Providing daycare in the workplace can have many benefits for companies, including improving employee morale, lowering turnover and attracting a wider variety of applicants.
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Although providing workplace daycare can be expensive, many companies find that it actually saves money in decreasing employee absenteeism and turnover. Several options exist, from bring-your-baby-to-work programs to on-site daycare and cooperatives between small companies.
Workplace daycare has important benefits for many employees, allowing them to spend more time with their children during the workday. Some on-site programs allow employees to spend lunch and breaks with their children or for new mothers to pop in and breastfeed. Parents can travel to and from work with their children, increasing the amount of time they spend together.
These are some of the huge benefits TVC Communication envisaged it could have by providing crèche for its staff.
Last week, TVC Communications launched its crèche for staff, a place where staff of the media can drop off their babies and still spend quality time with them at work within the premises. According to them, it is not just a crèche, it is a child support system for working parents of which parents will also be privileged to see the development of their babies even in their absence.
Andrew Hanlon CEO, TVC Communications, stated that the idea came in from the staff association to have a staff crèche in order to break all barriers of work in the organisation, to provide comfort, satisfaction and be relaxed at work knowing their children are safe and learning.
“The essence of the staff association is for us to work together to break down all barriers in the organisation and be able to work together as a team to make this a place where every staff will come to work happily, relaxed and satisfied. To have a really great company, we need to have a workforce that is happy, contented and feels rewarded in other to be more productive”
“We are all in this together. This is the partnership between the company and the staff. It is a world-class facility, so this is a manifestation of what it means to have a great place working,” Hanlon said.
Itoro Ugorji, Chief Executive Officer of the baby lounge and TVC Communications Creche Administrator, stated that this is one of the few crèches they have done from the scratch and this is a benchmark for other organisations, adding that it is to set a standard and this will be open and run all year round.
“We will be managing the day to day activity to ensure that it is properly administrated. We will ensure that the parents here get an amazing experience with their babies. The foundation of a child is a critical part of a child’s development. It is an ultra-sensitive service and I am proud to say we are equipped to deliver that service.
“There will be policies and we expect those policies will be well communicated to the parents for understanding. We are looking to having a partnership with the parents using the crèche, it has been designed to ensure it is safe for children with CCTV cameras everywhere” Ugorji stated
She assured that parents are excited to see the new development as the service has been provided to them for a token.
“For us to be a sustaining organisation, there should be good quality of the staff and facilities. This is a marathon, so we are constantly refining the processes in place; there is a lot of quality control. This is one of the biggest crèches that has been done by the baby lounge. We created many space for the babies. We have planned activities; it has been designed having a nursing station, playrooms for different stages and kitchen.
“It is not just a crèche. It is a child care support system for working parents. The children will spend so many hours with us but parents will be privileged to see the first crawl. We will be doing short videos and sending to the parents so what that means is that even in your absence you can see your child development journey, and all of that mom guilt is completely gone” she stated
She further said “there is nothing wrong in getting a support system like this. It doesn’t make anyone a bad mom. So many parents are with the responsibility of building a career. Pursue that dream and at the same time, we are here to support”
Also speaking during the launch, Kikelomo Ngwube Director, HR and Administration, TVC Communications said “This building started in October and because we wanted to deliver on time, we had to push the architects even during the raining season to work. The crèche will fully kick off in January and will cater for babies within the ages of three months to two years. We are only going to able to cater for 30 children. Once the space reservation form gets to 30 it will be closed.”
