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(Unit 6) Topic 8: Mindful Leadership

3 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

Creating a Positive Work Environment

Topic 8 Page 6

According to the Association for Childhood Education International, the two most common reasons for child care professional turnover are high stress environments and low compensation. It is no secret that the child care profession can be stressful. Directors and other leadership staff are well aware of this, and should do what they can to ease the stress for their staff members. When a workplace is high in stress and low in methods of combating the stress, employees feel undervalued, burned out, and begin to lose motivation. This can also lead to high turnover rates in child care programs.

Leaders are in an interesting position in the child care profession, as they are able to ease the stress of the environment in many ways. An effective leader who possesses many of the characteristics that we previously spoke about will understand the stressors of the job, be attentive to the needs of their staff and will also be able to balance the overall needs of the child care program. While compensation issues may be a corporate or tuition-based consideration and directors may not have much control over them, they are able to create a positive work environment by helping to relieve common stressors.