Staffing and Recruitment
How to set effective objectives for your staff
Retaining and motivating talented employees is important in any business, but is especially important in childcare at the moment. Setting goals which cascade down through all levels of the company give your staff an opportunity to have their...
How to spot an unhappy employee
It’s so important for your employees to be happy at work, for both their own well-being and as they’re directly working with children. It can be difficult to spot an unhappy member of staff when you’re managing a big team and running a busy...
7 steps to create an engaged and motivated nursery team
In a survey of 2,226 employees conducted by professional body CIPD last year, it was found that just 39% of staff were engaged with their work and 3% were actively disengaged. As part of their research, they measured factors such as employees’...
Unconscious bias – how does it affect your childcare setting?
As a result of our own unique life experiences, we all develop a set of perceptions and assumptions about other people which are ingrained in us. This way of thinking, which enables us to quickly categorise an unfamiliar person or groups of...
Do you need a training agreement for your staff?
If the childcare training you’ve provided to a member of staff is very costly or you have concerns that they’ll leave during the course of their learning (or shortly afterwards), then having this type of agreement in place can protect your...
How can you manage employee probation periods?
When you take on a new staff member, the hope is that they’ll fit in right away and become a permanent part of your team. However, there’s always a chance that they may not be the right person for the role or they may not behave as you expected....
How can you manage your team more effectively?
Being a manager has its perks, but it can also be a really stressful job. If you lead a team of people, you may be wondering what more you can do to achieve the best performance from them. How you manage your team plays a hugely influential part...
Exit interviews – should you carry them out?
Do you carry out an exit interview when a member of staff resigns? No? It may be worth your while to start. Staff retention is important for any business and unless you take the time to understand why employees are leaving, you could be missing...
6 essential steps to ensure a smooth interview process
Conducting interviews throughout the day can be exhausting; so it helps to follow a systematic approach with each candidate. Doing this will also ensure that everyone you interview is given equal treatment before you make your decision on who...
8 tips to help you avoid an HR meltdown
Navigating the pitfalls of staff management at your nursery can seem like a minefield. But, with your staff being your greatest asset (and also producing the largest cost to your business!), getting it right can have the single largest impact on...
7 ways to boost staff retention
One of the key challenges in delivering the government’s 30-hour childcare pledge is the 'shrinking' childcare workforce. With training providers noticing a significant drop in applicants for childcare apprenticeships and employers reporting...
How do you attract top talent to your business?
There’s no doubt that having a talented team of childcare practitioners and room leaders will play a huge part in making your business great – after all, it’s your employees who build close relationships with children and parents. So, what can...
What should you look for in a training provider for your staff?
Choosing a childcare training provider is a really important decision. After all, it can mean the difference between giving your staff member the best chance to pass their childcare qualification or not! So, what exactly should you be looking...
How to manage difficult members of staff
Some members of staff have the ability to bring a whole team down. ‘Mood Hoovers’ is a common term. This is a problem in any workplace but in childcare settings, you have to be particularly careful not to let children be affected or influenced...
Benefits that apprentices bring to your setting
Ever thought of hiring a young childcare apprentice? Here are 8 great reasons why you definitely should! ...
7 tips to recruit successfully using social media
Whilst you may be apprehensive about recruiting using social media, this is quickly becoming the new hiring trend – with 92% of businesses reportedly using social media to help find a new staff member last year. There are over 1.3 billion...
Employer Handbook
An apprenticeship is a work based training programme designed to meet your needs as an employer as well as helping young people achieve a nationally recognised qualification. Here is our handy guide for employers: Download...
8 reasons to employ school leavers
Have you got a vacancy at your childcare setting? You may not have thought of recruiting a school leaver to fill the position; but there are many positive benefits to employing a nursery apprentice who’s also a school leaver that you may not...
7 essential tips to build and manage a great team
Richard Branson, founder of Virgin, once said “...a company’s employees are its greatest asset” and this is true of all businesses, whatever the industry you’re in. For a childcare setting in particular, the strength of the people you employ and...
Recruiting school leavers? 5 ways to recognise a great CV!
Recruiting someone straight from school who has little, or no, relevant experience can be difficult. Looking at academic qualifications is one thing, but what else does someone’s CV say about them? We’ve listed some tips for things you can look...
Job Centre Plus – Sector Based Work Academy
The Sector Based Work Academy (SBWA) is a partnership opportunity between Job Centre Plus, Parenta, local childcare settings (who may be considering taking on new staff) and training providers. We are piloting this scheme in two areas of Kent –...
5 things I look for when employing school leavers at my nursery
We caught up with a Nursery Manager, who told us what she looks for when employing schools leavers at her nursery. Alison Walker manages The Nursery at St Peter’s Church in Maidstone. Talking to her, you can feel the enthusiasm she has for...
