Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority Gets Certified as Great Place to Work

The Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA) was ranked among the best work environments by the Great Place to Work® Institute, the global authority on recognizing high-trust, high-performing workplace cultures.

The certificate was granted based on the results of an employee experience survey, which measures and evaluates the experience of the employees working at ECA.

HE Sana Mohammed Suhail, Director General, ECA, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive Great Place to Work certification. Since the ECA was established in 2019, it’s been part of our mission to offer a memorable work experience and cultivate a great organizational culture to ensure that we achieve the impact we aspire for. We knew back then that, in order to help Abu Dhabi’s young children flourish, we needed to attract and retain the best talent. We strongly believe that an engaged workforce results in better quality of work and enhanced productivity, helping us to achieve our goals.”

Ms. Laila Yousef Al Hassan, Organizational Culture Advisor, ECA said: “There were several steps that were taken that make the ECA a great place to work. Our work environment offers flexible working that is based on trust and performance. Also, the organization adopts a compassionate approach towards all employees who have caregiving responsibilities, especially those with young children. This manifests through initiatives such as Meeting-free Fridays and limiting work-related communication after work hours. Finally, ECA’s focus on the wellbeing of its team members, whether by offering Monday Mental Breaks, confidential one-on-one free mental health support or the provision of ergonomic furniture and the encouragement of making use of their annual leave has supported their work-life balance.”

“Many of the behaviors and rituals that have become institutionalized at the ECA were developed organically, with ideas coming from within the team – so that has helped make it more sustainable. Moreover, our hiring process integrates our culture and values and every new joiner receives the ECA Culture Playbook, a documentation of our values and rituals,” she added.