Story House Early Learning

90%

of employees are active users of the platform

11%

boost in employee recognition in its employee survey, alongside a 4% increase in staff happiness

1,300+

eCards sent between staff

About Story House Early Learning

Story House Early Learning is an early education provider of safe, supportive environments for children to grow and learn. The organisation operates approximately 40 sites throughout the east coast of Australia, employing over 1,200 staff in total – 97% of whom are offline workers, and largely women under 40.

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The challenge

After a period of rapid growth, going from 10 to 20 to 40 locations within a short time, Story House needed to find ways to minimise staff turnover and maximise retention. With employees fearing a loss of personal connection between leadership, management and the frontline workers delivering its services, Story House began its search for a solution that would appeal to a completely dispersed and primarily Millennial demographic.

The approach

Although Story House prides itself on providing children a sense of belonging through its services, team members didn’t have a place to share that same community feeling. Story House Early Learning Platform mockup

Facing a lack of connection to its full employee value proposition, the company partnered with Reward Gateway to create a platform – called ‘Main Street’ – where the HR team shares all the educational and pedagogical successes happening every day throughout the organisation. This visibility allows educators to learn from one another and share experiences and practical tips.

Establishing priorities

Internal communications: The organisation wanted to give people the chance to celebrate each other’s successes and highlight the extraordinary efforts made by staff every day. Things like video content and bite-sized pieces have been really well received because it appeals directly to its younger workforce demographic.

Recognition: The eCard system has proven very popular, with staff sending over 1,300 recognitions since launch – all linked to the organisation’s core values.

Centralisation: Main Street is a comprehensive, approachable hub that puts everything in one place, while also seamlessly linking to the other systems and information staff rely on as part of their everyday jobs. Even though the vast majority of employees don’t use a laptop at work, they’re now choosing to log into the mobile app on their lunch break or in their own personal time.

The results

Story House runs a full-staff anonymised survey three times a year, which encourages people to write honestly. After platform launch, the organisation saw a big uplift in response rate. It also saw quick increases in its eNPS rating only three months after launch.