The Annual Teacher Recruitment Race
Having been involved with teacher recruitment for more than 20 years, there isn’t much that I haven’t experienced. I have directly recruited with schools, recruited for schools and watched my wife, a teacher, go through the process on several occasions.
What surprises me every year is the difference in approaches that schools take ranging from timeline, approach and the actual interview process itself.
Some schools start their recruitment strategy in October of the previous year whereas other schools seem to be surprised in March that they aren’t fully staffed for the following September.
So, what are some of the key actions that result in an effective recruitment process:
1. Start planning early. It may seem strange to have just welcomed your new teachers and returning staff to the new school year, but 4-6 weeks later you should be already planning for the next academic year and the new intake. The process starts with a review of salary and benefits and any proposed changes, followed by the contract renewal process and advertising. By starting to plan well in advance this can highlight potential budgetary challenges that can then be addressed before the recruitment process starts.
2. Find out who is leaving or could be leaving before the end of the first term. Most international schools have some process of asking staff for an indication of their plans for the following year. Are people planning to stay, planning to move on or not sure. This gives a school an estimate of the number of new staff they will be looking for. Anyone who states they are ‘’not sure’’ should understand their role will be advertised along with the confirmed vacancies.
3. The recruitment process – attracting candidates is important but almost more important is what you do with them. The best recruitment processes happen quickly and are personal. Slow processes with many steps and mostly online interactions initially are not as effective. Schools who ‘pick up the phone’ and create a connection will always be more favourable to candidates. Building that relationship in the early stages is far more likely to result in a successful appointment.
4. The offer process is one that is often considered a formality. Offer the salary and explain the benefits and then send offer an offer letter/contract. Assuming this process is straightforward often leads to a less than perfect acceptance record. Candidates need the salary and package to be explained carefully to avoid surprises later and if there are complicated aspects (housing allowances and utilities etc…) extra time taken to explain can make all the difference. Its not the package, it’s the care you take and how this makes the candidate feel that’s important. Remember its highly likely you ae not the only school the candidate has an offer from. If appropriately knowledgeable and experienced, your school HR can play a key role here, and relieve a lot of pressure on senior leaders.
The recruitment process is often taken for granted but as this piece published recently by Richard Gaskell from IES suggests (https://ies.network/ies-blog/market-intelligence/), this year it is even more critical than usual.
For support in developing a more effective recruitment process email us at info@ischr.com.