pay is not.

8. Recruit from where your people already are

The channels that actually work.

Staff referrals, local colleges, parents returning to work, and people who have worked with children in other settings. A referral scheme that pays after six months costs less than a single agency placement and produces better matches.

9. Find out why people actually left

The information most settings never collect.

Exit conversations, held by somebody other than the direct manager, and revisited a few months later. The stated reason at resignation is often not the real one, and the pattern across several departures is what tells you where the problem is.

Treat the people you already have as the recruitment strategy. An experienced member of staff who stays another three years is worth more than two successful appointments, and the spending that achieves it is nearly always smaller than the cost of the vacancies it prevents.

Conclusion

Concentrate on the first six months, because that is where most departures happen.

Describe the real job including hours and room in the advert, publish the pay, let candidates spend paid time in the room before appointment, replace the policy folder with a proper phased induction and a named buddy, make the progression route visible even where it is limited, address rota stability before assuming pay is the issue, recruit through staff referrals and local colleges, and find out honestly why the people who left actually went.