Mayor Sabine Groß attracts skilled workers with daycare center visit
04.08.2023
Mayor Sabine Groß visited Kita Kleewasem (14) to experience the daycare center up close and to talk to the staff on site. The daycare center in Bieber-Waldhof is one of the 29 EKO daycare centers and thus a municipal daycare center in Offenbach. The shortage of childcare professionals can also be felt in Offenbach, which is why Sabine Groß often hears families' concerns about the childcare situation for their children. And that is what Sabine Groß is concerned about. She wants to know what is particularly stressful for professionals and what measures can improve the work situation. She also wants to know why professionals have chosen this profession, what fascinated them about it and what their ideas of good pedagogical work are. It quickly becomes clear that Sabine Groß is recruiting specialists. She sees a need for action here: "As a city, we never tire of campaigning for the recruitment of specialists. We are working hard to improve the working conditions for professionals. Educational work in a daycare center is a challenging, but also very fulfilling job," Sabine Groß sums up.
The support opportunities for EKO employees are far-reaching. There are internal and external training courses, as a team or individually, as well as regular pedagogical days for professional development. This allows professionals to strengthen their personality as well as their professionalism. "The number of pedagogical days in Offenbach is higher than in neighboring municipalities," emphasizes Annette Gork, Deputy Operations Manager. "We can only offer every child individual development and educational opportunities in our facilities with professionally well-positioned employees."
The management team at the Kleewasem daycare center consists of Julia Schöbel, who qualified as an educator after completing a 5-year vocational training course at a technical college and has now been working at the EKO for many years, and Nadine Polunin, who completed her studies with a master's degree in educational science and has been working at the EKO since this year. Neither of them can imagine a job without contact with people: "For us, it's very fulfilling to see the development of the children, who learn incredibly quickly if you can offer them good incentives and learning opportunities," they both agree.
The Kleewasem daycare center looks after 150 children in 4 kindergarten and 2 after-school groups. Julia Schöbel emphasizes the importance of clear structures in the facility. This is just as much a matter for professionals as it is for the daycare management, because the team benefits from clear structures and expectations, as do the children in their day-to-day life at the daycare center. "Contact and cooperation with the families here in Bieber-Waldhof is very important to us. For example, every year we celebrate the 'Waldhoffest' together with other social institutions in the district, which traditionally takes place on the grounds of the Kleewasem daycare center," explains Julia Schöbel, head of the daycare center. The large outdoor area with a variety of activities for the children is ideal for this.
Nadine Polunin adds the importance of employing motivated and qualified staff in the daycare centers. Multifunctional teams should not be underestimated: "We have already had children with diabetes, epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder at the daycare center. We prepare ourselves in advance and hold workshops and training sessions on the topic with the whole team so that we are as well prepared as possible for each child." It's all a lot of fun, and the children's beaming eyes motivate the nursery staff to stay on the ball every day.
Training in daycare centers is important
Despite everything, however, there is still a shortage of specialist staff in most of Offenbach's daycare centers. This in turn leads to a heavy workload and repeatedly to reduced opening hours, as Sabine Groß knows: "We are working hard to fill the vacancies in our daycare centers. However, the demand for specialists for daycare centers is greater than the number of available specialists. And this is a nationwide challenge."
Many daycare providers are therefore focusing on training. There is a great deal of retention power here, because if trainees are well supported and experience a strong provider, they usually stay with the provider as newly trained specialists. Often with the opportunity to take on a management role themselves. The EKO therefore created a position for training coordination a few years ago. Ann-Kathrin Hinz, who was once a daycare manager herself, works here and advises interested parties on how to learn a pedagogical profession. This does not have to be in the form of a degree course or a traditional apprenticeship, like the path taken by the managers of the Kleewasem daycare center. There are many different options: These include social assistance training or practice-integrated paid training (PivA), or a lateral entry for people who have already completed training or would like to try something completely new again.
Finally, Sabine Groß, who is delighted with the dedicated team, is interested in one more thing: What exactly was the motivation behind applying for the EKO as a provider? Nadine Polunin responds spontaneously: "I was immediately attracted by the website. The view of the children convinced me. I was also impressed by the advice from the training coordinator and how all the daycare centers are described conceptually, and above all the benefits that identify the EKO as a special provider."
The morning at the Kleewasem daycare center flew by. The children are a little disappointed when Sabine Groß explains that her desk is full of work and she has to return to the town hall. But she assures them that she really enjoyed the visit and who knows, maybe she will be at the next Waldhoffest?
Anyone who is curious and would like to become a specialist in an EKO daycare center can contact Stefanie Krebs from the HR department on 069 / 8065-2546 or by e-mail at bewerbungen-ekooffenbachde Further information can be found on the EKO website:
