Bright Horizons’ teacher orientation program, 100 Days of HEART, creates a consistent and meaningful onboarding experience to ensure newly hired educators are set up for success at this provider of employer-supported early childcare, educational consulting, and other work/life solutions. This program is coordinated by a dedicated team within the company’s Education & Development department and supported locally by center-based leaders. In 2024, this program served 6,484 employees across the U.S.
Program Details
100 Days of HEART is a blended learning experience that includes asynchronous learning, facilitated Webinars, and on-the-job observation and feedback. It offers two distinct, though similar, options: a track for employees “new to the field” and another for those “new to Bright Horizons,” which takes into account that group’s previous experience in early childhood education.
The program begins during the preboarding period (time before day one), when new hires have access to video content addressing Bright Horizons benefits, culture, and more. They also see agendas for Week One of Learning, laying the foundation for a successful orientation experience.
For their first five days on the job, new hires participate in the scaffolded Week One of Learning. This includes online courses on Bright Horizons’ values, educational approach, and health and safety expectations, plus daily live Webinars facilitated by Orientation partners. These Webinars bring together new employees across geographies, building their connectedness to the broader organization while also reinforcing online learning content. The partners provide new hires with individualized support throughout their first 100 days. This reduces the burden on local managers, while ensuring a consistent level of support for new employees regardless of their location. Portions of this program also include time for new hires to observe in classrooms and debrief with supervisors.
Beyond Week One, the program continues to support new hires’ understanding of job requirements and skills through additional learning paced throughout months one through three. Participants are supported at their local center by a “HEART Hero”—a cultural ambassador and personal cheerleader—and receive weekly e-mails with check-ins and learning boosts from Orientation partners.
Evaluation of 100 Days of HEART is integrated into the new hire onboarding survey at the end of this period, measuring the employee’s perception of competence and preparedness for their new role.
Long-term reinforcement of priority content from 100 Days of HEART occurs through ongoing training structures throughout the year. During triannual Professional Development Days, educators typically participate in one session reinforcing health and safety requirements and another session reinforcing Discovery Driven Learning—both of which are a central focus of 100 Days of HEART. Long-term reinforcement also is bolstered through Bright Horizons’ ongoing cycle of health/safety learning extensions, pushed out to all educators monthly.
Results
In 2024, 63 percent of center-based new hires completed the 100 Days of HEART program, a 3-point increase over 2023. New employees who finish 100 Days of HEART within the recommended timeframe (or close to it) are 3.2 times more likely to stay with the company beyond their first year than those who do not complete the program.
