3 Steps to Retaining Teachers.

# The Magical Three-Step Retention Formula ## Step One: Give Every New Hire a Friend Most preschool owners think retention starts with pay. Pay matters. Of course it does. But if we are honest, many teachers do not leave only because of money. They leave because they never felt connected. They never felt claimed by the team. They never had that one person who made them feel like, “I belong here.” That is why Step One of our Magical Three-Step Retention Formula is simple: **When you hire someone, give them a friend.** Not just a trainer. Not just a checklist. Not just a login and a stack of paperwork. A real person. Someone warm. Someone steady. Someone who represents your school culture well. Someone who already lives your core values and can help the new teacher feel welcome before the loneliness, confusion, and “What did I get myself into?” feeling sets in. Because in childcare, the first few weeks matter more than we think. ## The One-Legged Stool Problem Retention is like a three-legged stool. If you only focus on training, the stool wobbles. If you only focus on pay, the stool wobbles. If you only focus on accountability, the stool wobbles. You need all three legs. And the first leg is **friendship**. Before a new teacher fully buys into your systems, your curriculum, your standards, or your mission, they need to feel emotionally safe enough to stay. They need someone they can ask the “dumb” questions to. Where do I put my lunch? Who do I call if a parent asks this? Is this normal? Why is that toddler holding one shoe and half a waffle? A friend helps make the new school feel less like a job and more like a team. ## The $100 Retention Move Here is the practical move we recommend: Choose a few of your friendliest, strongest lead teachers. These should be people who are positive, dependable, and good examples of your school’s core values. Then create a simple “New Hire Friend” role. When a new teacher joins your school, pair them with one of these trusted team members. Give that lead teacher a $100 gift card and ask them to take the new hire to lunch twice during the first few weeks. Yes, $100 may feel like a lot. But compared to losing a teacher, replacing them, retraining someone new, covering shifts, burning out your director, and confusing the children with another staff change, it is tiny. That $100 is not just buying lunch. It is buying connection. It is buying trust. It is buying a chance for the new teacher to say what they may not say in a staff meeting. It is buying the beginning of a friendship. And friendship is sticky. ## Why This Works Research continues to show that workplace relationships are connected to employee engagement, productivity, and retention. Gallup has repeatedly found that having a best friend at work is strongly linked to important business outcomes, including engagement, productivity, safety, and retention. Their research has also shown that employees with close work friendships are more likely to engage with customers, support a safer workplace, and share ideas. SHRM has also highlighted the value of onboarding buddies. In one SHRM-cited example, new hires who were paired with buddies were 36% more satisfied at work, and 56% of new hires who met with their buddies at least once said they became productive more quickly. The impact grew even stronger when buddies met more often during the first 90 days. Microsoft’s research on onboarding buddies also supports the idea that new employees need intentional peer support during their first months, not just manager check-ins and paperwork. In other words, this is not just a “nice idea.” It is a retention strategy. ## What the Friend Should Actually Do The friend is not there to be the new hire’s boss. They are there to be the bridge. Their job is to help the new teacher understand the little things that are hard to put in a handbook: How we talk to parents. How we handle hard moments with children. How we support each other during stressful parts of the day. What our school values actually look like in real life. Who to go to when they need help. What “good” looks like here. This person should check in often, especially during the first 30 days. A simple message like, “How did today feel?” can catch a problem before it becomes a resignation. ## The Director’s Role The director should introduce this clearly. Do not make it casual or accidental. Say something like: “Every new teacher here gets a friend. Not because we think you can’t figure things out, but because nobody should have to figure out a new school alone. Teresa is going to be your go-to person for the first few weeks. She will check in with you, answer questions, and take you to lunch so you can get to know each other.” That small introduction tells the new hire: You matter here. We planned for you. You are not alone. That feeling is powerful. ## The Preschool Reality In early childhood education, we ask teachers to do emotionally demanding work. They manage crying toddlers, anxious parents, licensing rules, lesson plans, biting reports, potty accidents, transitions, playground chaos, and coworkers with very different personalities. Then we wonder why people burn out. The truth is, teachers do not just need training. They need belonging. A new hire who has a friend is more likely to ask for help before they fail, speak honestly before they quit, and feel connected before another center offers them fifty cents more an hour. ## Step One: Build Friendship So before you obsess over your next training video, staff handbook, or performance review system, ask this: **Does every new hire have a friend?** Not a pretend friend. Not “everyone is friendly here.” A real assigned person who takes responsibility for helping them feel welcomed, known, and supported. Because the first leg of retention is friendship. And without it, you are trying to balance your entire culture on a one-legged stool. Stay tuned for Step Two and Step Three of the Magical Three-Step Retention Formula. Because once you give them a friend, the next step is making sure they have a clear path to grow — and a reason to believe they can become someone special inside your school.