Childcare Orientation Growth Systems

Or are you using onboarding for the process of all of your pre-hire paperwork and then orientation for having the person go through the process of learning how to operate in your company? So you have to first clearly define those roles. 

But let’s say for the sake of training today that the roles have been clearly defined, and I’ll define them for you right now. Our orientation is to prepare a person to be able to work in our classrooms or in administration, or in the kitchen or in transportation. So there are a few preliminary items that have to be completed in order for the person to be equipped to be able to work in that role. 

1.  The first step to orientation is to verify that all of your staff items are in their file. Now there’s a whole big story behind why I implemented this process. But for the sake of time, I’m just going to give you a little bit about why I implemented this process. I remember getting constantly written up in my staff hours for documents that were needed. And I just like you owned and operated multiple childcare sites and I had to keep team members coming. I had to keep the children with qualified staff. And so because I had more people leaving than I had coming on, I just had to continue to keep moving fast and keep moving forward. So there were some things that were not missing that would cause a detriment to the children, such as maybe I didn’t have the reference checks sheet in that file, or maybe I did not have the social security card in my file. Just little things that would not be a detriment to the children but yet it was a violation of the rules. So I found myself getting written up and as the leader, I was like, “Why am I getting written up and comfortable being written up for things that I have been paid top dollar to solve?” So let me put on my CEO hat and solve this challenge. So that’s exactly what I did guys. So I made my orientation process beginning with the folder. So when a person comes to orientation, their file is sitting ready for them to begin orientation. So when they open their file, all documentation that is necessary and needed, it has a flow in the file, and if something that they need in their file has not been provided we do placement holder forms. Those placement holder forms are color-coded and before we place the file in the cabinet, we understand that there are some missing items. Did this change the game for me? And let me tell you why. Now I know that before a person goes into my filing cabinet that these items are required. And so now I have a process of making sure that my team knows what items are required. And of course, things are digital now, but trust me, if your State still requires an inspection of your staff forms that everything cannot be digital. There has to be a way for your documentation to be checked and to have a place of order in your file because your State inspector will inspect those things. 
2. Complete the orientation checklist for the first day. Not the whole checklist just the first day. The reason why the orientation checklist for the first day is essential is because there’s a process that’s on that document that I need for all team members to be able to understand and know when it comes to my personal brand and organization. And then we go through other training processes like virtual training, making sure that the virtual training that we asked for during the new hire paperwork to be completed, that they were completed, and that we’ll review them with the team member.
3. We go through the tour of the facility and their work assignments. And the reason why we go through the tour of the facility is because we have to empower individuals to get started right away. So we go through the process of the tour of the facility, and their work assignment which is the classroom. 

So we go through that process of how they get their day started and how teachers jumpstart their day. And then we go into the next step which is to complete the orientation process. And we go through the process of introducing them to lead teachers who are now level five teachers because we’ve given them that buddy system. And then after that, we’ve made sure that we schedule the next meeting with all new employees.

So these are just steps of the orientation process. This means before they are given the option of working in the class, it’s things that we’ve done in the office to make sure that we’ve settled them and given them a strong foundation. So with all of these steps that we have to do, we are clear about not rushing them in the room. Or if we rush them in a row, what has to come right after they come out of the room? So you want to have your own flow and process and then there’s so much more guys. The blog has gone on too long and I cannot share everything right here but I am a teacher and I want to teach you more. 

So be sure to go to the School Is In Session to learn more and I will see you right here at the physical School Of Systems July 13th of this year. You don’t want to miss it. I’ll see you there.