Analyst Team Reports

Managing Organizational Growth

Amrita Jain, India, Mobile Crèches

Work with underprivileged children in the mobile community
Run day care centers on construction sites; when site is complete they move to the next site to care for the children
Strengths — clear vision and mission is of great importance in managing growth
Parents don’t always send their children because they don’t understand the child care concept
Parents are also able work in the center as part of payment for childcare — for example work one day a week
This was the most compelling story. Pictures: set the context for India. The name is significant: Mobile Creches. Work with under-privileged children of migrant, mobile children in India. Women work on construction sites in India picking up bricks and carrying mortar. Children are cared for on-site on the construction site. When job closes, the site closes. Organization is mobile as the communities they work with. Organization is 37 years old.
Why crèches? Why the service?
An attempt to service 60 million children in poverty, living in construction sites. 47% of population is children. 79% of children never go to a preschool. 150 million women are in the unorganized sector. Land being reduced is forcing women out of ag land and into cities working in construction. Used to have extended family to look after children. Migration has broken down this support — family is left behind in the villages.
Some migrants settle in slums and resettlements and work as domestic help. Children are uncared for. Depend on sibling care. Mother has to work out of necessity.
Successful model — it is possible to do quality care. Trying to change policy.
Strengths of our organization:
- Clear vision and mission
- Shared body of principles
- Apply consistency
- Commitment
- Importance on managing growth to keep sustainable limits
- Problems and opportunities are identified early
Started 1969 by a woman who saw rampant neglect of children. Started with 3 creches and 5 staff plus volunteers. Now have 42 centers. At that point 1977-78, asked how to sustain. They were the pioneers. Day care under age 3 didn’t exist before Mobile Creches. There are other needs such as siblings. Remained an organization for young children, especially those under 3. Invited experts to do in-service training for staff who didn’t have training up to that point. Most was on-the-job training. Some staff was illiterate, most were at least literate.
India has only one national training agency run by the government. Didn’t train for children under 3. They had to start that as well, starting with setting up that department. This became policy. Emphasis on systems — problem solving, feedback, identification of issues.
Institutionalize the organization
Get government interested
Challenges:
- Strive for quality care — depends on where you start
- Increase our outreach; not reaching as many as they could serve
- Need support from the construction industry; getting them to support is hard. All construction sites with more than 50 workers are supposed to have day care site. They have to demonstrate to them that it is possible. Ask for per child contribution.
- Link with locally trained women who live near the construction sites/resettlements
- Home based crèches — quality care can be given in these communities
- Enabling others to take responsibility (government and industry) rather than just trying to provide these services directly
- Building awareness at the grassroots level. Parents don’t realize that there is neglect and sometimes don’t send children when the services are available.
- Children are relegated to the bottom of the list of priorities especially when there isn’t water
Need people with multiple skills. Working conditions are poor. Have to communicate with dignity while doing arduous tasks such as washing clothes.
Always trying to get resources for the program. No support from the government. Workers are not recognized as a salaried occupation. Recruiting volunteer management with organizational values. Steady finances are not available.

Ty Durekas, United States

Importance of staff recognition — as you grow don’t lose the personal touch
Letters to parents
Web cams in the centers
Preserving culture — quick decision making
On-line newsletters and e-mail to parents
Printable photos for parents
On-line survey for parents
On-line survey of center directors
Management program — staff apply if they want to participate in it
Master teacher program — after 5 years they become a mentor
Picture of child during his first day
Ask the people “Is this working for you?
Two way process up and down
Annual Staff Meeting
Shared the good idea of posting frequently updated photos of the center on an hourly and daily basis in the center’s web site so that parents have access to how their children are doing in the center.
Communication through e-mails is important in the area where broadband is widely available (Silicon Valley); also online training through web sites
Offer back-up care
Large migrant population: 60% foreign-born families; 37% families have grad degrees; 64% college degrees. Progressive state — universal preschool did not pass. Tobacco tax $. Lots of initiatives.
Growth: 6 programs to 20. Worries of parents when the organization is growing:
- Threat (perception) that there won’t be enough to go around
- Staff will be forgotten — only new teachers trained, lose equity
- Make sure that our culture didn’t change as we added programs. Family feel a dedication to staff. 19 programs are within driving distance — high touch is possible.
Also known for quick decision-making. Small things that teachers love have to continue. Celebrations, recognition has preserved the culture.
Organizational communication is a challenge. 99% of families have e-mail accounts. Parents carry PDAs and cellphones. Parents acknowledge teachers for 25 seconds or less. Went online for families:
- E-newsletters 2x/month — has photos, center specific, parents log on to their classroom via the e-newsletters
- Portable photo printers & digital cameras. Post on storyboards and photoboards. Convey what goes on during the day thru photos.
- E-mail for parents to communicate with others and the director
On-line training and assessment for staff. Integrated training on their corporate website.
Measure success thru online surveys. Families like to be surveyed.
Parents may be hesitant about giving feedback — don’t want to upset the teacher so surveys are anonymous; same for staff
Where to find the person who will run the program. Master Teacher Program — after 5 years can become a Mentor. Management Training Program — people apply. One year process to graduate.

Nan Rikard, United States

30% employee-owned
Management Techniques
Good is the Enemy of Great
All about leadership
Get the wrong people off the bus
Hedgehog concept
Decision making at the first level
Go with 70% solution; don’t wait for 100%
Involve all levels of staff with strategic planning
It is important to put the right people on the team. The emphasis is to find at least 70% solutions to challenges. 3 key factors for growth are:
- Instill good values to the children
- Have good staffing
- Be financially stable
Focus on preserving our culture which is the root of our success. Cultivate professional development. Surround ourselves with great people.
Use techniques and strategies to manage growth. Most growth has been through acquisitions. Develop initiatives such as “Be Our Guest” — taking on acquisitions to see that the acquisition adopted their culture. Child, parents, vendors — known on a first name basis.
30% employee owned; involve staff in growth and strategic planning
B — basic safety
E — education
S — safety
T — training
“Good to Great” initiative — book study as a management group; has become part of their culture. Surround ourselves with good people. Drivers:
- Don’t be satisfied with good
- It’s all about leadership
- Get the right people on the team — buy the right people
- Don’t let people hide things from you (this is a problem with growth)
- Put decision-making on the lowest level
Are we still doing good things for children
Does it work financially?
Sunshine House $80M business.

Charlie Mackin, United States

ESOP — give employees ownership in the corporation; incredible tax advantages for the company and greatly improves employee retention
To grow, employee stock options are effective. The company gives stocks to its employees, who then work for themselves and supervise the company for themselves.

Sylvia Leal, Canada

People make PLASP the organization that it is
Culture is also a strength
Hire very carefully, high expectations of staff, very high standards, training, meetings
80% return on client satisfaction survey, 99.5% satisfaction
The Art of Loving, respecting, caring, knowledge that parent care about their child only
Important to learn from others, sometimes outside consultants, writers like Stephen Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Corporate Life Cycles
Relationships with school staff key
Importance of Measurement — On-Site Analysis — excellent tool comparing service levels and revenue sources for past five years, looking at trends and developing recommendations
FISH philosophy
Annual Parent Meeting with Guest Speakers (e.g., Barbara Coloroso)
Balanced Scorecard — developed and implemented this past year
Strategy for growth important to consider process for growth, infrastructure, staff willingness
Government funding has to be kept to a minimum
Essential to have clear vision, mission and purpose, and shared principles
Staff most valuable asset
Ways of rewarding staff:
- Employee share options (for profit)
- Matching employee contributions for retirement savings (non-profit)
Important to keep in touch with staff and keep communication channels open
Essential to preserve culture of the organization—may get lost as company grows
Technology where available — very powerful communication
E-newsletters, links with photographs — very personalized
E-mail means people can communicate in their own time
“Good to Great” and “The Balanced Scorecard and The Corporate Lifecycle”
They have great opportunity to grow
All organizations on podium who have been in existence for 30 years or so spoke of succession planning
Must have good relationships with school board, principals and secretary
Have 2 reserve accounts — one contingency and the other (?)
Measurement is important — biggest impact. Hire staff carefully. Winning awards matters. 85% return on surveys, 99.5% parent satisfaction.
Board is parents or former parents (well educated); serve 3 year terms. 2 committees prep people for membership on the Board. Work with outside consultants. Open up to universities and let them do some work; it puts you under a microscope. “Who Moved My Cheese” and materials that go with it. “The Phish Philosophy” book (customer service). Annual meeting has politicians, principals, other important people. Get feedback from stakeholders.
Importance of building relationships (recurring theme)
Federal funding cuts may be opportunity for the private sector
20% limit of government funding — makes it too risky
Know what you can do and be willing to say “NO.” Example: government mandate for before- and after-school care in the province. Came to this company who said there was no way that they could do that.
Technology important
On-site analysis experience. Measurement tool to make sure we are measuring facts, not perceptions. United Way developed it. Measure over a 5-year period. Revenues, expenses, and service levels. It’s a very rigorous process. What does one vacancy cost?
Biggest challenge is space in schools
Expand or not to expand?
Attitude toward us: They’re always trying to find something
Have model sites where you provide the service
If you are ready and want to grow, then put strategies into place to grow. If you’re caught by surprise, then you have problems.
Effective communication:
- Find many ways and accommodate people’s preferences; understand whether your message was delivered, and was it a message that they were interested in hearing?
No matter what you do, you can’t reach everybody
Create systems that mix and match
Mobile phones have revolutionized communication — from the India migrant program
Meetings attended by people who can make decisions on the spot, rather than making staff wait for decisions