PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KinderCare Education, the nation’s largest private provider of early childhood education and care, is proud to announce that it has received the 2018 Gallup Great Workplace Award. The award honors organizations for their extraordinary ability to create engaged workplace cultures that drive business outcomes. KinderCare Education remains the first and only in the early childhood education industry to be recognized by Gallup for this award, and one of only 39 companies worldwide to receive this distinction.
KinderCare Education, who is receiving the award for the second year in a row, has an employee engagement ratio that’s more than five times the U.S. average and more than 12 times higher than the global rate.
“We’ve made workplace culture and employee engagement one of our highest priorities. For the past six years, we’ve focused not only on how we can deliver the very best experience to the children and families we serve, but also to our employees,” said Kelsey Troy, Chief Human Resources Officer at KinderCare Education. “What we’ve seen is that by creating a workplace culture where people love what they do and who they work with, the more engaged our children and families have become.”
Studies show that when companies prioritize creating a thriving culture and engaged workforce, impactful results are realized. Not only do engaged workforces drive bottom line and business growth, for KinderCare, engaged teachers and staff directly result in better success for children.
“The past six years have been a journey. Getting to where we are today was one thing but being recognized by Gallup for a second year in a row proves that continuing to ask, listen and respond to our employees is a business model that works – and, most importantly, results in positive outcomes for our employees and the children and families we serve,” said Troy. “There’s nothing more important than that.”
“KinderCare is the only one in the early childhood education industry investing in the talent and engagement of their teachers,” said Jim Asplund, Gallup’s Chief Scientist of Strengths-Based Development. “The impact they’re making in improving child outcomes is unprecedented in the industry.”
According to Gallup, a staggering 85 percent of employees worldwide are either generally detached from the company they work for, or are actively disengaged, potentially feeling resentful and acting out their unhappiness. This leaves just 15 percent of employees feeling highly involved and enthusiastic about their work – otherwise known as engaged. These are employees who are motivated to drive performance and innovation to move the organization forward.
“The world’s top-performing organizations help lead the global economy by engaging their workforces,” said Jim Harter, Ph.D., Gallup’s chief scientist of workplace management and well-being. “Gallup’s Great Workplace Award winners understand and acknowledge the importance of employee engagement by making it a vital part of their organization while using it as a driving force to create real business outcomes.”
Learn more about the Gallup Great Workplace Awards here.
About KinderCare Education®
KinderCare Education is an experience-based provider of early education and child care with more than 32,000 teachers and staff serving 170,000 families every day, where they need us:
- In neighborhoods with our KinderCare® Learning Centers that offer early childhood education and child care for children six weeks to 12 years old,
- At work through KinderCare Education at Work™, family-focused benefits for employers including on-site and near-site early learning centers and back-up care for last-minute child care, and
- In local schools with our Champions® before and after-school programs.
KinderCare Education operates more than 1,300 early learning centers, more than 500 Champions sites, and is supported by a corporate team of nearly 500 headquarters employees based in Portland, Oregon. In 2017, KinderCare Education received a Gallup Great Workplace Award – one of only 39 companies worldwide to do so. To learn more, visit kc-education.com.
About Gallup
Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organization in the world. Gallup works with leaders and organizations to achieve breakthroughs in customer engagement, employee engagement, organizational culture and identity, leadership development, talent-based assessments, entrepreneurship, and well-being. For more information about the awards, contact GallupGWA@gallup.com.
