The pandemic has brought to the surface a number of underlying societal and institutional inequalities. NMT speaks to Iain Colledge, executive director of operations at Bright Horizons about his passion for education and why putting your staff first is becoming an increasingly important business strategy.

IC: “I’ve been an educator for most of my career and I’ve lived in six different countries, including Jordan, Bahrain, Libya, Thailand, Czech Republic and the UAE as a teacher and running schools. Most recently I was running a multi-campus 3,000 student school and was director of education for one of the leading education groups in the UAE.

“Prior to that, I’ve been a British educator and headteacher but while in the Czech Republic I took a break from schools and worked in the British Council as an early years project director, which was my first experience into early years where I set up bi-lingual kindergartens across Europe.

“I was co-founder, and remain a trustee, of North West Academies Trust, an academy trust based in the Nort West of England which runs six primary and one secondary school. I’m also an ex-Ofsted inspector and have consulted a lot with business owners who were looking to acquire or build new schools

“I love being in education and I’m really passionate about the work that is done across the sector that is all focused on children and their outcomes. I’ve also had a lot of experience in the business of education. For my next move, I wanted to move into the corporate world but still be involved with children. This role at Bright Horizons is perfect as the early years is where you make the biggest difference to the lives of children and families.

BR: You’ve had several roles across the education sector. What brought your focus to the early years?

IC: “It was an area I hadn’t explored fully yet. I have been a teacher and head for many, many years and what I love particularly about early years, from a business perspective, is that it is incredibly agile. During the last four years in the UAE it took that long to build a second 3,000 student campus, however in the early years, if you are acquiring or building it can take a matter of months so there is more flexibility to improve and grow quicker. I really like that business side but there is a lot happening in the early years space right now and at its core, this is where we can make the most difference as educators. I’d like to play my part in that, particularly in working with the government on policies which put young children and families at the heart of the country’s future, but also where we can play such a pivotal role in supporting our colleagues to develop their careers in one of the most important professions there is.”

BR: How do you ensure operational efficiency across so many Bright Horizons settings?

IC: “First and foremost, you need to get access to all the information, and it has to be good information. There is a lot of noise out there, so you need to have the right data and information to get the bigger picture across the group.

“Having fantastic people behind the processes is essential and as a big organisation you need to have strong leadership in each area of the business but also let those leaders have autonomy to make decisions. We are lucky at Bright Horizons to have experienced, committed colleagues at every level of the organisation. Of course, there are procedures and processes to follow but beyond that they should have the opportunity to lead and manage.

“So, two main things, having the information and knowledge and having the right people leading at all levels across the company. This really makes a difference.”

Earlier this year, Bright Horizons was ranked among the UK’s Best Workplace for Wellbeing (2022) by Great Place to Work®, a global leader on workplace culture. The culture experts ask employees to comment on how their organisation supports them at work and also their mental and physical wellbeing.

To support its employees emotional wellbeing, Bright Horizons has its ‘Employee Assistance Programme’ which enables colleagues to access counselling and its Work+Family Space, which is a hub of resources relating to all aspects of work and family life.

IC: “The pandemic threw us a lot of very difficult challenges, but we do have to take positives from it as well. Companies’ attitudes towards work and flexibility has changed and that change will most likely be here to stay. It has changed across the whole world and there is still more that will evolve from it. I think it will be a few more years before companies and the workforce find the right rhythm but it is a fascinating process. Being on the ground and listening to what people say teaches us a lot as leaders.

“It’s not just colleagues that want flexibility, parents do also, so we have been in talks with the government about that over the past couple of months. Another positive from the pandemic is the openness to speak about mental health. Now the UK gets a lot of criticism but out of the countries I’ve worked in, the UK is one of the best. We are very open about how important it is to share your feelings in a way that is comfortable for you.

“Part of our benefits package is we have wellbeing counselling sessions that our colleagues can access anonymously at all different levels depending on what is going on in their lives. Supporting colleagues is a core part of what Bright Horizons stands for and our HEART principles.”

Having a physical wellbeing strategy both at home and at work is equally as important. In 2020, Bright Horizons introduced Smart Health [in the UK]. This benefit is a virtual health service provided by AIG Life which gives all employees the opportunity to easily manage their health and wellbeing. It’s available to all colleagues and their immediate family members. Smart Health provides unlimited, 24/7 access to everything needed to create long-term wellbeing habits. These services include, a Virtual GP, Mental health support, nutritional support and tailored fitness programmes.

Challenges in the sector to focus on

IC: “We have to support our early years specialists and communicate the invaluable role they play in children’s lives and education. Recruitment and retention are definitely the biggest challenges we face as a sector, and other sectors are experiencing the same strains too.

“For us, we have a great recruitment team who are really pushing forward to ensure we have the best people and that we keep them. We are utilising many innovative initiatives to attract new colleagues, but I think retention is actually the harder part of it. A lot of people are leaving the sector for others that are less stressful and, in many cases, can offer higher wages than the early years can. That is what we are battling against. As a company we have a lot of benefits for our colleagues but most importantly we have career progression initiatives so they will come to us to grow in their career and not just be with us for a year or two.

“But to be very honest, and many in the sector will feel the same, it is still a massive problem. We have large waiting lists in some of our nurseries that we just can’t fulfil at the moment.

“Training is also essential. Professional development is absolutely key to supporting our colleagues and opening up new career avenues for them within the sector.

“It’s a challenge that will remain for a while but there are ways we can improve it and that’s what we, at Bright Horizons, will continue to do. This year Bright Horizons announced it has invested £10 million in its early years practitioners’ salaries and benefits.

“We are also enrolling 700 people onto our apprenticeship programme in the UK. This includes 300 new recruits joining the scheme and enhanced apprenticeship support for 400 existing employees.”

An exciting future for education

“One of the UK’s biggest exports is its education. Many countries are heavily influenced by the British education system, and I saw that in several international schools.

“Every country is trying to do its best and no one is getting it completely right and part of the reason for that is because the sector is always evolving and changing. However, the countries that are doing really well are the ones that listen to the people working in the sector and work alongside them and the government. Overall, I think the UK is doing really well at this, and whilst there will always be those who think otherwise, I would suggest looking deeply into other nation’s systems, as the UK isn’t perfect but does a lot of things well in education.

“I’ve learnt that the world is a very complex place and if you don’t manage your stakeholders very effectively, you will struggle. The stakeholders are the government, the parents, the community and most importantly, the children. We need to make sure to listen to everyone and explain the decisions we make. You won’t make everyone happy, but you can communicate with everyone and have the flexibility to collaborate with all stakeholders.”