Management: Young Staff - Question of attitude
How do nursery managers face the challenge of integrating young newcomers into the staff team? Gayle Goshorn hears their stories.
Many nurseries recognise the value of employing young, inexperienced staff and know how to get the best out of them. As one nursery manager puts it, 'They don't come pre-conditioned by anybody else. You can instil your own values in them'.
But inevitably there is a lot to learn for new entrants. According to Karen Frost, development manager at Long-acre Childcare in Kent, an important lesson about the working world is that it usually involves a change of habits - 'like not carrying a mobile phone around all the time, and like having to ask to have a day off and not being surprised to be told no'.
Glen Perrott, who runs four settings under the name of HRH Nurseries in Cambridgeshire, feels that young people do not always leave school 'totally equipped for the world of work'. She recalls, 'We took on a young woman who one day just disappeared in her tea break. We didn't see her again that day.' The girl had gone home sick but not thought to phone the nursery.
Ms Perrott tells new staff that nursery work is not like an office job where you can put a pile of paperwork to one side. 'You can't put half a dozen babies in a cupboard and leave them,' she says. 'And there is a collective responsibility. Your colleagues will not think well of you if you call in sick and you've been seen partying in the pub the night before.'
Most nurseries get round staff fashion issues by having a dress code, and many a uniform. Karen Frost reminds newcomers of other rules, such as 'bare midriffs not being on show', and recalls how one girl's 'belly bar' jewellery kept coming out and falling on the floor. 'We had to make her understand that around babies, that could be a choking hazard.' Staff are limited to one pair of earrings at HRH, where Ms Perrott warns them that 'a small enquiring hand can cause you a lot of pain!'
Looking for that spark
One problem that managers everywhere agree on is shortcomings in literacy skills. Ms Perrott notes that while nursery nursing now requires unprecedented amounts of paperwork, 'we're getting new staff who can't put a sentence together, who only speak in textspeak'. Managers and computer spellcheckers are kept busy correcting the daily logbooks, accident reports, observation records and newsletter contributions from younger staff.
Ms Frost says she would agree with proposals for English and maths GCSE to be required for working in childcare. But the big difference between young recruits, she says, comes down to their attitude - 'whether it's their decision to go into childcare, or it's just their last option'.
Sarah Steel, managing director of the 11-strong Oxfordshire-based Old Station Nurseries, would rather have an untrained person with a good attitude than an experienced one without it. 'I always say, you can teach anybody a skill, but you can't teach them an attitude.' She says some of her best staff are only 20 or 21, having joined the nursery at 17 or on work experience.
At Kiddlywinks Nursery in Penrith, Cumbria, three-quarters of staff are between ages 18 and 27, and manager Karen James says they come in with fresh, open minds. 'They're lively and enthusiastic - they can be too enthusiastic and decide to change things off the top of their heads! - but they have a spark to them, that the children respond to.'
That said, she is sorry that younger people don't always use their initiative. For Sarah Steel, too, this is the sign of future success. She says, 'The biggest thing is the spark of initiative. It's the young staff member who comes up with ideas, who comes to you and says I've thought up this activity, can I get these materials? It's the one who puts herself forward for learning new skills, not just doing the bare minimum.'
The only problem she finds with younger staff is a lack of confidence in speaking up, and in the all-important dealing with the nursery's parents. 'Some young staff can be uncomfortable with adults but great with children,' she says. 'But I have to tell them that parents make their judgements during that five-minute pick-up and drop-off time.'
Glen Perrott stresses that parents deserve a full feedback from staff about their child's day. 'I emphasise that it doesn't matter what kind of day you've had, or what row you've had with your boyfriend the night before - you've got to put on a happy face and leave your problems at the door.'
Ms Steel admits some parents prefer older people to care for their babies. She will put younger staff to work in the after-school club, where they particularly seem to hit it off with older children.
Planning a career
Kiddlywinks takes many students on placements, says Karen James, and she does mock-interview days at local schools. 'Sometimes, in their own minds, they have this fluffy-cloud picture of childcare. At interview we point out the negatives of the job - it's not just about cuddling babies.'
Once hired, people are expected to continue their professional development. 'Everyone is on a long-term learning pathway, including myself,' says Ms James. 'You can pick out what people's strengths are, and give them training pathways.' For example, they can become co-ordinators of curriculum areas, or be given responsibility for different children's age groups.
Team-building is important at Kiddlywinks, and in activities, even paintball or go-karting, Ms James says she will put the newer or quieter staff in leading positions while forcing the more confident ones to take a back seat. At team meetings staff write down what they like, or don't, about their jobs, and she will type these out anonymously for shared discussions. The nursery uses peer observations, where the youngest can observe the oldest as well as vice versa, and staff members take home each other's records to audit. 'They feel more confident when the younger one can say, I've got the skills to audit a senior member's records!' Ms James admits the young ones may not be as sensitive as they should when they make a remark about a mature member of staff, but it's up to management to make sure that no conflicts arise.
She judges by her own observations when someone is ready to be given more responsibility. 'If, as a manager, you're keyed in to your staff, you can see where their strengths are - if not, they become frustrated and bored, and that's when they leave.'
The aim with all staff, she says, is for them to feel they co-own the nursery. 'Then, they want it to be more successful.'
CASE STUDY
Lisa McLeod has been at Kiddlywinks in Penrith since it opened four years ago. When she was just 19, with a diploma in Childcare and Education, she worked with Karen James at a previous nursery. She enjoyed being involved in all the setting-up stages for the new nursery - 'all the families were new to us when the nursery opened, so it was a challenge getting to know the families'. She started as a nursery nurse, then a senior. When the deputy manager went on maternity leave, Lisa acted up in her role and then took it on permanently. She has now been deputy manager for over a year.
'Before I came into childare I did think it was going to be a lot smoother. Lots of people think it's just going to be cuddling and playing with children,' Lisa recalls. 'The paperwork side was new to me, it was an eye-opener - record keeping, health and safety, risk assessment.
'Also, most people think they just do their initial training at college, and that's it. I was surprised there was so much continuous training.' She is still at it, studying for a foundation degree in childcare, which means attending college for one evening a week for three years.
What has helped her get on? 'It's been the support of my manager and the opportunity to develop my own skills and interests. I'm the health and safety co-ordinator in the nursery, and I have an interest in planning and continuous provision. I'm putting the foundation degree theory into practice.
'At the moment I'm happy in the role I'm doing - in future I would like to be a nursery manager.'
