Nursery Manager Training is a frequent topic of conversation with Nursery Owners.
We often find that Nursery Managers have been promoted for their outstanding practice as Early Years Practitioners. And then, they are expected to manage budgets, marketing, staff conflict in the nursery, run appraisals and 1000s of other things.
In this, the Early Years sector is not unique. My Masters degree dissertation studied the role of the Line Manager in a large police force and found just the same thing occurs.
It’s not that often that Nursery Manager training takes place before they step into the role. By that point, it’s largely on the job, task based training that then takes place.
Early Years HR can help nurseries with this by providing coaching and mentoring to staff identified as ready for promotion. We also support nurseries when a Nursery Manager, for example, resigns or notifies the owner that they are pregnant. With several months’ notice, we can work with you provide coaching and mentoring for the Acting Manager.
What is Nursery Manager coaching?
Workplace coaching for Nursery Managers is a way of delivering ‘one to one’ learning and development.
Coaching is a helping relationship with an emphasis on active learning. At work, its focus on the immediate needs of the learner. This allows the learner the chance to apply new knowledge and improve performance almost instantly.
Science for work
How does it work?
We talk.
We engage in effective and meaningful conversations that help Nursery Managers work through a problem, development need or concern.
We might talk about one issue that happened recently and reflect and learn from it. Or, we might talk about something that is due to happen which the Nursery or Deputy Manager is worried about how they will handle it. Sometimes we even talk about hypothetical things; something that may never happen could be a huge block for an individual and could be preventing them from performing at their best.
How is it different?
You might be reading this thinking, that you do all this anyway. Why do you need Nursery HR provider to do it for you?
You’re busy! You need to manage the business and conversations with your leadership team are often about tasks and what needs to be done. I’m always hearing Nursery Managers saying they don’t have time for effective supervision and appraisals, so it seem to follow that they don’t have time to have coaching conversations with them either.
A meta-analysis carried out by Science for Work found that:
Coaches who work in the business, but who are not in a line management relationship with the client, are more effective than coaches from outside the business….this might be due to internal coaches having a better cultural and organisational understanding than people outside the business. This understanding might give internal coaches more knowledge about how the individual can be more productive and effective.
Science for Work
By working with clients, getting to know them and their culture we can bridge the gap between an internal and external coach and help you to deliver the results you need from your team, and your Nursery Manager training.
To find out more, get in touch!
