Give Me Strength

[Guest]

OK all,

 

I need some foolproof, effective ways, to tackle my deputy and senior.

 

I have had a few days of recently due to annual leave, and on my return i hear that my deputy 'apparently' left the children unattended in her room (not seen by myself or anyone else, but deputy was heard to shout back to children "im coming" and then her footsteps heard)

 

My senior has been blowing hot and cold with certain staff, and treating a few like s**t. When i am off my office gets snooped in, and i mean snooped, and i get called all names under the sun.

 

Now i can live with them calling me behind my back, because quite frankly they mean nothing to me, they are not my friends, nor people i actually like that much anyway. But to know they are snooping worries me, not because i have anything to hide but because there is some confidential staff info in that office (locked away) but senior and deputy have keys, and they don't have the inclination not to snoop at info even if they know they shouldn't be reading it. ....

 

Had i have seen my deputy leave children alone i would have tackled her immediatly and she would probably have been looking at gross misconduct, but i didn't see it.

 

how do i tackle these issues,

 

it is appraisals at the mo,

 

a while ago i had firm words with all staff (bar senior and deputy) due to whole nursery issues. all staff got the message and work inproved.

 

do i tackle senior and deputy seperatly or together, do i use appraisals to do this in, or do it prior to appraisals and then do appraisals in a few weeks and see if anything has changed.

how do i tackle it anyhow?,

 

i feel like i need guidance, i can call on the other managers at the other nurseries in our chain to see their views, and could even arrange for one to come and support me whilst i talk with senior/deputy, but equally don't want deputy/senior to feel i am ganging up on them ....

 

any advice anyone?

 

Dawn

[Guest]

I would tackle them separately if I were you Dawn-that way they can't gang up on you. Also, if you are going to have somebody there to support you then equally they should have somebody to support them. But we don't have this sort of meeting until things have gone a long way down the track.

I would make these meetings informal. After all you have no evidence that they are snooping in the office, or if they are what they are looking at. Likewise with the incident with your deputy leaving the children unattended. Again, as you weren't there you have no proof and are only taking the word of other members of staff. Tricky ground this.

Perhaps appraisals would be the way to go. I assume you ask them to fill in an appraisal form and they can air their concerns or any niggles they may have? You may find they will put down matters they feel need sorting out and you could take it from there.

Good luck

Linda

[Guest]

I would tackle them separately if I were you Dawn-that way they can't gang up on you. Also, if you are going to have somebody there to support you then equally they should have somebody to support them. But we don't have this sort of meeting until things have gone a long way down the track.

I would make these meetings informal. After all you have no evidence that they are snooping in the office, or if they are what they are looking at. Likewise with the incident with your deputy leaving the children unattended. Again, as you weren't there you have no proof and are only taking the word of other members of staff. Tricky ground this.

Perhaps appraisals would be the way to go. I assume you ask them to fill in an appraisal form and they can air their concerns or any niggles they may have? You may find they will put down matters they feel need sorting out and you could take it from there.

Good luck

Linda

 

 

Hmmmm, yes they fill out pre-appraisal forms, Deputy wanted more time away from children so that she could work on making room bright????????

Senior wants to work in babies, both apparently feel they support me well, yet neither of them mentioned supporting and encouraging good team relations, which is one area they both fail miserably on.

 

Dawn

[Guest]

Hi Dawn,

Before you can raise any issues that have occured in your absence you need to be sure of all facts. The persons reporting these incidents to you need to back you up by putting their reports to you in writing. You do not have to inform the supervisor/deputy who has written the report, just that you have it in writing and therefore are investigating the incidents and require their response to the allegations in writing too. If and when any other member of staff 'tells' you about such incidents you should write what they say and ask them to sign your record of your discussion.

 

Follow your complaints / grievance procedures.

 

I think maybe a whole team meeting on complaints / grievance procedures may be useful, to clarify that any behaviour which compromises the policies and national standards requirements of the setting must be reported in a professional manner and the complaints/grievance procedures must then be followed. Also state that all staff are responsible for ensuring these standards are met including the responsibility for everyone to report such incidences. Have as part of your complaints / grievance procedure the consequence of NOT reporting such incidents.

 

The minutes of the meeting will record that all staff are aware of this company policy. If people are doing their job then they should not be upset by this practice, if people are telling facts then they should not be concerned about writing them.

 

This is not a matter for appraisals. Appraisals are best for appraising ( positive feedback on performance and/or identifying areas for development and how the company can support this development through training opportunities etc).

 

As for your office, if these staff are given keys then they have been given the message that items accessible to them are not confidential to them. Either you need to place such information in a secure place unaccesible to them or trust their confidentiality. A breach of confidentiality would be difficult to prove. If they are reading something that they shouldn't , this is not in itself an act of breaching confidentiality,it is only if they pass this information to someone else who should not have access to it that a breach would occur. It could be seen as you that has breached confidentiality by enabling confidential papers to be accessible to people who should not have access to it ( if you see what I mean).

Basically keep what they shouldn't see secure from them. If they need to have access to information to do their job in your absence then that is their role and you can't stop them having access to sensitive information, but you may need to reaffirm the companies confidentiality policy and the consequences of breaching this policy.

 

Once you have had a team meeting re: complaints / grievance procedures and then have any future complaints reports of misconduct then these would have to be addressed to the individual person concerned. Rise above the 'when the boss is away........immature syndrome and by expecting professional behaviour in terms of reporting and acting on incidents which occur in your absence then hopefully professional behaviour will develop whilst you are away.

 

Good luck.

 

Peggy

[Guest]

I agree with Peggy that appraisals are not the place really for discussing this but I just though that if they had mentioned it you could have got it sorted then. Try and avoid it if you can.

Linda

[Guest]

I agree with Peggy that appraisals are not the place really for discussing this but I just though that if they had mentioned it you could have got it sorted then. Try and avoid it if you can.

Linda

 

 

As I read you reply Linda, I thought well yes, if they have bought it up at previous appraisals it could be discussed but unfortunately I don't think the deputy/supervisor have shown adequate professionalism ( given the allegations are correct) to be able to negotiate or discuss what are basic logistical matters that should be able to be sorted out during routine staff planning/deployment meetings. ( tongue in cheek and possibly a bit bitchy, I apologise - I am actually being unfair taking Dawns side and feeling that she has had so much to deal with from these two staff- very subjective of me)

 

Peggy

[Guest]

Peggy and Linda do you want to come and work with me You both have such words of wisdom and advice, Thank you.....

 

hopefully that will come to me with experience

 

Dawn

[Guest]

I knew the minute I saw your post title that you were having problems with your seniors. They really need to be there to back you up and support you - not work against you, and it looks like other staff are beginning to resent their actions also.

 

As hard as it is Dawn, I cannot urge you enough to tackle it IMMEDIATELY. I am leaving because of my deputy. I have no job to go to; a mortgage that I pay by myself; and a wedding in 5 months. The rest of my team will be gone soon too - 1 staff member has an interview; 2 have applied for jobs; and 1 is not coming back from maternity now.

 

At the end of the day think of the children - and think that your actions are for them.

 

I really feel for you Dawn. Good luck with it all.

[Susan]

Dawn, be confident that you can do this job, you applied and were appointed, your managers have that confidence in you and if you are uncertain ask for advice. They are also there to support you in your decisions but dont let this pair undermine you. I understand why the deputy may wish to make life difficult for you although professing to support you, although that really is childish and unacceptable behaviour but not what the senior has to gain here unless somehow the deputy has some influence over her?

Presumably you have logs of all the other incidents that you have complained of, they are certainly well documented here and it may be that actually your line manager needs to step in now and assert some authority on your behalf?

If they (Deputy and senior) are supporting you, you should not still be complaining!

Good luck.

[Guest]

Peggy and Linda do you want to come and work with me You both have such words of wisdom and advice, Thank you.....

 

hopefully that will come to me with experience

 

Dawn

 

 

Dawn, I would bet that if another person had asked your questions you would have come up with the replies that Linda and I did. It is easier for us because we are 'not too close' to the situation and haven't had to live it day in day out. You have, this does not mean that you don't know what to do, you just need the strength ( which has been sapped out of you a bit) and the courage of applying your knowledge. Agree with Susan too, at some point your managers need to support you in keeping the staff to the professional standards you have worked so hard to build and maintain.

 

Peggy