Employee Retention Specialist - 6 Month Contract

Kids & Company Ltd•Brooklyn Heights, OH

2h•$0 - $29•Hybrid

About The Position

Inspire Early Education is seeking an Employee Retention Specialist for a focused, 6-month contract role to address high turnover and vacancy rates in their Ohio schools. This position will involve diagnosing the root causes of these issues at the highest-need schools, then equipping School Directors with the necessary coaching, tools, and corrective action plans to stabilize their teams. The role requires significant on-site presence at specific Ohio schools to understand the drivers of departures and open positions, and to partner closely with Directors to implement solutions. Success will be measured by improvements in turnover and vacancy rates, and by leaving Directors with sustainable practices and a documented playbook.

Requirements

3+ years of experience in HR generalist, employee relations, talent management, or organizational development.
Demonstrated ability to diagnose root causes from qualitative and quantitative data and translate findings into practical action.
Experience conducting stay interviews, exit interview analysis, or similar diagnostic work.
Strong coaching and business-partnering skills, with the ability to influence and support frontline leaders without direct authority.
Comfortable working independently on a focused, time-bound assignment with a defined start and end date.
Excellent organizational and communication skills.
Able to manage multiple school sites and relationships at once.
Based in or able to work from the greater Cleveland, OH area.
Reliable transportation for regular travel to school sites.

Nice To Haves

Ideally within a multi-site or early childhood education environment.
Experience in early childhood education, childcare, or another multi-unit, frontline-heavy industry preferred.

Responsibilities

Conduct on-site visits, confidential staff interviews, and stay/exit interview reviews at targeted schools.
Analyze school-level HR data (turnover, tenure, time-to-fill, exit survey themes) to identify specific drivers of turnover and vacancy.
Benchmark findings against company-wide and regional trends and document root causes for each school.
Partner one-on-one with School Directors to build tailored corrective action plans.
Coach Directors on day-to-day people-management practices affecting retention, including onboarding, feedback, recognition, scheduling, and team culture.
Align action plans with the VP of Human Resources and Ohio District Manager(s).
Provide practical tools and templates for Directors to sustain improvements.
Check in regularly with Directors to track progress on action plan commitments, remove obstacles, and adjust plans.
Partner with Talent Acquisition to accelerate filling open positions at high-vacancy schools.
Escalate systemic or cross-functional barriers to the VP of Human Resources when a root cause falls outside a Director's control.
Provide regular progress updates to the VP of Human Resources on turnover, vacancy, and action plan status.
Document effective interventions in a retention playbook.
Deliver a final summary report with outcomes and recommendations at the conclusion of the engagement.