Childcare organization Kibeo invests in the future of its employees. With a wide range of training opportunities, the organization encourages its employees to continue to develop. For example, Kibeo has its own online learning environment, the Kibeo Academy Online, which employees describe as informative and challenging. And, for example, employees can follow a higher professional education course that is partly or fully reimbursed by Kibeo. In the future, the offer will only become wider, because the organization has just adopted a new developer training programs.
A wide range of training and education, both voluntary and compulsory
As a childcare organization, Kibeo considers the quality of its pedagogical offerings extremely important; therefore, pedagogical professionals attend a number of mandatory training courses annually. In addition, there is room for voluntary training or education. “The Kibeo Academy Online offers a wide range of options for our employees to choose from. There is something for every position, not only in terms of pedagogical content but also aimed at various areas of interest,” says Mara Oele, Manager of Education and Training at Kibeo. She explains: “For example, you can also find training courses on giving feedback and work-life balance, or an article on formulating SMART goals.”
Kibeo also offers many advancement options and has many more plans for the future
Mara is very proud of what her department has already achieved for the employees of Kibeo. She hears from several colleagues that it is 'cool' that they are allowed to pursue an MBO or HBO education through their employer, because that is not the case everywhere. In addition to education, there are other ways of developing at Kibeo. “We have various career advancement opportunities, such as an HBO program that qualifies you for roles such as pedagogical coach, internal supervisor, or senior pedagogical professional. The latter, by the way, is a position you don't always see at other childcare organizations,” Mara explains. She continues: “We are immensely proud of everything we have already achieved, but we have many more plans for the future. For instance, a great strategic training plan is ready, among other things, which will allow us to align our learning activities with the strategic course we wish to chart as Kibeo. I recently welcomed a new colleague: Barry Coester. As our new training program developer, he will focus on developing new courses and training programs within Kibeo.”
Training program developer Barry Coester talks about his approach and goals at Kibeo
Since June 1st, Barry Coester has been working at Kibeo as a training developer. Previously, Barry worked at various levels within education, including as a teacher for future pedagogical professionals. Naturally, he brings this experience to his new job. But the first step is mapping out the demand. “I have experienced various aspects of education. That is why I always find it important to ask the 'why' question. There is a great demand for all kinds of courses and training, but why exactly?” Barry explains regarding his working method.
When asked about his goals, he answers: “I want to keep my colleagues motivated to professionalize by creating an even more attractive range of training. That is my long-term goal; providing everyone at Kibeo with the continuous opportunity to further develop their competencies, but also to grow as a person.” Along with Mara and his other colleagues, Barry has big plans for the employees of Kibeo. At Kibeo they never stop learning and will develop for a lifetime!