Staff with different work ethics

I'm sorry it's taken me a couple of days to respond to your question. Been extremely busy with the new release of Wiki on this site...

So first off Congrats on your new job as well as your upcoming new role as room leader. It's great to hear that you have the support of the owners and they value the work that you are doing. You're very lucky, not all owners are so forthcoming with their staff.

You will find that some of "young staff" need a lot of encouragement to get going. They seem to get bored of just caring for the children and most of the time instead of interacting with the children they just sit around and talk. You will need to give them more responsibility than just cleaning and supervising the children.

To get the youngsters going its probably a good idea to get them to be in charge or take responsibility for a task. So, one staff can organize the creative experiences for the week, another can run group time, another can set up experiences etc. You should also find out what they like doing with the children or if they have any ideas for activities, room setup etc that they want to share. It's important to get them involved in the planning process and on board with you... You should be open to their suggestions and try to implement them within the program as this shows that you are interested in their ideas. Have a room meeting at the beginning of the week and explain the program for the week, the activities, specific tasks that you want them to do, any notices etc. This will give them a clear understanding of the week ahead and what is expected of them. Lastly provide lots of encouragement and acknowledgement for what they did during the day. Plenty of "thank you" or "goo idea" etc, will make them feel worthwhile and enjoy being part the team.

Hopefully this gives you a few ideas,

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L.A

Thanks so much and will certainly try all these techniques .

In theory sounds good when you have one young staff but when there is 4/5 the same and they stick together and esp when outdoors they just find this a time to talk about their personal lives.

I feel it's an uphill battle at this stage in my life and career and feel I shouldn't be responsible to mentor the entire team.

Should I stick it out and give it time or does a good team need the same work ethics??

Yes in theory it does sound simple enough but it is possible to bring unity within a team, it's going to take some effort on your part since you're the leader of the pack. It doesn't matter where you go, I think a majority of the centres are facing the same issues. It's different how the younger generation is evolving, even from when I was in my early 20's and that's less than 7 years ago!

While outside, try and split the girls up around the play area so they aren't all together gossiping. Have some activities outside that the girls can engage in with the children as well. Set up a water area, art and craft, etc and spread the girls out within these areas to interact with the children. You're probably going to get some "rolling eyes" but don't take it personally and it's not your problem. You are there to care and educate the children with the help of all your staff, to support one another. If worse comes to worse just clearly tell the girls that they can gossip as much as they want before or after work but while working they need to focus on the children...

It's hard to find a centre where everyone shares the same values, discispline and work ethics nowadays!

Keep at it,

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L.A

Just wanted to check in on you...

How's it going? Have you been able to deal with the younger staff at your centre?

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Lorina

At my centre all staff need to be interacting and engaging with children both indoors and out otherwise we will get pulled up on it. If you have to be reminded more than a few times, you get a warning. Three warnings than a meeting, if still no change you're out. Already had 2 girls leave because of this.  My director hates to see anyone sitting on their butts chatting with each other while working.