Cupcake1984 Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 I have been in post as the pre-school manager for just about a year now. I have previously been an assistant in the pre-school for the last 8 years and had some experience of acting deputy / acting manager posts. I have found it increasingly difficuilt to manage staff performance, as some members just seem to have the 'get up and go' missing!....they seem to put more effort into negativity than thinking positively!...(which how you can lack that when you have 30 happy children around you all day is beyond me!)... Does anyone have any 'out of the box' strategies to encourage motivation and performance. Maybe some kind of reward scheme for outstanding performance or something, as thier sence of humours are pretty good!...(kind of like employee of the month type thing....but more fun!)... Any ideas welcome..... :1b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 we usually end our staff meetings with a 'staff star' presentation of a bottle of wine or flowers or choc type pressie. Each member of staff casts a vote with a reason and all are read out, bit like 'wow' moments and someone is chosen as the star. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 get the parents to vote for staff that go the extra mile and at the end of month in a staff meeting preferrably, read them out and give a reward with the most nominations and the best reasons for nomination Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cupcake1984 Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 Max 321 - I like the idea of 'staff star', but how often do you hold your staff metings? As we hold them every week, so I dont think we would be able to have that every week, maybe half termy or something is definetly food for thought! Alabaloo - I love the ides of the vote coming from parents! Thanks. :1b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 We do a number of things. Firstly ensure the team are just that 'a team', we have a number of social events together, ranging from 'nights on the town', bowling, bingo and even to going to someones house for pancakes! We also have 'cake friday' every week, we all contribute a small amount of money to a pot, and share some cakes every friday. i also have 'fun fridays' (Friday is our quiet day) I create various quiz sheets, and split the staff into teams, sometimes they remain with the people they work with all day, and other times I mix them up. ( I always ensure the children are still with their key workers though - we are over staffed on Friday afternoons by approximately 5 staff!) the quizzes vary from child protection, health and safety, professionalism etc. They have to answer questions by using either their prior knowledge, or by finding various policies and procedures around the setting. There are prizes for winning teams! - These all help to establish relationships between the staff, and this, in turn boosts the mood! I also share out jobs/responsibilities, and don't always turn to my deputy's to organise or run things. This helps to boost confidence, and gives more of a sense of worth. Regular supervisory meetings also provides opportunites for praise, and a chance to set new goals and challenges and push staff to perform even better and further their knowledge and skills. A 'rotating rota' also allows for all staff to have the opportunity to have 'early finishes' particuarly fridays, that helps too! Making sure everyones ideas are heard, accepted and implemented helps. All staff take turns to 'plan the week' they take sole responsibility for the topic/theme etc, with all other staff working alongside them. Questionnaires for parents are good too, especially when everyone reads all the positive feedback! Ultimately though the best way to boost morale and inspire more 'get up and go' is to lead by example, praise and ( as much as we hate to admit it) pay!! - I hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lashes2508 Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 i attended the 'raising your game' training - yesterday - this areacame up with a few of us -how to inspire our staff and see the passion - take on their ideas - allow them responsibility - lead by example and listen it was presented by the Garnett Foundation and it was really good -very interactive with actors presenting scenarios- would def recoomend to any leaders/managers - bonus - did not cost anything and we got a free book too called 'Leadership Skills in the Early Years' - making a difference by June O'Sullivan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Max 321 - I like the idea of 'staff star', but how often do you hold your staff metings? As we hold them every week, so I dont think we would be able to have that every week, maybe half termy or something is definetly food for thought! Alabaloo - I love the ides of the vote coming from parents! Thanks. :1b staff meetings form part of our half termly inset days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meridian Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 i attended the 'raising your game' training - yesterday - this areacame up with a few of us -how to inspire our staff and see the passion - take on their ideas - allow them responsibility - lead by example and listen it was presented by the Garnett Foundation and it was really good -very interactive with actors presenting scenarios- would def recoomend to any leaders/managers - bonus - did not cost anything and we got a free book too called 'Leadership Skills in the Early Years' - making a difference by June O'Sullivan Brilliant training! with real actors too and when I was on course they tailored it to individual situations, we did having difficult conversations and being able to observe them act out scenarios really helped. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKeyteach Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 You could tackle individuals. Find what their interest is around the nursery and give them a spot of responsiblity. EG if they like role play, why not let them lead a new theme in that area, this could lead to them inspiring the rest of the team. They may need a little kick from you to get it of the ground , but looking through catalogues or books for ideas often gets them steamed up and ready to go. If they are excited they too will excite. Then lots of praise "Look at the marvellous role play area" to visitng parents will send the message to the team. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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