Child and Family Canada

Developing and Maintaining Good
Supervisor/Staff Relations

by Barbara Kaiser & Judy Sklar Rasminsky

In a day care centre, keeping people happy is a very high priority -- and that means staff as well as children. Good working conditions are essential, but there is also a human factor. To form an effective team, staff have to get along well together. If they don't, they may focus on their problems, morale may plummet and the tension may eventually funnel down to the children.

Maintaining a pleasant atmosphere and balance among the various personalities in the centre is the responsibility of the supervisor or director, and it is one of the toughest there is. The work begins with hiring, of course. Each time you hire a new educator, you must try to choose a person who will fit in with the personalities who are already in place. After interviewing, include your educators in the hiring process by inviting your most promising candidates to work in the centre for one day so that everyone can see how they interact with the children and staff. Then ask your educators (individually) for an assessment. Was the candidate in the right place at the right time? Did she or he speak to the children with warmth, understanding and respect? Learn a few names? Ask relevant questions? Was the candidate ready to help when asked? Did she or he seem to know what to do, or require direction? Involving your educators in a process that affects them directly motivates them to make the new arrangement work. Of course, the final hiring decision is yours.

You can also lay the groundwork for amicable staff relationships by establishing clear, written policies for staff. Whenever you hire new educators, have them sign a contract and give them a package containing their job description, the personnel policies of the centre (benefits, holidays, sick day policy, evaluation procedures, etc.), and a description of the day care's philosophy and how it is implemented (discipline, day care rules, parent-teacher communication). The more that's thought through and written down, the better the chances that everyone will manage to work together smoothly.

However, even the most careful hiring practices and the clearest policies and procedures can't entirely prevent dissension. Once in a while, you are bound to encounter a staff member who seems determined to turn your centre upside down.

He or she might be hard to spot at first. Disruptive behaviour can be very subtle, and because day care educators are natural nurturers, they rarely report any inter-staff problems. How do you know that you have difficult staff members among you?

You will recognize them by some of the following telltale signs:

All of these actions create an aura of mistrust among staff members or between staff members and the director. How does a supervisor stop this infuriating, demoralizing behaviour and get the staff back on track?

  1. Spend time with the children and the staff in the playrooms, nap rooms, bathrooms, play yards, and during transitions. This part of a supervisor's job sometimes gets lost amid the paperwork, but it should be one of your highest priorities. Figure out what administrative work can wait, and plan to spend part of each day observing so that you understand the flow of events and their consequences.

    Record what you see, then try to meet at least once a month with each staff member to discuss it. When areas need improvement, write down your goals and have the educator sign them to indicate that she understands, agrees, and will work on them. Even when everything is running like clockwork, don't neglect this routine. It is the best way to know how your staff is coping with the daily physical and emotional stress of day care work.

  2. Encourage your teachers to take pride in their projects and in their children's development, and make sure that you give them every bit of recognition they deserve. Problems often arise because an educator feels insecure, undervalued and exploited -- an endemic situation in day care where salaries and benefits are so inadequate. Although those of us who work in the field know how important our job is, society as a whole still does not recognize its significance. It is therefore an unwritten task of every day care supervisor to make up for that lack and ensure that staff members feel appreciated and valued for their expertise and talent.

  3. Help your staff to recognize one another's achievements by modelling this behaviour yourself. Leave time at staff meetings to say, "Diane, I really like the way you turned the housekeeping corner into a bakery and the boys started to participate." If you speak first, you set the tone for one teacher to say to another, "Thank you for helping me with Philip today. I was really at wits end and having you there made a big difference."

  4. Once you discover a problem, handle it fairly and discretely. Staff can be acutely aware of any injustice or inequity. If you are unfair or ignore anyone, staff members may defend one another or turn to others for support, compounding the tension and resentment. Open, honest communication is a necessity. When there are problems between two people, encourage them to talk directly to one another. If those involved find this difficult, meet with them together to help them untangle their differences. Let everyone speak, listen carefully, be objective and set measurable, concrete goals. Finding a solution that everyone feels part of and whose success can be measured makes working together easier. Be sure to explain your decisions in a way that demonstrates that you have considered everyone's point of view. ("I've thought about what each of you said, and this is what I think seems best for the child.")

  5. If a problem with a teacher seems to be putting the safety and well-being of the children at risk, speed is of the essence. The educators' contracts should contain a clause that allows you to act swiftly and effectively.

  6. When all attempts to solve a problem fail, termination may be the only solution. Although it is relatively easy to fire an employee during the probation period, afterwards you must scrupulously follow the procedures required by your province. Whether your day care is unionized or not, employees are protected by the law and the centre can be liable if you don't respect provincial rules. It is important to document all events and conversations carefully from the start.

  7. Whenever you let an educator go or ask one to resign, prepare yourself for a wave of mistrust from the rest of your staff, who may wonder who will be your next victim. Reassuring them is hard because you must respect a code of confidentiality in personnel matters at all times. No matter how tempted you are to divulge the details, no matter how many crazy rumours are flying around your centre, you cannot tell your staff why you fired Patricia. Since they don't know exactly why you've done what you've done, they are very uneasy, especially in the beginning. Make yourself available to talk with them, support them in their work, stay professional and follow the rules. Eventually they should realize that your action was justified and that their jobs aren't in danger. Then they will appreciate the fact that you keep their private matters confidential, too, and they will respect you for putting the centre's needs first.

Barbara Kaiser is the founder and director of Narnia Daycare Centre and the Westmount Park School-Age Program in Westmount, Quebec. She and writer Judy Sklar Rasminsky are co- authors of The Daycare Handbook: A Parents' Guide to Finding and Keeping Quality Daycare in Canada.


This article first appeared in Interaction published by the Canadian Child Care Federation, Winter, 1994.
Posted by: the Canadian Child Care Federation, September 1996.

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