Early childhood educators are highly susceptible to burnout. As a helping profession that’s constantly influenced by socioeconomic changes and funding imbalances, childcare employees often report feeling undervalued and overworked.
No matter what role a childcare employee fulfills, all are at risk of exhaustion. Directors, teachers, assistants, support staff, behavioral specialists, and activity supervisors may all experience the negative effects of burnout at some point in their careers.
Whether you run a childcare business or offer at-home daycare services, you must know how to prevent team burnout. To learn the effective staff management strategies that mitigate childcare employee burnout, here are some tips.
Childcare Staff Burnout: A Crucial Issue
Childcare workers are necessary, invaluable members of society. They support the healthy development of young children, help socialize and educate their communities, and give back to families.
But because of this, childcare workers can easily fall into physical exhaustion, mental overload, and emotional depletion. These types of burnout negatively affect your business and even the customers you serve.
Why is burnout such a big issue in childcare? Some of the main reasons include:
- Structural Issues — Certain state policies and social inequities pose challenges to both parents and childcare providers, impacting the industry at local and national levels.
- Staff Shortages — After decades of rising childcare costs and declining employee pay, many childcare businesses now struggle to find qualified staff members.
- More Sick Days — Being around groups of young children every day increases the spread of illnesses, such as the seasonal cold and flu. Childcare tends to log more employee sick days than other occupations, which then demands extra hours and increased effort from other staff.
- Funding Imbalances — Education districts across the U.S. are working to level out childcare funding. Unavailable funds contribute to overworked staff, understocked supplies, and dissatisfied parents.
- Common Caregiver Traits — The personalities of childcare workers vary, but there are underlying values that attract people toward caregiving roles. Childcare providers are often caring, compassionate, giving, and nurturing, which are admirable traits. However, these traits make it easier for team members to overextend themselves for others while neglecting to care for themselves.
All of these factors point to why it’s important to encourage employee work-life balance and maintain realistic expectations within the workplace.
To prevent (or at least mitigate) the various paths that lead to burnout, you need to establish a healthy, supportive culture in your childcare business. This begins with effective staff management.
8 Tips to Manage Childcare Employee Burnout
Your employees rely on you for scheduling, payroll, time off, team development, and everyday work structure. Here are eight ideas to help you manage your childcare staff better to defeat burnout.
1. Know the Signs of Burnout
Educate yourself on occupational burnout so you can spot the signs early. It’s important to regularly check in with staff individually and as a team so you can listen to how they feel about their career, work-life balance, and role at your childcare center. If you notice an employee burning out, you can address the causes and help them make healthier adjustments.
2. Schedule Proactively
Improve your staff scheduling skills. Give staff plenty of notice about their shifts so they can manage their time and implement work-life balance. Post the schedule at least two to four weeks ahead so they have time to plan, request time off, trade shifts with coworkers, and communicate any issues with you.
3. Train Staff on Burnout Prevention
In some of your team meetings, consider offering personal and professional resources that discuss burnout prevention. Ideas include hiring an expert to deliver a training session, helping staff develop healthy routines that match their lifestyle, handing out anonymous Q&A cards regarding burnout, and hosting social-emotional education workshops.
4. Offer Paid Time Off
Other than burnout, another important reason to optimize staff management is to give your team the time off they deserve. Time off allows rest, which gives employees the chance to recharge and restore. Create an environment where people feel comfortable taking time off and where team members can hold each other accountable to take breaks.
5. Express Your Appreciation
One key to burnout prevention is the feeling of purpose and motivation. Your employees want to be appreciated, feel motivated to work well, and know that they’re contributing toward a meaningful goal. Express your gratitude regularly. Vocalize the strengths you see in your employees. Share company wins, exciting news, and special accomplishments.
You can also show your appreciation by:
- Surprising employees with gift cards on their birthdays
- Spontaneously buy lunch for the team one day
- Arranging seasonal team parties
- Taking your staff out for a team dinner to celebrate the end of the year
Everyone wants to feel seen and valued. Even if it doesn’t seem like it, expressing your appreciation makes a big difference. Don’t overlook your staff.
6. Pay Your Childcare Workers Well
One of the leading contributors to childcare burnout is inadequate pay. Many childcare centers offer minimum wage, which can attract “bare minimum” effort resulting in higher turnover rates. Pay your staff a higher rate compared to local competitors. Offer pay raises based on performance, holding annual staff reviews to go over strengths and areas for improvement.
When you pay your staff well, it motivates them to do a good job. It promotes an attitude of professionalism, trust, and security among your team members, letting them know they’re valued.
7. Structure Your Classroom Management
Student-to-teacher ratios in childcare centers can get hectic. Manage your classroom numbers to ensure ratios are being followed at all times. This avoids giving teachers and staff too much responsibility, making them feel overwhelmed and overworked.
Be consistent with daily cleaning, taking inventory of classroom supplies, planning snacks/meals, and other essential classroom tasks. Use digital tools that help employees carry out their classroom management duties and communicate with other team members.
8. Give Childcare Staff the Tools to Be Successful
Your employees should have all the tools they need to succeed. Childcare management software helps you and your team offload tedious administrative tasks, allowing everyone to spend more time interacting with the children and improving the workplace.
A childcare management app also enables the team to log attendance, track classroom ratios, submit incident reports, organize documents, and share lesson plans all in one place, making your employees’ jobs a lot easier.
Prevent Childcare Burnout: A Better Approach to Staff Management
Top-notch staff management is one of the most effective ways to prevent childcare burnout. By creating a more structured, supported work environment, your team will be more inclined to love what they do and always do their best.
To manage your childcare center and your employees more efficiently, start using a childcare software that includes staff management features. Get a free trial of the leading childcare management app, Daily Connect, today!
