You’re Hired – Why headteachers need to think like CEOs when it comes to recruitment
Alex Westworth, managing director of recruitment specialist Now Education, explains why headteachers need to get business-savvy if they’re to access talent in a sector facing unprecedented challenges… The pressures on schools due to rising immigration and a baby boom have been widely reported, along with figures stating that 800,000 more school places will be needed […]
Alex Westworth, managing director of recruitment specialist Now Education, explains why headteachers need to get business-savvy if they’re to access talent in a sector facing unprecedented challenges…
The pressures on schools due to rising immigration and a baby boom have been widely reported, along with figures stating that 800,000 more school places will be needed by 2020.
This is going to greatly affect teaching. Many teacher-training places are being left unfilled and teachers are leaving the profession within their first five years. Many have also said that they can’t see themselves teaching in 10 years’ time. There have also been recent claims made by Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL teachers’ union, that teachers are stressed and being reduced to tears, due to increasing workload and pressures.
Add to that the pressures on costs owing to a rise in National Insurance contributions, increases in employer pensions contributions and the government’s pay cap of 1%, and the situation certainly seems to be a ticking time bomb.
Yet while retention is clearly an issue, heads looking to fill teacher positions are also facing real challenges in terms of attracting the right talent in the first instance. How can these challenges be overcome?
Change the mindset The answer lies in headteachers changing their mindset and thinking more like the leaders of private sector businesses. To access the cream of the crop, they must get savvy and employ tactics such as aggressive headhunting, so that they eventually become commonplace in the education sector.
Importing is something else that needs serious consideration. A willingness to think globally will be crucial in helping the education sector overcome the immense challenges ahead. Working with agencies to access and attract talent from far and wide will go some way towards alleviating the current teacher shortage, in combination with use of quality supply teachers. Use of supply teachers for more than just sickness and absence cover will become more frequent, and likely form a fundamental part of the solution to the problem.
Another way in which schools need to think more like private sector businesses is when deciding on which roles are essential for the running of the school. Some academies, for instance, employ events managers, financial directors and HR staff. This practice needs to be extended into local authority-funded schools and also applied to areas such as teacher recruitment. The model of having dedicated staff working within the organisation alongside an agency to fulfil the school’s staffing needs is one that has to be more widely adopted. An in-house recruitment specialist will help the school get value from agencies.
Downward spiral If headteachers are not prepared to think differently, to adopt new strategies and treat recruitment as seriously as the private sector, they really will face an unprecedented crisis. The population numbers will continue to rise, the pressures will only increase – and as teachers become demotivated and look to move on, there will be yet more pressure piled on those left behind to pick up the pieces. We will be looking at a downward spiral.
The education sector is one that’s hugely target driven, yet one of very few areas of employment where hitting or exceeding targets doesn’t result in any reward. It’s an incredibly demotivating and demoralising scenario – so is it any wonder that teaching is losing its appeal as a profession?
Again, thinking like the private sector could help to address this. Performance-related bonus schemes and reward programmes are accepted – indeed, often expected – in many other professions. Why not teaching?
Alex Westworth is managing director of Now Education – a leading Midlands education recruitment specialist offering staffing support to primary, secondary and SEN schools. For more information, contact 0121 452 4443 or visit www.noweducation.co.uk
