The dilemma facing working parents

Finding high-quality, affordable child care is no easy feat. Child care providers often charge rates that exceed college tuition, and exceptional care is difficult to find. Even when parents can find affordable and trusted care, these programs typically have limited openings for new applicants, and families can spend months on waiting lists. This trilemma of availability, affordability, and quality makes the process of finding child care a significant source of stress and distraction for working parents. 

This challenge for parents has adverse consequences for a business. Child care challenges can cause parents to miss meetings, deadlines, and full days of work, hindering productivity and impacting performance. The difficulty of finding quality care and the stress of managing family obligations leads some new parents to leave the workforce altogether. In addition to the disruption to the business, this turnover can be expensive, as it may cost employers 400% of salary to replace these high-level employees.

Fortunately, there is an affordable and effective solution: on-site employee daycare that is integrated into the workplace, solving the child care dilemma for parents. Corporate child care programs relieve the stress of finding and managing high-quality care while simplifying commutes and allowing parents to have more contact with their child throughout the day. And as a highly attractive employee benefit, employee daycare reinforces an employer’s brand as a family-friendly workplace, helping to retain and attract top talent.

Bright Horizons employee daycare programs

As one of the nation’s leading onsite child care companies, Bright Horizons provides a variety of solutions that cultivate high-performance workforces by supporting employees through every life stage. In addition to on-site employee daycare, we offer solutions for back-up and emergency child care, elder care, education and college advising, services for families who have children with special needs, tuition assistance and loan repayment programs, and additional family supports. With Bright Horizons, employers can deliver high-impact services that appeal to the modern workforce and enable greater business results. 

For businesses seeking to implement employee daycare programs, we provide two levels of solutions:

• Center Development: Bright Horizons has developed hundreds of on-site child care centers across the country. Our comprehensive process can manage every aspect of center development from start to finish. Through budget modeling, detailed site analysis, and utilization projections, we’ll ensure your center matches the culture of your organization and meets your employees’ child care needs. 
• Center Management: Our experienced operations teams can handle every aspect of managing an employee daycare center, from developing curriculum and managing staff to handling licensing and ensuring safety and compliance. Our turnkey programs are managed with an unparalleled depth of expertise, providing solutions that your employees trust and that elevate your employer brand.

Employee daycare: the benefits

Employee daycare is a strategic investment that enhances employee happiness and increases business productivity on all fronts. With a more engaged workforce, you can meet talent management goals and deliver on key performance metrics.

The benefits of employee daycare programs with Bright Horizons include:

• Enhanced productivity: Give your employees the confidence and peace of mind they need to put in their best performances. A Bright Horizons survey found that 95% of parents feel employee daycare helps them concentrate on being as productive as possible. With dependable child care that fits their schedule, employees can stay focused on job performance.
• Higher retention: Cultivate a loyal workforce while reducing the disruptions of turnover. Many parents are willing to switch to another employer with better benefits, and corporate child care is a high priority for employees with children or who are planning to start a family. Solving child care problems for new and prospective parents keeps competitors from poaching your most valuable talent. 
• Improved recruitment: Build your brand by creating a culture that supports working families. A recent study showed that roughly half of working parents said they had chosen a family-friendly employer over one offering higher pay.  In today’s tight talent market, offering child care benefits is a powerful way to attract qualified candidates.
• Easier return to work after leave: Help new parents return to work sooner with convenient access to onsite daycare. Research shows that employer-sponsored child care is a major factor in employees’ decisions to return after a baby, and facilitating a smooth return helps maximize business performance. Offering employee wellness programs benefits like return-to-work programs for moms strengthens your employer brand and delivers tangible results.

Creating effective employee daycare centers

For employee daycare to succeed, businesses must address a number of critical considerations. At Bright Horizons, we employ proven strategies for designing and permitting daycare centers that deliver on your goals and parent expectations.  Our development teams provide the expertise and guidance to make informed decisions about center design. 

Analyzing Employee Demand
Meeting employee child care needs requires a clear understanding of how the center may be used. Utilization projections assess factors such as:

• Demographics and area geography
• The existing child care market in the area
• Types of care required and age ranges of children
• Ideal schedules and hours to support the workforce
• Projections of future workforce demographics

Exceeding Expectations for Quality
Education and safety are priorities for parents looking for child care, and the convenience of employee daycare needs to be matched by high-quality programs. To enable parents to have confidence in on-site care, programs must offer:

• A research-based curriculum and thoughtfully designed environments
• Ongoing teacher training to ensure that care exceeds parent expectations
• Ideal student/teacher ratios for each age group
• Strict safety practices meeting or exceeding all state, local, and national guidelines

Understanding Space
Child care centers have unique requirements for space. Key considerations include:

• Real estate analysis and space needs
• Local jurisdictional requirements including planning and zoning regulations and building codes
• Opportunities for outdoor play spaces, parking, and other essential elements
• Commuting patterns relative to location