Child Care Employee Standards of Conduct

When we first started managing child care programs, we thought that we had it all together; clear policies and procedures, thorough employee job descriptions, evaluation plans in place, etc.  What we didn't count on was the human element. 

You spell out for your employees what you expect of them in regards to their job performance and count on them to do it.  Fortunately, the majority are professionals and do even more than you expect of them.  But....then you get the ones that surprise you.  Because of the challenges we have had with these employees, we learned that we must have every employee sign an Employee Standards of Conduct to cover the areas that seem to be gray to some people.

Even if your Employee Job Descriptions are very clear, chances are there are behaviors that you assume are common knowledge and don't need to be spelled out.  Sadly, we have learned that's not always the case.  For example, you have to spell out for your staff what you expect regarding:

• gossip
• using inappropriate language
• stealing
• prejudicial behavior
• harassment
• refusal to follow instructions

Don't assume that "everyone knows" they can't steal from your program or harass a co-worker.  As soon as you make that assumption, you put your entire program at risk.  If you don't already have an Employee Standards of Conduct, check ours out at: http://daycaretools.com/DaycareProducts.aspx#Personnel  Your program will benefit and your honest, hard-working staff members will appreciate your efforts at providing them with good co-workers.

Misty 

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