All nurseries have them, but they devise different ways of managing them. Mary Evans considers the late pick-up
On a cold, dark, wet winter's night as the minute hand inches towards six o'clock and everyone is longing to go home, nursery managers and their staff will be able to predict with a high degree of accuracy which parents will be late.
For some people punctuality is a matter of pride. But there are just as many others who are consistently late. A perennial personnel problem facing nursery managers is how to cope effectively with such parents while preventing their long-suffering staff from becoming resentful.
One way to deal with the situation is to set up a system of charges for latecomers (see below). A payments scheme was introduced last year at the Oakfield Nursery School in Altrincham and its founder, Finola Barr, says it has had a dramatic impact and almost eradicated the problem. To limit the bureaucracy for the nursery management, the parents pay the staff member who has waited with their children directly.
'We brought this in because we had a problem with half a dozen parents who were constantly late and not getting here until 6.10 or 6.20. We felt sure that if they actually left their offices on time they would be here on time,' says Mrs Barr. 'It had an almost instant effect. We no longer have the staff complaining about having to wait. We put it on our admission forms so new parents know what will happen.
'If it is a few minutes after six we don't levy a fee, but if it is later it is counted as baby sitting and the parent pays the staff member. We decided to charge 10 so that it would act as a deterrent and it also means whoever stays late can earn enough to pay for a taxi home. All our staff have the NVQ level 3 or BTec, so they are qualified and experienced enough to stay late with the children. We operate a rota so the staff know whose turn it is to stay on if parents are late.
'This winter with the transport problems we have had parents who have been held up who are genuinely upset at being late. They are upset at keeping their child late but not about paying the fee. Sometimes they pay over and above the fee.'
Sandra Hutchison, who owns three nursery schools in Leeds, says the children dislike their parents coming late. 'They can feel quite uncomfortable if they are left until last. The environment of a nursery changes as it empties and it can feel a bit strange.
'We understand that people can get held up and traffic can be bad, but you have to make sure your staff don't get resentful if they feel they are being kept waiting while someone's nipped into the supermarket.
'I have been here until 7 o'clock quite a few times, but the worst ever was a number of years ago when a child was here until 12.45 at night. There had been very heavy snow in Leeds and some nurseries had to arrange sleepovers. My husband and the deputy manager stayed on and waited. They received no special thanks or anything and the child was back in the nursery at 8am.'
Fathers are the worst offenders, according to Deana Gardner, manager of the Animal House nursery near the City of London. She says, 'The dads hate paying, but they are the worst timekeepers. They go for a quick drink after work, which happens quite a lot in the City, and I think they just forget.
'One father was incessantly late and eventually I rang the mother and said how much he owed us in fines for being late. He had not told her and got into a bit of a row when he got home. Perhaps I should not have done it, but he was never late again.
'A lot of our staff have long journeys home and they can get really fed up, especially when they think someone has been shopping or out for a drink.
They've had a long day and want to go home. Even if only one child is left we keep two staff on so if anything happened to the child you have a witness.
'We use the fines as a deterrent but some people, usually the same ones, are always late. We have one mother from Hackney who always has an excuse for being late. There will have been a protest march or a traffic hold- up or something.
We are sure that not half as much happens in Hackney as she makes out.' Kids & Co nursery in Darlington does not charge latecomers but uses constant reminders of the importance of punctuality to persuade parents to be prompt.
Manager Jane McKeown says, 'I regularly write in the parents' newsletter how much we appreciate them collecting the children by 6pm as it allows the staff time to set out the toys and equipment for the next day. I point out that the staff like to go home on time after a long day. That seems to get the message across.
'I think if I started charging latecomers, one or two might take advantage and arrive even later. If someone was running five minutes late, instead of rushing they would think that since they were going to be charged anyway they had time to go for a quick drink or pop into the supermarket.'
Setting a scale of fines or fees for late parents n Rates vary among nurseries who set fines. At Animal House parents are charged 5 cash per 15 minutes after 6pm, so if they arrive at 6.10 they are charged 5 and at 6.17, 10, and so on. The money goes into the nursery's kitty for paying for treats for the children. Staff who stay late are given time off in lieu.
n A member of staff at each of the three Primley Park Children's Nursery Schools in Leeds is rostered to work between 10.15am and 6.15pm. Anyone staying later is paid double time. Parents are charged 2.50 per 15 minutes after 6pm.
They are not charged the first couple of times they arrive late. n Staff staying late at Oakfield Nursery School in Altrincham are paid directly by parents on a scale of 10 up to 6.15, 20 up to 6.30 and so on. Parents are allowed one free late pick-up a year. If they are not able to pay at the time the staff on duty have a payment form for parents to sign.
Speak out!
An open management that encourages teamwork and progress is the key to a nursery's success, says Siobhan Wilks, founder of Childcare Business Solutions
Attracting and retaining the right person for your team is essential to your success. Why, then, do some employers fail in their responsibility to provide a thorough induction, training and rewarding experience for new talent? All too quickly new employees may find themselves in a role that bears little or no resemblance to the job they applied for.
The small nursery as well as the large nursery chain can fall foul of this practice. If the nursery just has to get someone into place to cover staff ratios, to pacify anxious parents or to cope with increasing numbers of children as the business expands, the new member of staff is quickly deployed.
This type of organisational mismanagement usually leads to de-motivation, absenteeism and a high turnover of nursery staff.
A negative experience like this can and should be avoided if your business is to provide a high- quality service and be successful in today's competitive market. Several options to develop this level of quality service are open to the forward-thinking nursery proprietor: employing a graduate business manager, recognising the skilled nursery nurse with the ability and drive to gain a management qualification, training teachers in business management.
There are numerous management styles in nurseries throughout the UK and while statutory legislation is open to local interpretation, there will continue to be diversity in nursery managements.
As a business proprietor you will need to recognise and meet the responsibilities placed upon you. How often, for example, do you take the opportunity (or have time) to focus on the working experience of the individual member of staff or student? At a time when the nursery sector is heavily legislated in relation to children, the natural extension to this should be to develop an organisational culture that actively encourages the voice of the employee.
As Douglas McGregor states in his book The Human Side of Enterprise (McGraw-Hill), 'The motivation, the potential for development, the capacity to assume responsibility, the readiness to direct behaviour towards organisational goals, are all present in people. It is a responsibility of management to make it possible to recognise and develop the human characteristics for themselves.
Management is responsible for organising the elements of productive enterprise in the interest of economic ends, but their essential task is to arrange the conditions and methods of operation so people can achieve their own goals best by directing their own efforts towards organisational objectives.'
Today, there can be no substitute for sound management practice in any quality nursery business. The way to ensure your nursery's reputation is to employ the best people, develop an open management style, and actively encourage teamwork and communication.
Starting with the welcome letter in an induction pack, and continuing with a staff loyalty reward scheme and opportunities for career development, a business with an open, participative organisational culture will be more likely to sustain itself and expand in this competitive nursery sector.
It pays to take a genuine interest, to recognise and value your employees; after all, the key to your success is in their hands.
Siobhan Wilks is a freelance lecturer and founder of childcare consultancy Childcare Business Solutions, and was formerly the senior operations manager of Red Apple Nursery Schools, Edinburgh
