Inspirational and Empowering Child Care Business Owners To Build Successful Child Care Businesses

Posts tagged ‘staff turnover’

The “Bear” Necessities of Choosing the Right Staff

Seek to hire people who loved their previous Job

 

I titled this blog post after a book that I am reading called, The Bear Necessities of Business, written by Maxine Clark. Just in case you do not know who Maxine Clark is…She is the Founder and Chief Executive Bear at Build a Bear Work Shop.

I bought Maxine’s Book, The Bear Necessities of Business about five years ago while on vacation in Chicago from one of the Build-a-Bear Workshops.  In fact, I was inspired  to buy Maxine’s book, because I was quite impressed with the company that she created with the help of a great team.

Earlier this year, I went on a field trip to the St. Louis Galleria Build-a Bear Workshop with my preschool graduates and I was loving  the spirit of excellence throughout the store. Moreover, I really enjoyed working with the staff at the Build-a Bear work shop. The staff was so friendly, very knowledgeable about their job and seemed to really enjoy working at Build-a-Bear Workshop. Furthermore, the trip to that store, inspired me to read Maxine’s book again, because I really enjoyed the experience and that’s what I want to give my customers…an Experience.

The night before I wrote this blog post, I was reading a chapter of Maxine’s book and came across a statement that inspired me to evaluate the questions that I ask applicants during the interview process. Maxine wrote: “I am not interest in bringing on people who hated their last job. I want to hire those who loved where they worked and came to us with great habits and ideas they have learned on the job.”

Maxine, also suggested that you hire people who have worked for great businesses that you respect and admire. In my case, that would be Kinder care Learning Centers, Head Start  and any Accredited Child Care Facility, because I know that the teacher has worked in a Quality environment.

Also, Maxine recommends that you ask those you hire this question: “What are we not doing that your previous employer did?

WOW!!! I think this is the answer to the job turn-over in the childcare field. What do you think? Do you know how much trouble that you and I can save ourselves if we simply ask the question: So, how did you feel about your last job?

I agree with Maxine 100%, because I recently hired a teacher that loved her previous job and she came to work with me for the summer and she loves her job. In the past, I hired teachers that hated their previous jobs and they hated working for me.

In summary, I think Maxine shared a golden nugget by mentioning the fact that she does not seek to hire people who hate their previous jobs. So, now when you schedule your next interview, be sure to ask: So, how did you feel about your last job?

What do you think about Maxine’s Philosophy about not seeking to hire people who hate their former jobs? Do you plan to ask the questions mentioned above during your next interview? I look forward to your comments below.

Be sure to get your copy of Maxine’s Book, The Bear Necessities of Business Today! Don’t forget to schedule your next field trip to Build-a-Bear Workshop!

With your business in mind,

Shiketa

Category:

Employee Management, Staffing

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Your Staff Members Are Not “Perfect”

One the most challenging things that I have ever done was  to supervise employees. In fact, to get away from supervising staff (in the past), I have even hired an Assistant Director to directly work with my staff.

However, I must say that as a Center Owner, I can never really get away from supervising my staff, because they look forward to my feedback.

I  motivated to write this blog post, because several days before writing this post; I found myself questioning  my staff supervision abilities. In fact,  As I ended my business day; I asked myself the following questions:

  • Am I really getting what I want from my employees?
  • Do they really know what I expect?
  • Am I assertive enough?
  • Am I too assertive?
  • Am I being too controlling?
  • Am I being too flexible with my staff?

Furthermore, after asking myself all of the questions above and some questions that I did not mention; I realized that I was being too hard on myself and the staff.

After reflecting on how I deal with my staff and having a long talk with a colleague, I discovered that I was so frustrated because of the following reasons:

  1. I am a Leader not a supervisor. Leaders empower and inspire and supervisors manage people. Moreover, managing people is impossible and that is why it is frustrating for me and many other Child Care Business Owners sometimes.
  2. I was looking for perfection and not progress.
  3. I was too focused on “me” and not how I can empower my staff to do an excellent job
  4. My attitude was wrong!

I hope that my experience has inspired you to not stress over minor staff issues, but seek to empower your staff to do their best and strive to show progress or even exceed your expectations.

Please, know that I am not suggesting that you tolerate a lack of performance, but I do want to encourage you to keep things in perspective and approach every situation with an attitude of gratitude.

Moreover, I have decided to look for progress not, perfection. Also, I must say that I have a great team; my staff members are positive, they come to work everyday (on-time), they respect me as a leader and they love working with the children.

In summary, I want to share with you, 3- tips that a mentor shared with me in my early days of managing employees and they are as follows:

  • Choose your battles wisely
  • Let it Go!
  • You can’t control the actions of others

With Your Child Care Business in mind,

Shiketa

Resources That Will Empower You to Be an Effective Leader

3 Books that every leader must read

The 21- Day Master Mind eClub

Director’s Handbook

Category:

Administration, Business Management, Employee Management, Staffing

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