TITLE:
Employee Retention Strategies Used by Private Childcare Owners
AUTHORS:
Velma Williams Sanders, Kim A. Critchlow
KEYWORDS:
Job Satisfaction, Service Delivery, Childcare, Childcare Facilities, School Leadership, Recruitment, Training, Teacher Shortage, Early Childhood Development, Burnout, Job Embeddedness, Employee Retention, Mitigation, Quality Care, Organizational Commitment, Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, Training, Autonomy, Recognition, Productivity, Private Childcare, Public Childcare, Remuneration, Benefits, Fatigue, Depression, Anxiety, Funding, Proactive Behavior, Motivation Factor, Hygiene Factor, Consistency, Attachment Bonds, Private Facilities, Public Facilities, Coping Strategies, Exhaustion
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.14 No.2,
March
20,
2026
ABSTRACT: Ineffective retention strategies can lead to employee turnover. Private childcare business owners who struggle to improve employee retention may find their business confronting attrition as a result. Grounded in job embeddedness theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry research project was to identify and explore effective retention strategies used by private childcare business owners to reduce high employee turnover rates. The participants were eight private childcare business owners who had implemented retention strategies. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, public websites, and public documents. Through thematic analysis, five themes were identified: (a) providing competitive rewards and family support; (b) recognizing, developing, and empowering staff; (c) leading visibly to nurture strong relationships and culture; (d) designing operations that stabilize work and sustain quality; and (e) anchoring work in purpose, community, and adaptive growth. A key recommendation is for private childcare business owners to entrench themselves in the community, understand the positive social impact their employees wish to achieve, and use the business owner’s network to socially connect their employees. The implications for positive social change include the potential for private childcare business owners to implement the identified strategies and expand positive social change opportunities for individuals in their employ, thereby benefiting the communities they serve economically and through service to the community.