A Study in Retention and Employee Morale

Leake & Watts, a private, nonprofit agency based in Yonkers, provides social services to vulnerable children and families in New York with the goal of preserving familial relationships and connectedness to the community. Leake & Watts is experiencing problems recruiting and retaining childcare workers for its residential treatment center, a dilemma shared by organizations throughout the industry. The Capstone team was asked to assess the agency’s internal and external environment to determine what could be done to attract and retain childcare workers. The Capstone team conducted focus groups, interviews, surveys, competitor research, literature review, and other external research. Based on their findings, the Capstone team presented a number of recommendations that would increase childcare worker recruitment, retention, and morale.