Whether we like it or not, the child care industry is in a labor crisis. With a booming economy right now, unemployment rates are at an all time low in the United States and companies across the country continue to raise their minimum pay in order to stay competitive and attract hard working employees. Unfortunately, in this industry, it can be hard to keep up with competitive wages and this can make you feel discouraged when trying to seek out A players because you feel like you don’t have enough to offer to them.
However, this is a mindset that you HAVE TO leave behind. This millennial workforce is filled with A players who seek much more than higher wages when job hunting. Those A players are looking to be a part of a collaborative culture where they are heard and can find real meaning in their work. In the video below, I sit down with Chuck Gibbs, the chief executive officer at ChildCare CRM, to discuss how to fight the hiring crisis and build your child care business to stay recession proof.
Here Are the Key Takeaways From This Video:
- The child care industry is in a labor crisis and the competition to find teachers is high. You’re not only competing with other schools for teachers, but you’re also competing with the rest of employers that offer lower starting wages similar to yours.
- To attract teachers right now, you need to start by building a culture of excellence and collaboration within your school and then use that and your unique benefits to market to candidates. To today’s younger generation, especially millennials, culture trumps everything else when they are looking for employment opportunities.
- You have to discover ways to be savvy in your recruitment process and be visible to potential candidates. To do this, building out a compelling and beautiful careers page on your website is a “must have.”
- Just because you’re full today doesn’t mean you’ll be full tomorrow. In order to stay recession proof, you must be faster to adopt technology and learn to constantly drive leads and build relationships by integrating technology, automation, and systems.
- Two best practices in the child care industry are to 1.) always be hiring and marketing and 2.) have a designated staff member to handle enrollment marketing and tours. ChildCare CRM has found that centers that have a designated person to do this have significantly higher conversation rates.
- Gathering more leads always isn’t the answer, sometimes you just need to work the hot leads that you have. Learn to write compelling copy in your email headlines and subject lines to gain higher open rates.
