Question

Hiring a New Day Care Center Director Katie has decided to expand her day care business. She has one location licensed to accommodate 12 children between 6 months and 5 years old. It is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Many of her customers have been asking for Saturday and extended hours. In addition, she has a waiting list of seven children. Finally, the local military base is about to add 5,000 new jobs, so Katie believes there will be even greater demand for her services. Katie’s expansion plans include tripling the size of her current space and extending the hours. The center will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. You Decide | Case Study Not For Sale © 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This content is not yet final and Cengage Learning does not guarantee this page will contain current material or match the published product. 62 CHAP T E R 3 Ef fec t ive Super vi s ion: Path to Succes s for New Manager s Monday through Friday and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday. Katie will also open another location across town, near the military base, that will accommodate up to 36 children. Katie will continue to run the main location. She is getting ready to hire a director for the new center. She has identified two finalists for the position. Both meet all the local legal requirements for working at a day care center. ▪▪ Shawn has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood development as well as extensive experience working in a day care center. He has never been a supervisor. ▪▪ Elizabeth has a degree in elementary education with a teaching certificate that includes pre-K, which qualifies her to work at a day care center. She has been a supervisor at a local restaurant that caters to children for five years, but she has never worked in a day care center.

Questions 1. What will be some of the new director’s responsibilities?

2. What are the most important skills for the applicant to have?

3. Describe the type of person Katie should hire.

4. What interview questions should Katie ask to help her determine which is the better candidate?

5. Whom would you hire: Shawn or Elizabeth? Why?

6. In what areas will Katie need to provide training for this new person?

Answer 1

1.) Some of the responsibilities of new director will be: Managing day-care facilities; Managing proper recruitment, supervising day-care staff and providing proper training; Developing curriculum and improvising them as and when required; Setting and maintaining an operational budget; Ensuring a safe, happy, and stimulating environment for children; and communicating and meeting with parents regarding their children and the center’s policies.

2.) Some of the important skills to be possessed by the candidate are: Communication skills; People management, leadership and interpersonal skills; business management, problem-solving and analytic skills; First aid knowledge; Love for kids and patience.

3.) Katie should hire someone who is able to run all aspects of the daycare facilities, right from setting up security systems to overseeing the program’s budget. He/she must also have working knowledge of state and federal daycare laws and requirements. Knowledge and experience in Early childhood development is an added advantage to the candidate in my opinion.

4.) Some of the sample interview questions for this position would be: Explain the approach you are going to implement in order to manage the day-to-day operations of the facility (this question will showcase the ability to manage time and prioritize tasks effectively); Explain about a problem that you encountered during your last job, and how did you resolve it? (the answer will showcase the candidate's ability to reach a solution, and ability to remain calm under pressure); Explain some activities that will help children's social development (this will showcase the candidate's genuine interest in kids and subjects related to their personal development).

5.) I feel Shawn is better suited for the position because he possesses extensive experience working in a day care center, along with his early child development knowledge through attained degree. Both these are important in my opinion, to suit the position, and are lacking in the other candidate even though she possesses supervisory experience.

6.) Katie will be required to train Shawn on developing Managerial/Supervisory skills.