Work Matters: Management Focus - Keeping good staff

Altofts Private Day Nursery opened its doors in West Yorkshire in March 2007. The nursery is staffed by a team of seven, whose ages range from 17 to 53. Nursery owner and manager Rachel Hill hopes that this diversity has significant benefits for both staff and customers in an industry whose workforce is perceived as being predominantly young.

She says, 'I think that age is only an issue when you make it one. I'm an equal opportunities employer in all respects, which means that any recruitment decisions I make are based on the skills people have to do the job, regardless of their age or background.

'It's no good to have just one demographic in our industry. As a nursery manager I need a balance, with people on the team who are parents and grandparents, as well as younger staff, so everyone can learn from one another and so that all of our parents have someone to relate to. It's also good for the babies and children to have a broad age range caring for them.'

Flexibile benefits

When it comes to recruitment, the nursery takes care to ensure that there are no references to age in its advertising or job descriptions.

'There's no need to mention age in a job advert,' says Rachel. 'I find that if you give a full and complete job description, the right candidates are much more likely to come through. For example, if you say the vacancy is for a lead role in the nursery, then that should attract more experienced candidates to apply.'

Nursery nurse Nina, 50, joined the nursery last year on an open-ended contract after managing a nursery in Leeds. She decided to work part-time in order to free up more time to pursue hobbies and be with her family and is also considering a career change. Nina says, 'I got to the stage in my previous role where I wanted to do something else and my job here fits around the sorts of things I want to do. I appreciate the flexibility part-time working gives me.'

'It would have been hard to continue as a nursery manager on a part-time basis as you need to be around day-to-day. It's great to be hands-on again.'

Nina feels that she brings a range of benefits to the business. 'Many members of nursery staff are quite young and I think I complement that by bringing a maturity and calmness to the team, along with experience.'

She also thinks that generally, mature people can have a strong work ethic. 'When you get the flexibility you ask for - which in my case is part-time hours and a temporary contract - you respect your employer and put in that bit more.'

In Nina's view, her age means she is also well-placed to mentor and train her colleagues. 'I've got experience to share and I can totally relate to my younger colleagues, because I'm doing the same job as them.'

Work as long as you like

As far as Rachel is concerned, she is happy to utilise Nina's skills and expertise for as long as she is available. This principle extends to her flexible retirement policy. 'I don't happen to have anyone approaching retirement age in the team at the moment, but if and when I do, I'd be more than happy for any member of my staff to work for as long as they like, as long as they were able to do the job,' says Rachel.

Nina is still deciding whether she would like a total career change but is a little apprehensive about how other potential employers might view her because of her age. 'I feel that it might not be as easy to get the same level of flexibility I enjoy here in an alternative career, and that employers might be put off by the fact that they feel they'll have to pay me more because I have a certain level of life experience.'

In terms of the future, Rachel would like to get older members of the community more involved in the nursery. 'Older people have so much to offer and they just don't get the same respect for their abilities as they used to.

'All the members of my team bring different things to the ethos of the nursery - from Jade, who is 17 and is still in training and therefore has up-to-the minute awareness in terms of the very latest practice, to Nina, who brings a wealth of experience.'