Team Happiness at Muddy Boots
Happy teams make happy nurseries
We truly believe that a happy team results in happy children, happy families, and in turn a happy nursery. To ensure we are always achieving that goal, we utilise a system called Friday Pulse, to track, measure, and talk about everything that affects happiness, working together to create solutions and a better working environment for all.
How it works:
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It all starts with the weekly survey!
Every member of the Muddy Boots team receives an email once a week, where they can say how happy they have been at work that week, rating it between 1-5. These scores are anonymous but are collated into overall room and nursery scores.
They also have the opportunity to fill our four ‘cards’, sending personalised thankyous to any of their team, note down anything they would like to celebrate, enter in any frustrations, as well as any ideas they would like to propose to make Muddy Boots a better place.
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Once all the data is collated, every team finds a ten-minute slot where they can meet together to discuss their team score and what has resulted in it being that. They also spend time collectively creating solutions to the frustrations, as well as anything else they want to implement to help create the best workplace.
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Finally, once a quarter we conduct a company-wide ‘culture profile’, which uses 15 questions to tell us how we are doing in the core areas that really effect happiness. These include the relationships they have with their team, how respected and appreciated they feel at work, how empowered they are to use their strengths and to influence decisions, the feedback they get, how proud they are to work for Muddy Boots and much more!
The results
We are incredibly proud to say that when compared to other organisations in our sector, as well as organisations of a similar size to our own, we rank highly in all the core areas that affect happiness.
Here are the results from our latest culture profile:
What Our Teams Say
“I absolutely love being the deputy manager! Each day is filled with new experiences, making this role really exciting. It's truly rewarding to witness the children's learning and development. Knowing that our hard work is positively influencing their early years and preparing them for school is very fulfilling. My role also includes supporting and mentoring our wonderful staff team, helping them to grow and thrive in their positions. Together, we create a nurturing environment for everyone involved.”
— Chloe Moseley, Muddy Boots Gildersome“At Muddy Boots Stamford Bridge we are always encouraged to be ourselves and be as creative as you like. One day you can be building a pirate ship and the next creating a giant painted masterpiece with friends.The management are extremely supportive not only with training and daily work but also with personal & home life issues, trying their best to keep a healthy balance”
— Debs Hamilton-Lansbury, Muddy Boots Stamford Bridge“Muddy Boots is one of the only settings where I have truly felt welcomed. Muddy Boots supported me as a student and continue to offer me that same support now. The children make me feel welcomed every morning, and the bonds we have created are really special.”
— Lucy Thirkill, Muddy Boots DrighlingtonWant to know what it’s really like?
“Working for Muddy Boots is absolutely fantastic! It’s one of the best places I’ve worked, I’ve worked here for the last 6 years and it’s just so lovely. Coming in on a morning with the biggest smiles on their faces and leaving with even bigger ones at the end of the day, going home absolutely covered in messy play and telling their parents about the best days they’ve had. Its just a fun filled day, day in day out, and every day at nursery is always different. You never have the same day, each day is different which is absolutely fantastic.”
— Fran Britland, Muddy Boots Wilberfoss“Being a practitioner provides a massive sense of pride and fulfilment. To be able to say I’ve played a key part in so many children’s early years and to see them grow, develop and start their next journey into school is just as rewarding now as it was 25 years ago when I first embarked on my journey as a practitioner. What other job can you form such amazing bonds with others and gain a variety of different little besties year after year after year. ❤️”
— Kerri Scott, Muddy Boots Morley“I enjoy it so much! I think it’s very different to other childcare settings because it does have such a big focus on being outside. The children love being outside. I think every child does but you just don’t always get that opportunity, especially being in a city centre. To have this outdoor space, I think we’re really lucky.”
— Alyx Burgess, Muddy Boots AcombOur Indeed Wellbeing Score
We are also incredibly proud to be ranked 88/100 on our Indeed Work Wellbeing Score, ranking highly in all the core areas that contribute to wellbeing in the workplace.
