If you are in the workforce, you have probably dealt with co-workers who show up late, talk over people in meetings, refuse to collaborate on team projects, and get angry when things don’t go their way. Too often, you’ve learned you can’t solve these problems with a brief discussion about how to get along with others. That’s because the roots of these behaviors are often established during the first five years of a child’s life, when the very wiring of the brain is developed.   This is true across all nations and cultures.

Developing social-emotional skills from an early age

The ability to regulate emotions and behaviors is a key component of a set of skills often referred to as social-emotional skills.   In a world where academic skills are often viewed as the priority, social-emotional skill development may not always be on the forefront of most parents’ and teachers’ minds.   However, research has shown that social-emotional skills are crucial for children to become successful both socially and later professionally.

In a new report, “Social-Emotional Skills in Early Childhood Support Workforce Success,” ReadyNation/ReadyNation International, a global business leader group that has been urging policymakers in the U.S. and abroad to expand quality early education since 2006, explains the importance of social-emotional skills in later life.

As members, we’ve become accustomed to describing the impact of preschool and quality childcare on the development of early literacy, math, and other academic abilities.  Now we’re focusing on early education’s impact on the “social-emotional” and “character” skills that ultimately drive success in the workforce in any country.

We’re getting plenty of back-up on this, based in part on a Zogby poll of 300 U.S. business leaders who say it’s harder to find job candidates with the right character skills than those with the right technical skills. It’s a problem that won’t be solved any time soon – 88 percent of those surveyed believe there will be an even greater need for these skills among workers in the future.

We agree, and believe these skills are as important for a financial planner managing millions of dollars for a demanding investor as they are for a convenience store clerk facing a long line of customers on the hottest day of the year.  Our experiences are also supported by a 20-year study that showed every one-point increase in character skills among 800 U.S. kindergartners made them twice as likely to earn a college degree and 46 percent more likely to have a full-time job at the age of 25.

Impacts of Decreasing Social-Emotional Skills

Unfortunately, decreases in character skills among this same group of kids meant a greater likelihood of time in juvenile detention, arrests in early adulthood, and being on a waiting list for public housing.

The ReadyNation report makes a clear case for expanding quality early learning experiences to help offset the negative effects of what are termed “Adverse Childhood Experiences,” which range from being a witness to domestic or neighborhood violence to living with someone who’s mentally ill, suicidal or abusing alcohol or drugs. Nearly one quarter of kids in the U.S. under the age of five have dealt with at least one of these experiences. Many of these children will likely face more hurdles when it comes to learning how to manage emotions and build trust with teammates once they’re in the workforce.

For these reasons and more, we join ReadyNation members globally who are encouraging meaningful actions to expand quality early learning for children in their communities and countries.  

More than 150 business leaders signed two Open Letters to the UN in support of early childhood as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Our organization has created two briefs suggesting strategies for this, including, “Business Leader Actions to Support Early Childhood: A Global Imperative, a Local Opportunity,” and “How Your Company Can Help Parents Engage With Their Young Children. “

The Ways Employers Can Support Children in their Communities

Building on the case studies in these briefs, below are other ideas that employers can consider based on their desire to support kids in their communities, or as important first steps toward improving their future workforces.

• Encourage employers in your community to share information about the value of quality early childhood experiences both in and out of the home.

This can be as simple as promoting the importance of reading to kids and its impact on brain development, or as significant as consistently sharing insights from early childhood experts.

Communications channels could include newsletter articles, posters, blog posts and company social media channels. Some companies also post educational resources in break rooms at work; some use company intranets and paycheck inserts to circulate information. Others bring in child care and early education experts who discuss strategies and provide resources to employees.  

• Encourage employers to consider policies that make it easier and more affordable to enroll kids in quality child care and preschool.

Examples could include offering subsidies for child care and preschool costs, along with flexible work schedules to help employees juggle child care and preschool schedules.  Casey’s General Stores operates an on-site child care center, which was part of the plans for our corporate headquarters in 1989.    We are proud of what it has done for our employees and their children.

While helping employees find good child care and early education services certainly makes sense for the good of families and kids, there’s also a good business case.  Research shows that lost work days due to childcare problems cost U.S. businesses $3 billion a year.

• Encourage employers to make quality early childhood a top “corporate social responsibility” priority.

Business leaders are valued spokespeople for the early years because they have unique expertise on the educational needs and skills of their workforces.  They can be strong messengers for advocacy to expand early learning and to journalists who cover education and children’s issues.  ReadyNation can help them determine how to take action to give all kids a good foundation for success.  

About the authors

John J. Brennan is Chairman Emeritus, former CEO, and Senior Advisor at Vanguard, an investment firm with $4 trillion in assets and offices in 10 countries.  Robert J. Myers recently retired as Chairman & CEO of Casey’s General Stores, which has locations across 15 states in the U.S. Both are members of the ReadyNation CEO Task Force on Early Childhood.   For more information, contact ReadyNation Global Director Dr. Sara Watson at swatson@readynation.org.

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In a world where academic skills are often viewed as the priority, social-emotional skill development may not always be on the forefront of most parents’ minds. However, a growing body of research indicates that  social and emotional skills children gain, or don’t gain, before they enter kindergarten have a profound effect on their lifelong journey.

When school readiness is discussed, many people think of children learning their ABCs and 123s, colors, shapes and other traditional academic skills. On the other hand, as Dr. Barbara Smith from the University of Colorado- Denver stated in the article “Linking Social Development and Behavior  to School Readiness”, the last two decades of research have made it unequivocally clear that children’s emotional and behavioural adjustment is also important for their chances of early school success. The problem is that more and more children are entering school without these critical skills.

A new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University, in collaboration with the Baltimore Education Research Consortium,  provides further evidence of the high costs of entering kindergarten without social and emotional skills. In the study, social and emotional skills of incoming kindergarten students were measured against the Personal and Social Development domain of the Maryland Model for School Readiness (MMSR). The study found that of over 9,000 children entering kindergarten in the Baltimore Public Schools more than half didn’t meet benchmarks for social-behavior readiness. These include social and emotional skills children need to follow directions, comply with rules, manage emotions, solve problems, organize and complete tasks, and get along with others. Social and emotional skills develop early, before children enter school, and they are essential for learning in a classroom setting.

It’s even more interesting what the researchers found when they tracked these students through the fourth grade. It turns out that, by the fourth grade, students who entered kindergarten behind in social and emotional skills were:

• up to 80 percent more likely to have been retained in grade
• up to 80 percent more likely to have received special education services and
• up to seven times more likely to have been suspended or expelled at least once over the previous five years

Yet, another  recent study published  in the American Journal of Public Health revealed a direct link between children’s social and emotional skills and their success across a wide range of health, social, and economic measures. Using a cluster of indicators  such as “resolves peer problems,” “listens to others,” “shares materials,” “cooperates” and “is helpful” researchers rated social and emotional skills of 750 kindergartners on a five-point scale, and then tracked them to their twenties to investigate whether “social competence” in kindergarten could predict how the same kids would fare as young adults. They found that for every one-point increase in a child’s social competence score, he or she was:

• twice as likely to attain a college degree
• 54 percent more likely to earn a high school diploma
• 46 percent more likely to have a full-time job in early adulthood

Conversely, a one-point decrease in social competence was linked with  67 percent higher chance of being arrested by early adulthood and  82 percent higher chance of spending time in juvenile detention. In other words, the greater the disparity in social skills, the wider the gap in adult outcomes. Kids who scored “well” on social competence were four times more likely to obtain a college degree than kids at the bottom end of the spectrum.

Primary school teachers report that it is hard to teach children who are not interested in learning, lack confidence in their own abilities, and have trouble cooperating and controlling themselves. Intellectual skills are less of a problem because they are more easily solved. To succeed in school, children need a sense of personal well-being that is created from stable, caring relationships at home and in child care in the early years. High-quality pre-K programs can make a difference and get children off to the right start.

Social and emotional skills enable children to enter kindergarten ready to learn and socialize. They enhance children’s ability to remain academically engaged throughout their schooling. As a result, kids are more likely to graduate from high school and become productive members of their community.

Children learn and practice these important skills when they have to solve problems that arise in play with others. With the guidance and support of their child care providers and parents, children can face these problems and learn the skills needed to be successful both in school and in life.

How do you view your child’s “school readiness”? Do pre-K programs provide enough opportunities for young children to learn and practice social and emotional skills? Share with us your thoughts and experience.

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