Nursery Management: Training - Life at the top

Moving up to becoming a manager can be exciting and scary in equal measure. For even the most confident of practitioners, doubts may creep in: are they the right person for the job? Can they handle the responsibility? Will the rest of the team respect them?

Kate Peach, director of Peacharno Consulting and former managing director of Early Years Childcare (pictured) has wide experience of these kinds of misgivings in staff. From her own perspective as a former manager, she believes that clear succession planning - the process of identifying and developing internal people - is absolutely vital to spotting the rising stars.

'What I've found in the past is that not all staff want to progress and develop - some very talented staff are happy to stay in the same role for 21 years and do an excellent job,' she says.

'Management and HR need to work together to identify those who do want to move up, and then provide the right support. This means all the usual tools need to be in place - encouragement, support, mentoring, formal performance management tools, appraisals and reviews,' she says. 'Then there's the day to day activities - feeding back, mentoring, advising, which all goes in full circle. Without an understanding of this, lower level staff will not be developed.'

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

At London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), senior programme manager for apprentices, Mine Conkbayir, is familiar with the challenges newly promoted staff may experience.

'Not only are you required to learn new skills, but you have to change your perspective when looking at the nursery itself and the team,' she says. 'You have to go from being one of the team to managing the skills of the team. You have to look at different elements that make up the nursery based on budgets. Your relationships change with staff who were formerly your friends - there can be some animosity from them as you are now their manager - and you may need to make decisions they may not like or agree with.'

Anna Hanks, managing director at Acorn Childcare Training, points out that some practitioners may find maintaining their old relationships a strain. 'This is something that needs to be addressed sensitively before the person takes up their role so that everyone feels informed of decisions being made that affect them,' she says.

'If a person has good people management skills (hopefully this would be one reason for their promotion) they should be able to still maintain good effective working relationships with their team, remembering to keep good lines of communication open and always remembering to encourage and praise their team for the work they do. A thank you at the end of the day goes a long way!'

Ms Hanks adds, 'Those moving up will need to recognise that they must lead by example in their conduct and work. Quite often, although staff have childcare training, they have limited understanding of motivation, staff management, employment law and other related areas and they benefit from specific training on these subjects, as it helps them work with, and get the most from, their team and also to stay inside the law!'

MANAGEMENT SUPPORT

Good childcare practitioners often find themselves promoted to senior roles because of their childcare skills. However, their transition to a management role will create the need for new, additional skills.

There is a need for senior management to support this, not only with appropriate training but also with a sensitive approach to involving the whole staff team, so everyone is aware of any changes.

Anna Hanks says, 'Training and support needs to be given to the practitioner before they take up their new role so they do not feel out of their depth.

'It can be really helpful to organise shadowing of a senior staff member so that the practitioner can see what their new job entails. A training-needs analysis, done together with the manager to identify any areas of potential training and development needs, can also be useful.'

Ms Hanks believes effective support must be given throughout the promotion process so the practitioner knows there is someone they can always bring their concerns to. 'This can be done through shadowing and mentoring schemes, effective regular supervision times and support and training wherever needed,' she says.

It's also all about trust, according to Tina Jefferies, director of the Red Space Company. 'Senior management need to send a message to staff that they believe in their ability and will support them when things do not go quite to plan,' she says.

At York Nurseries in Burnley, Lancashire, owner and manager Heather Langridge corroborates the need for strong support networks within the nursery organisation.

'Initially, a new manager should only be left on their own for short periods of time, probably at the beginning or end of the day,' she says. 'There needs to be good communication around required standards, so a new manager knows what is expected of them. This will assist them to gain confidence in their new role.'

She adds, 'Often a new manager will not realise they do not know something until a situation arises that they have not dealt with before, and they need the confidence to know how to find the information or ask for assistance.

'Perhaps the first thing a new manager needs to do is understand their role and responsibilities by being familiar with Ofsted standards and other legal requirements so that they know they are complying legally with these requirements.'

MEETING TRAINING NEEDS

There is a huge range of training available to fully equip staff who are climbing the ladder. In many areas, local authority childcare departments offer training events on aspects of leadership and management, and an increasing number of training providers run courses tailored to individual settings' needs.

On a practical business level, Anna Hanks identifies a need for training around organisational management and financial awareness.

'Many would benefit from courses on subjects such as financial awareness, understanding budgeting, employment law and many more areas in which they will be expected to take responsibility but have little previous knowledge,' she says.

'Companies such as ourselves can design a bespoke programme of workshops to develop all staff, help those in senior levels, mentor those just starting out or even offer the services of our experienced consultants for one-to-one coaching and mentoring.'

Sue Overton (pictured in training below) believes the aim is to help managers retain all the caring and nurturing attributes of a childcarer but at the same time, develop the assertiveness skills necessary for a leader.

Ms Overton's most popular courses include Assertiveness for Childcare Managers and Developing Motivation Within a Team, while she reports demand for bespoke courses for managers who need guidance on staffing, sustainability and preparing their nursery for outstanding.

She reports that a common pre-occupation for many delegates who attend her courses is 'what people will think of them' in their new role.

'We all have a "chatterbox" inside our heads which challenges us into thinking "but what if ...",' she says. 'The key to overcoming the "but what if" is to stop it being personal. I always take it right back to why there is a need to do what is required, be that creating a better environment, developing better interactions and communication with the children on their level, or working more closely with parents. The answer is ... "because it is in the best interests of the child".'

At LEYF, Mine Conkbayir says the training department delivers the ILM Level 4 Certificate in Leadership and Management.

'It also delivers training based around need,' she says. 'For example, this has included training on emotional intelligence and action research in the nursery - which has helped our team make changes to the learning environment and reflect on our individual roles.'

Training around self-confidence is especially important and Anna Hanks believes this ultimately comes from the person's knowledge that they are prepared and able to do their job effectively.

'Preparation in the form of training and mentoring can equip the person to do their job with confidence,' she says. 'Again, regular feedback from senior staff on how the role is going and what they are doing well does wonders for confidence!'

Mine Conkbayir agrees. 'Practitioners need to be given opportunities where they have the responsibility to achieve a specific task with both praise and constructive criticism provided. They also need to be able to feel they can speak up and offer their opinions in relation to nursery life.'

At the same time, Heather Langridge believes it is important for new managers to know that they can make their own decisions and that not everything has to be referred to a higher authority.

'While we sometimes may not agree with a decision, we would always back a manager in public and then debrief the situation and discuss how the decision was arrived at and agree a common ground and response if the same situation ever arose again,' she says.

For an individual to feel truly confident, they have to recognise their own strengths, says Tina Jefferies. 'Honestly valuing and recognising your unique set of behaviours, talents and abilities as a practitioner helps you build confidence. Working one-to-one with a professional development coach can help you reflect on these and develop balanced self-confidence.

'A training course isn't the complete answer when it comes to developing confidence and it's not about being the same as the rest, but developing from your personal profile, challenging weaknesses and playing to strengths to become a leading practitioner.'

DEFINING LEADERSHIP

Moving up to manager level may involve a lot of new responsibilities, but it doesn't necessarily involve losing direct contact with children.

Heather Langridge says, 'We are all agreed that you need to continue to be hands-on with the children, but at this level it has to be a career, not a job. As manager and owner we all clean up, cook, change nappies and carry out all the other jobs associated with a busy nursery so that we gain the respect of our colleagues for doing a good job alongside them.

'By gradually moving away from being one of the gang by declining invitations, it will probably go unnoticed you no longer attend social gatherings that may be embarrassing the day after.'

Sue Overton (pictured in training below) believes it is usual for managers to distance themselves from staff. 'This is because the role of the manager means they have access to sensitive and confidential information, which is not for the general staff to be party to. It takes tremendous discipline to keep it to yourself - especially if you have been friends with your colleagues and used to sharing confidences.'

Kate Peach adds, 'I have found with childcare staff who move up that they are very good practitioners and excellent nursery administrators, but they still need to be given the skills to be leaders. Leadership is all about supporting all the individuals in a team. A true manager has to know how to get the best out of every single person.'

FURTHER INFORMATION

• The Red Space Company: www.redspacecompany.com

• Acorn Childcare Training: www.childcaretraining.co.uk

• LEYF: www.leyf.org.uk

• Sue Overton Associates:www.sueoverton.com