Some factors that contribute to attracting and maintaining quality early childhood staff all over the world are salary, training, work benefits, and overall work environment (Shonkoff and Philips, 2000). Salary, benefits and training requirements are typically external factors that are beyond a director’s control to a certain extent. Yes, salary can be determined by directors and benefits can as well but there are limits to realistic options. Most directors would agree that early childhood staff are underpaid and would love to pay them much more but do not have the resources to do so. This is why they are considered external factors. Internal factors are related to the work environment and can be altered by directors or administrators.
What is work environment and why does it matter?
Work environment can be simply classified as the conditions of the workplace. These include tangible things such as the building and its contents but also the morale of the people working there. One of the biggest contributors to a positive work environment is morale. It seems simple but it is more complicated than many people realize. Boosting the morale of early childhood staff can be done in a multitude of ways and usually results in highly motivated and happy staff members that children and families are thrilled to have in their lives.