RE: RE: Time to leave - a rant
by: Debs - 03-07-09 19:18
HI
I'm really sorry to hear you have been treated in this way and strongly believe that just because a parent is fee paying does not give them the right to be disrespectful, intimidating and abusive to staff because they have either had a bad day or something is not right.
It sounds as if you did everything right and I agree that asking the parent to leave was the most appropraite action to take given the fact that other children, staff and parents were there.
As a Manager I would support your actions and ask the parent if she would attend a meeting to discuss the cause for her concern at a more appropraite time when she has clamed down, and try to come to an amicable soultion which would suit both parties.
If she has a greviance with the care there are appropraite channels to follow this up and any constructive criticism can be used as an advantage to improve practice, however if her behaviour is not the result of the care then the Manager needs to support the staff and explain to the parent that this behaviour is not acceptable and that she will not tolerate her staff being treated in this way.
Whilst i appreciate that she has a business to run, how does she think the other parents felt being witness to this, where is the customer care for those parents and where is her loyalty in retaining staff.
I think the manager may be wise to consider the wider implications of her actions and consider what impact this could have on her staffing , if they leave because they feel unsupported, other parents will get restless with a high staff turnover.
Managers have to make a stand to protect their staff, reputation and parents and it is not a wise move to brush these things aside because there is one parent who cannot behave in public. It makes me wonder how her child behaves.
I rest my case.
Yours a sensible and reflective Manager