Performance Management in Early Years Settings

Debbie Garvey is an active trainer, writer and speaker on the subjects of leadership, mentoring, team building and reflective practice, and the roles these play in quality improvement for early years settings. She was a founder member of the National Quality Improvement Network, managed by the National Children's Bureau, and is founder of Stonegate Training Consultancies, which provides training and advocacy designed to improve quality provision for children, young people and families.

I was delighted when asked to review Debbie Garvey's book, particularly since I had been invited to write the introduction to her first book - Leadership for Quality in Early Years and Playwork. This latest book is a fascinating guide for setting leaders and challenges them to reflect, sometimes deeply, on their approach to performance management. It takes readers on a journey of discovery, exploring the 'hows' and 'whys' of performance management. It starts with an account of the neuroscience of behaviour and leads to a very useful selection of tools and techniques for leaders to use. Debbie's style is fascinating. Despite her claims not to be an academic, the work is well supported by research. What makes it so readable, however, are the very personal anecdotes which give us, as readers, the chance to engage in her world - a world which is well informed, insightful and illustrates her own dilemmas and how they are being resolved.I heartily recommend this book to all setting leaders, as well as others who are interested in leadership in the early years sector, or indeed in a fascinating narrative.

• List of Tables and Figures. About the Author. Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. Brain Development Neuroscience & Staff Development. 2. The Role of Adult Learning in Performance Management. 3. Using Performance Management Techniques. 4. Supporting Staff Development. 5. Using Feedback and Evaluation. 6. Conflict Management. 7. Continuing Personal Development and Lifelong Learning. Endnote: Reflecting on Performance Management. Bibliography. Index.