ABSTRACT
This chapter draws attention to the competing demands placed upon Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) managers by policy makers, funders, parents and society. These include managing the day-to-day operation of the setting, people management including parents, families, and staff and financial management. The chapter revisits the issue of remuneration in the context of human resource management (HRM), and examines how the regulatory context adds to the recruitment challenge for ECEC managers. It explores the importance of developing and maintaining positive relationships with employees, conflict resolution, establishing professional boundaries in the work place, and the growing phenomenon of outsourcing certain HRM activities. Personnel management in the main is an administrative function that is predominantly concerned with recruiting employees, ensuring they are paid on time, get their entitlements such as annual leave, and that they have their complaints and needs addressed. Its primary focus is upon contracts and record keeping.
