Winning formula: Story House leads the way in onboarding and talent experience

Story House Early Learning has been recognised for its outstanding people and culture strategies, taking home two national accolades at the 2025 Internal Talent Awards (ITAs): Excellence in Onboarding and Best Careers Website.

The ITAs celebrate achievement in talent acquisition, employer branding, and workforce strategy across Australia and New Zealand. For Story House, the dual win reflects a sustained and strategic focus on improving both candidate and employee experience from first click through to first day.

“This is a really big achievement for us,” said Kelly Murphy, the organisation’s Head of Talent. “We’ve been focused on creating a positive experience from the moment someone visits our careers site, right through to onboarding. These awards really recognise the impact of all the work we’ve been doing.”

The Excellence in Onboarding award highlights Story House’s commitment to ensuring every new team member feels welcomed, supported, and set up for success. Its approach goes beyond basic compliance, focusing instead on building genuine connection and clarity for incoming educators and staff.

The Best Careers Website category recognises providers who clearly communicate their values, opportunities and workplace culture. Story House’s site was praised for its ease of use, engaging content, and ability to help prospective candidates understand what it’s like to work within the organisation.

While the awards span industries, Story House’s wins are particularly significant for the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector, where competition for skilled educators continues, and workforce attraction and retention remain top priorities.

These awards serve as a reminder that:

• A candidate’s journey starts long before the first interview. A well-crafted website can shape perceptions, improve alignment, and increase quality of applications.
• Onboarding is a key retention tool. Early experiences can influence whether new staff feel confident, capable, and connected in their roles.
• Employer brand matters. Story House’s investment in people experience, at every stage, shows how alignment between recruitment and retention strategy can deliver measurable outcomes.

The two ITA awards highlight Story House Early Learning’s strategic focus on workforce experience and talent development. In a context where educator wellbeing, recruitment and retention, and organisational culture are key sector priorities, the recognition reflects the impact of targeted investment in people and onboarding practices.

Explore Story House’s career opportunities and workplace culture here, you might even uncover our secret page along the way.