Judith Napier investigates what's on offer
Operators in the childcare sector are beginning to copy practices from the wider commercial world by offering a range of benefits. And, according to some, it's not before time. One nursery operator recalls, 'Our staff said their last boss couldn't even spell the word bonus.'
Private nursery operators are increasingly keen to offer benefits to recruit and retain staff at a time when salaries lag behind local authority jobs and, indeed, shelf stacking. They may want to pay more, but are limited by what the market will bear in terms of parent/fee charges.
A recent Nursery Business survey asked nursery owners about the sorts of benefits they offer. The answers ranged from pension schemes to free car parking, free uniforms, or free fresh fruit.
At one end of the scale are bonus structures applied either across the board or only to the management side of the business. Barry Bloomfield, of the Little Green Man Nursery, at Leytonstone, east London, has a background in financial services and has carried over a number of practices from that sector. Some sank without trace - none of his 45 employees even bothered turning up to hear his pensions and healthcare proposals. 'Many of the staff here are quite young girls and don't see their jobs here as long-term, so didn't see it as a benefit,' he says.
He notes that some workers leave to take up apparently higher-paid agency jobs in the City of London, failing to calculate the additional costs of travel and car parking. His nursery provides free car parking (worth about 30 a month), a Christmas party and modest seasonal bonus. In his view, staff do not perceive perks as having any real value, 'Something could be worth 100 a month, but they don't see it like that. It's only the actual cash that counts.'
So instead, he tries to keep salary levels high (managers are on around Pounds 20,000), and operates a bonus scheme primarily designed to reduce absenteeism. He explains, 'Efforts are more directed to keeping staff coming in, making the job more serious. The bonus scheme is designed to reward them for attending regularly. It can be worth up to 1,000 a year if they don't take time off. It is a commercial decision they make if they're in or not. We have a wallchart up showing how they are doing.'
But he admits that even the prospect of losing hundreds of pounds is not enough to persuade some workers to get out of their beds in the morning.
Other morale-boosting techniques here include the provision of a pleasant staffroom, kitchen facilities and personal continued from page 18 lockers. Mr Bloomfield comments, 'We try to ensure that our staff can have a nice working environment. This is not in any way remuneration, but it is about us showing we care about staff.'
For another London-based operation, bonus structures are aimed solely at management - the scheme is judged effective because since their introduction none of the team has left. The company, a small chain, declined to be identified because staff are apparently unaware that their managers are working towards bonuses.
It worked initially during set-up phase by awarding a bonus to managers who reached a certain fee level. Now it is based on profit and paid as a percentage of salary. Managers are paid around 20,000, so may receive up to Pounds 2,000 extra. The owner says, 'The managers treat the nurseries as their own and it gives them a great sense of autonomy.
'We instil in them that we invest a lot of money and we need to have a good return, but they must not run nurseries short. It is about minimising waste but ensuring you do spend money on food, teaching materials and so on.
'The bonus is a percentage of their salary and we aim for 10 per cent. Any more would introduce the wrong pressures.'
His impression is that such bonus schemes are unusual but he is confident that it has had the right effect. 'First of all our managers are very excited by it, and disappointed if they don't reach it. I think it has added to the sense that they belong to an employer who thinks about them and is prepared to share some of what they earn.'
Smaller nurseries may not have the same financial room to manoeuvre and apparent perks on offer turn out in fact to be solutions put in place specifically to give key workers the means of returning to work.
Joan and Brian Griffiths, who run Burton Latimer Day Nursery, near Kettering, chose to offer subsidised childcare to two of their most important staff members because the alternative was to lose them.
Mrs Griffiths says, 'Two staff members who had been with us for a long time left to have babies. They are both excellent, and the only way they could come back was to bring their children with them. Whether I would do it for someone else I don't know but I knew these women's work. They were too good to lose.'
Across the board to all 22 staff, she arranges flexible working patterns and sets up in-house staff training.
The most imaginative perks seem to crop up in the smallest units - the nine staff at Millfield, a 40-place Nottinghamshire nursery, can expect a Christmas shopping day, a Christmas bonus (50 in cash or gift vouchers), and a night out, as part of their benefits package.
Liz and John Miller took over the nursery in 1999 - the shopping day idea was one they'd met in previous workplaces and took with them to their new business.
These benefits are more a reward for staff loyalty rather than any attempt to recruit or retain restless workers. Mrs Miller explains, 'I am very fortunate that when we took over the staff were already here. All have been in the nursery for a long time.'
It's a similar story at the Rocking Horse Nursery at Newbury Racecourse.
Manager Rosina Reynolds says, 'I think it is very important to treat staff properly. If you do that, you get a good return. We've had all the staff for a number of years and they are very loyal.'
Staff here get a bonus, a night out a couple of times a year but, more substantially, two free annual passes to the race course (worth about Pounds 200 each) and reduced membership to a nearby health club (680 down to 480).
But for some nursery operators, all this is simply to miss the point that staff salaries in the sector are inadequate.
Mary Turner owns and manages Bushbabies Day Nurseries in Cheltenham and is adamant that childcare workers must receive realistic wages to deliver the right service.
She argues that extra Government funding for early years provision is failing to make its way to people doing the hands-on work, and warns that unless extra cash is provided to private settings as well as those run by local authorities, operators can neither keep nor attract people who are able to do what the Government is demanding.
She says, 'People need to earn a living. The lowest wage here is 4.20 an hour, quite good compared with some. Our salaries are not too bad, but I just feel these levels cannot attract the right sort of people.
'Benefits are not going to make it up and it is a vicious circle - you don't attract the sort of staff who can do what is being asked of them unless you pay them, but we are competing against the salary that trained nursery nurses can get by going into schools to earn more for less hours.
That is what we are up against.'
The only identifiable perk on offer here is half-price childcare for staff who wish to return to work after giving birth. Mrs Turner comments, 'We are just trying to keep our staff as happy as we can, but at the end of the day it is very difficult. I would like to get them recognised for what they do and get them paid accordingly.'
