Smart Work 2026: Developing a system for managing early childhood education substitute pool and staffing in accordance with statutory ratios
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Early childhood education has its own substitute pool covering 14 positions. The allocation of the staff pool to units and daily resourcing were previously handled based on information shared in a WhatsApp conversation and during the daily resourcing meeting, with an open Excel spreadsheet serving as the working platform, where requests were recorded along with various justifications. This approach was time-consuming, required a great deal of manual work, and relied largely on personal judgment.
Early Childhood Education and Care Coordinator Marjo Tökkä set out to design a virtual whiteboard that would provide an easy overview of the daily staffing situation at the city’s daycare centers. The work began with developing the Excel spreadsheet, adding automation and integrating the assignment of staff pool employees. The WhatsApp conversations were discontinued, and daycare center directors now report their unit’s information using a Forms questionnaire. This information is transferred to Excel as a ratio, based on which the staff pool’s immediate supervisor assigns employees. Notification of the assignment is then sent by email.
Daily resourcing in early childhood education has become faster, freeing up daycare center directors’ working time for personnel management. Staffing shortfalls can now be addressed more quickly, and the substitute pool is allocated fairly, based on existing data. Cooperation across areas has strengthened, as everyone now has a shared view of day-to-day resourcing through user-friendly, automated spreadsheets.
Development work will continue by creating a platform for staff pool assignments, allowing pool members to see their assignments directly and reducing the need for messages. The aim is to strengthen the cost-effective and timely use of the staff pool and to make better use of digitalization.
Developers
Marjo Tökkä, Early Childhood Education and Care Coordinator
Suvi Karonen, ICT Planner
Antero Paajanen, ICT Planning Manager