Many programs working with children with autism have huge problems with turnover. Now there are many reasons for turnover- and they will differ as schools and other programs will have their own individualized issues. The usual suspects- pay, benefits, commute, schedule, advancement opportunities, and quality of managers- are, of course, very important. If the school or program doesn’t have at least minimally acceptable levels of those six components the program will likely have ongoing problems with turnover.
A typical thought process among behavior analysts often goes like this: Well, there is nothing we can do about reimbursement rates, the health insurance, the fact that the therapist lives an hour away, the school schedule, or the fact that the family needs someone on weekends. There are so many things that are simply out of the typical behavior analyst’s control that there is sometimes a hopelessness about improving retention.
As a behavior analyst, there is one thing that is largely under your control. And if you do it well it will drastically reduce turnover. In my experience, a simple thing you can do that substantially improves retention is having high quality programs.
High quality programs lead to many staff reinforcers. First, it is exciting to come to work when you see kids making great progress. Second, if the program is high quality the staff feel like they are learning which is often highly motivating. Third, the staff feel a sense of satisfaction when through their own efforts they are seeing huge improvements in children’s lives. Fourth, time during the day starts to feel like it is moving quickly. They are enjoying themselves so much they forget they are working. When this is happening, turnover is lower. Some staff will get a 2nd job if the pay at your agency isn’t high enough. They will deal with the long commute- if the child they are working with is making exciting progress. They might even deal with a manager they don’t like- if the person is really good and helping them achieve excellent progress with kids. (Sorry to all the folks that had to deal with Barry from the Bronx in the early years.) Will everyone stay? Of course not. But we underestimate the reinforcers that come to staff with high quality programming.
Low program quality leads to many staff punishers. The job starts to feel boring. Staff begin to not really try to teach and just go through the motions of running programs. Looking at the time to see how much time you have left in the day becomes common. Under these circumstances people will jump at any opportunity to get out. We dramatically underestimate how much low program quality impacts turnover. Will everyone leave? Of course, not. Some people will stick around for your other six components. But if they are sticking around just for pay or health benefits, you probably don’t want those people anyway.