Case Study Details
A reputable children’s nursery in the Midlands, operating six days a week, faced an unexpected staffing issue. One of their cooks abruptly stopped working alternate Saturdays, leaving the nursery understaffed on those days. Despite attempts to understand the reason behind this change, the nursery manager was struggling to resolve the problem.
The nursery had two Cooks working a two week Rota. Week 1they worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Week 2 they worked Thursday, Friday, Saturday. The absence of one cook on alternate Saturdays was causing real problems. The cost of using an agency cook was crippling the budget. When they couldn’t find an agency cook, they were paying nursery staff to cook meals for the children. This caused difficulties with the nursery staff who had to take on the additional responsibility of preparing meals and taking on extra shifts.
The nursery manager found Metis HR on the internet.
How Did Metis HR Help?
The HR team at Metis worked with the nursery manager to develop an approach that she felt comfortable with to address the staffing challenge head on.
The manager was worried about losing the second Cook completely. This would put them in an even a worse position that they were already in. The Metis HR team supported the manager to have an open and honest conversation with the Cook.
Metis HR encouraged her to try to understand her position and what issues she had with the arrangement that had been working without any problems until a month ago. The manager was encouraged to be open about the costs of agency use and the impact on her nursery colleagues.
The Outcome
The nursery manager said that with the support of the team at Metis HR she had achieved an outcome that she had never considered possible. Both Cooks reduced their hours to three days one week, two days the other. The nursey was then able to recruit a Saturday Cook. The two existing Cooks formally agreed to provide cover for the Saturday Cook when she was on leave. The nursery manager said
“I felt so much more confident going into the meeting with the Cook than I had done before. Metis spent as much time with me as I needed answering all my questions. I wanted to know the right way respond to all the different scenarios the Cook could possibly come up with. I am so glad I found Metis HR”
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