Coordinate Work Environment - Essay Example

Name Institution Course Lecturer Date Coordinate Work Environment The success of a childcare center can be a very complex process and thus the business is more challenging. Leading childcare professionals as well as policies set at State levels can offer direction in promoting better work environment and better services outcomes for children. The purpose for policies should be acknowledged in guiding provision of long-term programs and services. Staff teams and community partnerships offer practical support in implementing a proactive, coordinated and planned approach for childcare. Ultimately, the policy considers the complex environment, health and social needs. Coordinated work involves a process where children needs are assessed and evaluated, service determined, care plans are set and implemented, services are provided with continuous assessment and monitoring of the needs. In turn, policies focus on creation of well-planned, indoor as well as outdoor environments. Care management steering personnel should provide the required leadership, governance and guidance towards the support of childcare processes. In each center, a steering group promote a detailed scoping of services and work in relation to the proposed childcare policies. Integrated and collaborative working is a critical success factor for childcare management. The management should plan for care and ensure review for activities in order to have predictable activities outcomes. Management services focus on improving performance or look forward to expand opportunities. The management should take advantage of a number of options like flexibility. Ultimately, childcare management ends up spending less time on administrative matters and spending more time in other interesting activities. Supportive managers should adopt management styles that value the staffs and show a desire to help staffs achieve balance at work. Integrated working involves everyone in supporting children and working together effectively in order to meet their needs and improve their lives. Changes to the current practice across the workforce ensure services that are sensible to parents and children using them. Change is a requirement in all centers at every level of management and practice. Childcare center should set out how children services will be delivered and coordinated to deliver what we call the “Big Idea” of the local joined-up services build around their needs. The children and parents should understand that the environment is determined to offer the best services and can claim better services. Adequate resources should be supplied to the staffs in order to do their job. Supervision and support is a critical component that is needed for staffs and communication in the childcare center should be open and two-way. Staffs contributions should also be recognized. Childcare work coordination should aim at adopting a proficient approach. An organization should listen and meet the needs of those requiring their support. It should also maximize positive outcome by focusing on individual’s strengths and abilities. Childcare is not all about care to children but is also a business that is occupancy driven. There are key business drivers for childcare centers that offer and promote smooth operations and management to a range of business circumstances and clients. The roles and responsibilities at childcare centre need to work towards services that ensure that children are respected, safe, healthy and connected (Policies Manual). Coordinating work environment focuses on people work stream. It builds on the stakeholder analysis as well as engagement. At different levels, staffs are engaged depending on the identified and existing services and needs. An effective childcare environment promotes development and behavior for children as it influences the way children learn, play or get along with others. Effective environments are also determined by how childcare providers plan, direct and monitor work. Careful program governance is required to ensure that the managers and the staffs are aware of services requirements. Having an organizational commitment across departments and professions is an essential factor for successful implementation of childcare and management of services. To coordinate work environment, program governance should be given a priority. To implement childcare in accordance to the policy and regulations, a center requires re-organizing its groups and involving the staffs in training programs and development. The programs and services should be conducted by appropriate and qualified personnel. Training and development should focus on basic areas, followed by complex skills to enhance childcare services. After coming up with the baseline information, governance arrangements should ensure that work is given to the right person, at the right time and for the right reason. The senior person in charge should also communicate the strategy that promotes effective and efficient services. The highest thing to consider at childcare center is health and safety in the environment. Although the responsibility of safety and health lies with the centre, it is the responsibility of the staffs in charge to ensure children’s health and safety. The center can only do this by making the staffs understand safe work practices as well as adopting quick reporting mechanisms. Any potential hazard, injuries and accidents need to be reported by staffs to allow quick action and ensure that children’s health and safety is not jeopardized. Code of practice ensures that the center provides high standard and relevant services and programs to the children. The code of practice reflects in coordinating practices by the management. It then ensures good planning, delivery and evaluation of services and learning programs that are professional. Provided programs have to be developed by professionals with consultations from significant specialist, interest groups, experts and educational professionals. The center should embark on continuous quality improvement through its center-wide evaluation process. All programs and services should be selected and conducted in a responsible and ethical manner at all times. The children information should remain confidential and no information should be released to any other person other than the specific center staffs. A childcare center must take into consideration the issues of equity and diversity. The center should aim to provide playing and study environment for children, staff and other members free from any unlawful discrimination, any form of harassment, promote fairness, respect for cultural and social diversity as well as equity. Coordinated work environment is a foundation to success with better outcomes for the children and their parents. Work environment should aim at improved health and well-being for the staffs, children and parents and reduced costs and improve performance for the center. The center must ensure that it values its staffs. In organizing work, safety should come first and ensure that employees assume control over workplace and workload. Jobs are challenging at childcare center and thus, in coordinating work environment, staffs should have a say when coming up with workplace decisions. Healthy work environment has a bottom line benefits for the business. Healthy workplace reduces staffs’ costs and improves productivity. Coordinated work environment improves staff health outcomes, enhance morale, improve job performance and make it easier to retain qualified staffs. A flexible workplace offer support to staff when offering services in the childcare center. Staffs are a critical part of childcare center success. Flexibility allows staffs to gain capacity and adapt their workday in responding to family issues and children special needs. Ultimately, they can develop a family friendly culture. The attitudes, values, beliefs and ways of doing activities support children and family issues and concerns. Alternative work arrangements and options should be made available for staffs with flex time arrangements. The staffs should share jobs and recognize issues for child care and provide services to children. A positive physical environment at childcare center has to be clean, attractive, bright and cheerful. A systematic approach to communication of care and management help in clarifying roles and responsibilities for different activities. To coordinate the workforce, childcare providers have to identify and address training, education needs and develop support, clarify the roles and responsibilities, ensure availability of correct skills mix as well as staffing requirements. The wide-range of services needed at childcare center requires the facility management to ensure that all the services are communicated and shared among competent staffs. The staffs should work together through established networks of communication and needs analysis. Regular team discussions guided by skillful practitioners allow workers to share knowledge, work in a collaborative way, identify the best staff for a particular activity and make effective use of local and community facilities and resources to promote children’s health, learning and development. Process work stream support childcare center to adapt the state agreed core elements of care to the local structure, circumstances and processes. Integrated working improves staffs experience and care outcomes. Work stream promote the management to review, redesign and streamline the pathways for appropriate support services and care. That calls for the mapping the processes, identifying the gaps, duplication and non valuable steps that are added. Any successful coordination of work environment at childcare facility depends on how information is managed. Work stream and process is built on guidance and protocols that are already developed by the internal and state data sharing and partnerships. The support from information services defines and monitors improvement and measures of childcare outcomes. The management must set for agreed minimum dataset, the list of children that need extra attention, benchmark information and agree on information for correct decision making. Long-term conditions collaboration agrees on initial improvement measures, care and internal reporting arrangements. The data is important in evaluating the effectiveness, impacts and benefits to children as well as their parents and work toward improving acute services. The aim of services should be to maintain and improve independent living skills in a supportive environment which allow children to feel secure and valued. The staffs carrying out different roles need to assess both the physical and cognitive abilities of the children. In turn, they can analyzer the tasks to carry out and identify the elements as well as tasks they find difficult. The risks that are involved when completing tasks should be assessed and identify how they can be avoided or reduced. Actually, the organization should aim at small step goals planning for realistic goals relevant to the children who need them and that are achievable within a realistic time-frame. They should also ensure a frequent review and reset the goals. Children require a proactive care that is multidisciplinary. Total Childcare Solutions Australia highlights the potential of different participants in enhancing childcare. Childcare cannot be delivered by childcare centers in isolation. It requires working relationships with local authority, independent sector, parents, consultants and general staffs. These elements need to be balanced in a childcare environment. The first 5 years of a child’s life are critical and at these years, children need to feel loved and natured in their physical and social environments. When these needs are met, the children feel a sense of belonging, are encouraged to learn and explore. The messages that the staffs aims to send to the children is that the childcare center is a good place to be, trust the big people, a safe place to try out and explore ideas, get along with friends and be independent. Communication with staffs and training should aim at promoting clarity about responsibility as well as making the staffs realize their accountability for decision made and actions taken independently. Childcare centers need to assure their clients, the parents of services that are consistent and efficient. To achieve consistency and efficiency, communication is an aspect that would bring together parents, all agencies, carers and care team in contributing to effective services. A collaborative working environment does not only take into account the relationships between the managers and staffs in a childcare center but also recognizes the major role played by significant others. Carers and parents offer feedback that can reinforce actions and improve services. To coordinate work environment in a childcare center, planning, communication, support services, personnel and management styles have to be consistent with the policy requirements. Provision of resources ensures that staffs have access to appropriate services as required. There are policies that regulate the way children’s services, programs and environment should adopt practices and deliver in Melbourne. The day-to-day coordination should ensure optimum safety and health for children as well as ensuring relationships that prove to the parent and children that they are respected and connected. Staffing arrangements, code of conduct, defined responsibilities even for participating volunteer and interns can promote effective work environments. Work Cited Policies Manual. “City of Melbourne Children’s Services. “ 2013, p. 1-156. Total Childcare Solutions Australia. “Family Values, Total care.” 2012. Web. 17 Feb 2014. Accessedhttp://www.totalchildcaresolutions.com.au/childcare-management.html Read More