Management Netherlands

I accidentally ended up in childcare, I sometimes say.
I studied Social Pedagogical Work (then Agogical Work) as a stepping stone to studying Social Work and in my third year, I suddenly thought:
Huh, but then I’m going to help people from behind a desk?
I didn’t see that happening so I decided to first find a job and in the meantime I would think about what study I would do.

I’m taking on new challenges
I start in after-school care and set up an after-school care center there for a foundation together with a colleague, in Amsterdam Noord.
After a while, my work starts to become routine and I am asked to set up another after-school care center.
And so a few years pass: every moment that I thought: Hmm… my work is starting to become routine come, I was asked to do something else.

The other sees a leader in me
Around the year 2000, childcare made the switch from subsidy-dependent to commercial.
As a result, the organization started looking for a childcare manager, but no matter how many job interviews my operational manager (who I support two days a week) and I have, there is no suitable candidate.
Then my operational manager decides to follow a training course so that she can fulfill the position of childcare manager and the position of operational becomes available for which we may be able to find a candidate.
I think it is a good plan.
The next day she says: And when are you going to express your interest?
Huh? Me? I hadn’t looked at it that way and I think about it briefly and clearly.
I decide that this is a gift with bows and ribbons that is thrown into my lap and say “yes”.
I follow the training for management in childcare centers for nine months and enter the world called management and am responsible for 16 after-school care locations in Amsterdam Noord.
I keep that up for about three years and then I collapsed into a burnout and was at home for a few months.
A painful and educational period that made a big impression on me.

I build in several places
I return to my position with fewer locations and due to a merger and a takeover, I work in various city districts in Amsterdam.
I always have a number of after-school care locations that I manage and every time the locations are up and running, I say to my manager: okay, I can continue.
Where can I be deployed? I am a builder, not a manager.

I find that people quickly say “yes” to me
A few years ago I was asked to go to a location outside of Amsterdam and I asked: what’s wrong there?
The answer is: nothing at the moment. The GGD has made a number of observations two years in a row and is now giving us three months to fix everything.
Who would think that I can do this job, I think, but I decide to do it.
I enter the location, scan the rooms and the employees and start working with a project team on a concrete plan.
I receive full cooperation and trust from my division director: Claudia, make proposals and I will say “yes” to all proposals.
Wow!

I am the captain and bring order
I have conversations with all employees and present them with my plan: will you join in or not?
I also have a number of employees transferred to another location because I see that they are taking on the role of captain and that is precisely the role that I fulfill full time.
From my previous location, two employees came with me and with 2 other employees I know, that is already four of the eight people who know me and my working methods.
I order a container and start clearing rubble: everything that is broken and damaged is thrown away and all administration older than a few years is also thrown away.

I clear a lot of rubble very easily
I make a different division of the children and the employees on paper and I also present this plan to the team and the parents.
These are unpopular measures but they are necessary to get the location up and running in such a short time and to increase the quality.
I do not agree with your plan, will you reconsider your decision?, is a frequently asked question that I answer with: It is not what you want to hear, but I cannot be more honest: no, I stand by my decision.
In no time we make enormous progress and during various re-inspections it appears that everything, absolutely everything, is in order is.
And that is quite an achievement if you know how many requirements and laws and regulations childcare must comply with.
We go from four to five groups and after nine months even from five to six groups.
The location sells itself and we get customers through customers.
Despite the tightness on the labor market, we don’t even have any vacancies because new employees flow in from the team.

Still, I get tired of clearing rubble
Then comes the moment when I realize that the location is there, that routine has entered my work and that I have become a manager and then I am not in my power.
But I also realize that I have become tired of clearing rubble so going to another location is not an option for me.
Oh dear, what now?

I want to use my own qualities
My division director asks me to come up with a plan.
I have conversations with various people: many team members from various locations, fellow managers and former managers.
Because what I realize: how is it that I always succeed to get a location from a to d: the locations have a high quality, satisfied parents, a very committed team which means that absenteeism is always very low and the commitment is high, they are financially healthy locations and people work hard but the perceived workload is low.
The latter fascinates me immensely: a study shows that my team rates the workload with a 5.5 compared to a 7.4 for the average employee of the same organization.

I discover my own management style
Finally, I present a plan to my director that starts with the extremely self-assured:
We have Covey’s seven laws (a well-known management book) and we have Claudia’s seven principles.
If you, as a manager, apply these principles, and this applies both inside and outside childcare, the effect is:
Employees know what they have to do and why. If there is a bottleneck, it is resolved within the team.
Nobody is on their toes and everyone is put in their strength.
Deadlines are met, there is no stress and the mutual involvement and commitment is very high.
And what this does to the results is a logical consequence and can be guessed.

I see what my unique starting points are as a manager
I have 18 years of experience as an (interim) location manager and have never experienced stress or work pressure after my burnout.
And that is really due to the application of these starting points. And I am happy to explain these starting points.
Because this gives us fewer managers who are burdened by stress, more involved employees and better results for the organization or the company.
I say win-win-win.

My seven principles come from my experience
So I can help you, your team, your organization or company to improve, hire me!
As said: I manage in Uganda for a small fee of the actual costs (ticket and accommodation) and in the Netherlands for a fair hourly rate.
Interested? Contact me! info@makethenextstep.nl or mailclaudia@makethenextstep.nl