{"id":1914,"date":"2024-11-27T09:07:20","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T09:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mo.work\/?page_id=1914"},"modified":"2025-03-12T17:14:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T17:14:21","slug":"nurseries","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mo.work\/case-studies\/nurseries\/","title":{"rendered":"iStep Nurseries"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The challenge:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“The childcare sector is fragmented…”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Monkey Puzzle<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Before we get into David’s story at iStep, a bit of background: this is a sector that has faced vast challenges, not least from increased demand and changes in work patterns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while nurseries are a vital part of the childcare system, they often receive little support to tackle such challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201c<\/span>I’ve been hearing this for twenty years: the childcare sector is fragmented. What happens when the head of a nursery that feels more like a family decides to sell? Some staff will feel like they’ve lost that personal connection\u2026. how do we support them?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"David\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDavid Hancock<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tManaging Director, Monkey Puzzle<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/cite>\n\t<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/path>\n\t\t\t<\/g>\n\t\t<\/svg>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

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David’s latest team at Monkey Puzzle is full of passionate employees who just want to feel like they are part of something meaningful. They face similar challenges to his previous workforce at iStep. Even staff who have a long tenure begin to feel disengaged in these circumstances. Throw a change of leadership into the mix and things reach an inflection point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will the team come together to succeed? This is the story of how Mo helped iStep bring their whole company together with an effective recognition platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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iStep nurseries needed a fix for staff retention and culture.<\/h2>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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In early 2022, the nursery sector was facing real challenges related to high staff turnover, employee disengagement and ineffective communication. People wanted jobs that made them feel valued. The opposite was true: many left work feeling tired and demotivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make things harder for the team at iStep Nurseries, this family-run business was changing hands from its original owner to a new set of hands. David knew that his so-called \u201ccorporate\u201d culture may lead to friction among employees, who were used to a \u201cfamily-run\u201d approach. Not only did he not want to alienate his hard-working staff, he was also concerned about the resulting inefficiencies in their children’s care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Direct feedback from employees highlighted these issues; David, who has been the Managing Director of several nursery groups, knew that something had to be done about these growing concerns. He realised that centralised software could solve these issues and make his new staff feel truly informed and appreciated in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summary, David’s main challenges were complex:<\/p>\n\n\n\n