The importance of showing your early years team gratitude

As part of the management and leadership team you are in a key position to influence the morale of the workforce and ensure your early years team is performing to their best. Sometimes the simplest gestures can make the biggest difference. Morale is incredibly important to maintain high levels of practice and ensuring that the children in your setting have the best opportunities available.

Management can often assume that practitioners know they are appreciated and that they are working well however the truth is it is very easy for practitioners to feel undervalued and unappreciated. Leaders as well as managers are responsible for ensuring their individual teams within the setting are happy and appreciated The early years sector can often be a challenging environment with long hours, low pay and a high workload so it is easy for practitioners to feel taken for granted. Many managers and leaders forget this when dealing with the daily running of the setting and the rooms, however it should be made part of your daily practice to show practitioners gratitude as there are many benefits in having a happy workforce.

How to show gratitude to your early years team

There are a few really simple yet effective ways to ensure everyone in the early years team feels valued and appreciated. It is beneficial to everyone that this happens as children achieve better outcomes because of better practice, staff turnover is lower and the workforce works effectively together. Some simple ways this can be done are:

· Say THANK YOU – Whether this be at the end of the day as each member of staff leaves the building, after completing specific tasks, after a nice review left by a parent, after a practitioner has put in the extra effort. Thank you is one of the most powerful words that can be used towards a team. It is easy to forget your importance and showing this through a simple thank you each day shows practitioners their efforts are recognised and appreciated

· Compliment and praise – The appearance of the room, displays or activities.

· Positivity – Encourage practitioners to praise one another and promote a culture of positive thoughts towards one another rather than negative

· Recognition – Give those who work hard the recognition they deserve.

· Don’t show favouritism – Some practitioners may outperform others however making a public show of them only makes other practitioners more resentful and morale can quickly drop. Instead keep thank yous and gratitude personal and private.

Simple gestures are often the most effective way to keep a happy workforce, this is also a crucial element to any outstanding setting.