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Goodstart Early Learning named as Employer of Choice in Australian Business Awards
Freya Lucas
Sep 01, 2023
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Goodstart Early Learning, Australia’s largest early childhood provider, has been named as an Employer of Choice in the 2023 Australian Business Awards.
To be named as an Employer of Choice a business or organisation must show that it:
- Develops a leading workplace
- Maximises the full potential of its workforce
- Has established policies and practices in place for effective employee recruitment, engagement and retention
Across its network Goodstart has more than 15,000 educators, teachers, and early learning professionals who work with 63,000 children across 661 communities around Australia.
For Goodstart CEO Dr Ros Baxter the award is a thrilling acknowledgement of the commitment to, and investment in, the Goodstart team.
“Our people are at the heart of everything we do,” she said.
“We believe that investing in our team members contributes directly to the positive outcomes we achieve for the children and families we serve.”
“Our shared vision that Australia’s children have the best possible start in life is the key to our strong, child focused culture. This award is a testament to our teams’ commitment to provide a nurturing, inclusive, and fulfilling workplace where our employees can thrive.”
Despite the challenging post COVID economic climate, Goodstart has expanded benefits such as employer-funded paid parental leave, increased childcare (sic.) discounts, added rostered personal wellbeing days, and comprehensive support for employees.
In July this year those working directly with children in Goodstart centres around Australia received the biggest pay rise in the organisation’s history.
“We listen deeply to our people and take action to seize opportunities and address challenges,” Dr Baxter explained.
“This includes changing the way we work to provide our teams with increased non-contact time, flexible work arrangements and training and support,” she continued, acknowledging that the pandemic was an extremely challenging time for centre based teams, who were “on the front line, keeping centres open so essential workers could continue to do their jobs.”
The provider offers a number of other initiatives to enhance and support its team, including traineeships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators and fostering communities of practice for underrepresented groups.
Goodstart has also adopted a new support model for its centre teams, empowering leaders through a coaching approach.
The organisation’s employee value proposition is anchored by the phrase "supporting you in making a difference,” and has a range of recognition points from informal thank you campaigns to improving working conditions, with the strategic goal of creating ‘an amazing Goodstarter experience’ at front of mind.
Information about Goodstart Early Learning is available here. To learn more about the Australian Business Awards please see here.
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