Performance Management - its not just for teachers

When we think about performance management in schools it is natural to think about teachers, with regular lesson observations, ongoing feedback and formal annual appraisals. Because teachers in international schools are on fixed term contracts there is a natural cycle for speaking to teachers about their intentions and career plans. 

But how much do schools think about their non-academic teams when it comes to performance management? In many international schools, it’s the non-academic teams that form the backbone of the school. They are often the long serving employees as expat teachers regularly come and go. 

How many schools really take time to understand these employees, what their career aspirations and goals are, what motivates and inspires them, what their passion is? In my career I’ve often seen schools surprised when these employees suddenly resign, often to use skills that the school didn’t know they had.

I remember a school I worked with a few years ago who were very upset when one of their longest serving and best performing admin staff resigned. It turned out she was taking a backwards step into an entry level Marketing role. No one at the school had any idea she had long wanted to move into Marketing. The Head told me they could have offered her a marketing role in school if they’d known, but of course by then it was too late. 

So how can HR help? Firstly, it’s important to develop a robust appraisal system that can be used for all employees across the school. But this is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Ideally you will have different types of appraisal systems for different staff. Some might be individual KPI based but for some staff this might be daunting at first and it can be better to start with a simplified system based around skills and competencies to do their job. As staff get used to an annual performance management process you can progress to setting stretching individual targets to develop them. 

The most valuable part of any performance management process is the conversation. This is where the line manager spends one on one time with their staff, and dedicates quality time to understanding how they feel about their job, what their career aspirations and training needs are. HR plays a key role here in establishing a quality process and making sure it actually happens. HR can coach and advise line managers on handling annual performance conversations and can prepare staff to see the conversation as positive not something to be nervous about and encouraging them to be open and honest with their line manager. 

It is also important to mention the less positive side of performance management which is of course dealing with underperformance. In my experience, often with administration staff, by the time these issues are addressed it’s already gone on for far too long - and because no formal performance conversations have been had it can then become very difficult to manage, as the school has no evidence or grounds to back up disciplinary action. This can result in messy situations and at worst long drawn out and costly court cases. 

Well established HR processes can mitigate a lot of risk whilst also embedding and driving systems that support employee performance management and development.  All of this is a key part of a school’s staff retention strategy.

As a member of ISCHR you’ll have access to a range of tools and templates to support best practice performance management for all staff in your school.

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