[S2E18] Dealing with the Flaky Preschool Workforce Right Now

So let's define flaky.

Before we blame anybody, let's define what we're actually talking about.

So when a director, or in this case, me, If I'm saying someone is flaky, I'm usually not talking about personality.

I'm talking about reliability.

Can I count on you? Will you show up when you're scheduled? Will you communicate when something changes? Will you follow through on what you said you would do? Will you give reasonable notice? Will you respond when your supervisor reaches out? Will you complete the commitments you made? Will you actually work the schedule you agree to? Those are reasonable expectations in any workplace, right? But they're particularly important in early childhood education, because this isn't an industry where one person simply failing to show up creates an inconvenience.

It can create a staffing crisis.

If a restaurant loses a server, that's a problem.

But if a preschool loses a teacher, you may have a licensing issue.

You may have to move staff.

You may have to combine groups.

You may have to call families.

You may have to bring administrators into the classroom.

And suddenly the entire school's operation changes because one person didn't come to work.

That's why reliability is not a minor issue in early childhood education.

Reliability is a part of quality.

And that's an important distinction for us to make known.

And that's why We need to be so passionate about our staffing flakiness.

Being a wonderful person doesn't make someone a reliable employee.

If someone's passionate about children, great, but that doesn't make someone reliable.

If someone interviews well and tells you everything you want to hear, fantastic, but that doesn't make them reliable.

Reliability is demonstrated through behavior.

And directors need to become much more comfortable evaluating behavior than potential.