Human resources services are all about respectful relationships. As a leader you will be remembered, and indeed judged, by the way you treat others. HR practices in schools and other educational institutions are governed by the leaders and reflect their personal approach to people in general and their attitude and mindset to personal and professional growth and tolerance of different voices in particular. By demonstrating respect and emotional intelligence, leaders set the example and thus show the way for those providing HR services within the organization.
High quality schools ensure that they have the right people leading their HR services to secure integrity of practice. They base their practices on well-informed, legally founded, ethical and humane policies that provide transparency, support, and dignity for people throughout the recruitment, retention, and release phases of their professional relationship with the school. This should be self-evident from the very earliest contact a potential candidate makes with the school all the way through to when an employee moves on from the organization.
Recruitment The HR team is often the first point of contact for a potential applicant to the school, especially in times when recruitment fairs and face to face interviewing have become more challenging or temporarily impossible. What are you doing to advertise your vacancies? Is what you promise realistic and achievable? Consider how welcoming and instructive all your early information is for those expressing an initial interest in working at your school. There are many important questions to consider, none of which should be neglected.
How consistent and fair is the recruitment process? How are you screening applicants at long- and short-listing stages? How are you ensuring all those involved in recruitment are properly trained and following the established procedures consistently? Is everyone following the leading practices in safer recruitment? What is your methodology for selecting and notifying candidates and letting the unsuccessful ones know the outcome? Is this known to those that apply? Are you managing their expectations appropriately? What does the onboarding process look like for both teaching and non-teaching staff? For employees hired locally and from overseas? Is it adequate? Is it effective? Is it exemplary? How do you know?
Retention Turnover of staff can be a marker of school culture and climate. Are you monitoring turnover rates and reasons? If turnover is higher than you would like, what do you have in place to encourage staff to stay? Retention of key teaching and non-teaching staff needs to be planned and implemented consistently. Alongside transparent and fair salary and benefits, and general compensation packages, it is the school’s commitment to staff well-being, to personal and professional growth and development, the opportunities for staff to share their perspectives and the acceptance of divergent voices that provide the most significant motivation for staff to stay. Given the current challenges of recruiting and bringing in new staff from overseas in particular, it behoves every school to consider all these aspects of HR carefully and commit wholeheartedly to cultivating, maintaining and developing an environment where all feel valued, challenged and supported. It is essential to have in place policies and practices that help maintain low turnover of staff and help ensure a positive climate and high morale amongst those who stay. Quality Schools Independent Consultancy specializes in providing the expertise and insight required to do just that.
Resignation or release However a school and an individual may part ways, the stance of the school leaders and the HR department will leave a lasting impression. If challenges occur during an individual’s tenure, are the policies and practices clear and transparent and straightforward to implement? How, and for how long is support offered to help an individual improve in relation to targets set? Do you have a grievance policy that is fair to all parties? If an employee chooses to resign, do the school policies support their job-seeking efforts in terms of time off for interviews, provision of honest and fair references, and so forth? What is in place for long-term sick leave or leave on compassionate grounds? All these things matter deeply, now more so than ever.
Whatever the circumstances, changing jobs and relocating, be that locally or overseas, are amongst the most stressful times in someone’s life. It goes without saying that if the school is the instigator of the separation, it will be even more stressful for the individual and their family members. Regardless of the circumstances, clear and transparent policies should be in place for all eventualities that demonstrate understanding, compassion, and kindness alongside all the practicalities that must be planned carefully to assist the individual in their transition. Again, there are many factors to consider: Do you have everything in place and are the processes and practices aligned with the policy and indeed with the mission, vision and values of the school? Does everybody buy into the fact that the offboarding of an employee needs as much thought and planning as the onboarding? Do you have practices in place that generate feedback about those processes – for example, are questions about off-boarding included in an exit survey? Do you indeed have a means by which the exiting employee can provide honest and open feedback across all aspects of school life, in order for you to develop growth and improvement points for the organization? Are past employees regarded as alumni of the school? If so, how do you ensure that they are still feel part of the community they are leaving? Thoughtful answers to these questions and sound implementation of ensuing policies are all markers of a quality school and Quality Schools Independent Consultancy can support you as you address these questions in your context.
The challenges of Covid Support for staff and opportunities for growth are of paramount importance at all times, and during the pandemic in particular. The pandemic and its effects continue to impact schools and school leaders and HR all around the world, raising a whole new set of questions. How did you adapt your policies and practices to meet changing needs? How are you supporting your local and overseas hires during these challenging times? What do you have in place moving forward to ensure that your HR processes meet all the indicators of best practices that schools continually develop and adapt?
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion With the emergence of DEI as a priority, how clear is your position? Maybe you have policies in place already. Are they sincere and rigorously applied? Have you had to revise them or are you planning to revise them? What are your near- and longer-term goals? What do you incorporate in your onboarding and annual professional training programs to ensure DEI and intercultural competency development remain an ongoing focus for everyone? Let Quality Schools Independent Consultancy help you explore improvements in this key, high profile area of HR and school culture.
If you would like guidance and support in setting up or revising your HR policies and practices that epitomize integrity, and genuinely add value and drive your school forward as a highly successful professional learning community, please get in touch with me: caroledenny@qualityschools.net
HR and staffing are just some of the areas in which Carole specializes.
Other service areas include:
Mission and vision and strategic planning
Governance and leadership
Well-being, including health & safety, child protection and safeguarding Curriculum and pedagogy
Operations (facilities, premises, health & safety, safeguarding) Boarding and residential services
Home school relations
Global citizenship and intercultural competencies
Quality Schools Independent Consultancy (QSIC) provides services for individual teachers who are seeking a new school or role and would benefit from some personalized guidance to find a high-quality school that is a genuine match for them. Contact Carole for an individual consultation: caroledenny@qualityschools.net
QSIC also provides counselling services for individuals at different stages in the recruitment, retention and release phases who may wish to speak to someone independent of their school context.
Contact Lin: linturley@qualityschools.net He has wide experience supporting teachers at different stages of their career who benefit from having time with a fully trained counsellor who can understand their needs and help them find a way forward.