For many teachers and schools, the recurring news that government training targets have been missed (now for the fifth year in a row) and vacant teaching posts are continuing to rise year-on-year will come as no surprise.
Schools have been performing admirably against staffing and budget constraints for several years. With the teaching workforce failing to increase at the required rate – 9.9 per cent of teachers left the profession last year – and spending per pupil being cut in real terms, schools need to address on an individual basis why their experienced and quality teachers are choosing to leave the profession, and what innovations they can embrace to attract new teaching talent.
Eteach’s recent findings, from surveying more than 3,000 teachers, provide a valuable insight into what it is schools can do to adopt a proactive, candidate-centric and modern approach to recruitment. By listening to what teachers want from both the recruitment process and their roles more generally, schools can make a series of simple and straightforward changes which could help them to cut recruitment costs and improve workforce quality and retention for the long term.
Optimising technology
Recruitment is now an online market. The internet and rise of social media has brought about the single biggest change to school recruitment over the past 20 years, yet many schools are lagging behind on embracing these free tools to reach the teaching community online.
Creating a credible digital presence is vital and, as a minimum, schools should look to have a dedicated careers site and an active social media presence to engage and grow an online community. Eteach found that 60 per cent of job-seeking teachers said a school having a dedicated careers website would make them more likely to apply for a role.
The information teachers are looking for is evidence of CPD opportunities (54 per cent) and a “fair workload” policy (45 per cent). Having a school careers site is a great way to establish this “employer brand” – it is a chance for schools to show teachers exactly how they can meet their career wants and needs.
In addition to a dedicated careers site, nurturing a social media community is a simple way for schools to publicise roles to a local and relevant audience.
For example, a typical advert on Eteach’s jobs board gets seen by around 400 teachers, yet when shared on social media this can double to more than 800. Also, with almost 25 per cent of the workforce under-30 and rising, schools can leverage this tech-savvy group and use current happy staff as credible “brand ambassadors” online.
Streamlining the process
As well as making the most of online resources to attract teaching talent, schools still need to bring down some of the barriers within the application process itself. The development of mobile technology is certainly easing the job searching process for teachers. Eteach found that 36 per cent more teachers are now using their mobile phones to look for a job than in 2016 and 45 per cent of Eteach jobseekers are visiting the site via mobile.
As we are well aware, teachers are time-poor, so lengthy and complex recruitment processes will inevitably lead to a smaller pool of talent for schools. As a first step, schools need to move towards making application forms mobile-friendly. This allows teachers to search and apply via their phone quickly and easily.
We found also that 57 per cent of teachers cite long application forms as the most arduous part of the recruitment process.
An application of more than five questions leads to 15 per cent fewer applications; more than 30 questions leads to 50 per cent fewer applications – so it is important that schools strike the right balance. A short and concise online form will ensure that more of the best candidates complete their applications and are not lost to other schools.
Listening to your workforce
It is no secret that teachers feel overworked and underpaid, therefore it is unsurprising that our research found that the three main things turning teachers away from their jobs are excessive workloads (78 per cent), low morale (59 per cent) and current pay levels (26 per cent). It is these very issues which are also deterring fresh and vibrant talent from joining the profession.
With eight out of 10 teachers regularly taking work home with them, finding a school which is committed to teachers’ personal and professional wellbeing is a priority. Schools can incorporate these “soft benefits” into their “employer brand” offer. This is an effective way to attract a wider pool of talent and schools can avoid using valuable resources on repeatedly recruiting for new roles.
Schools spend more than half their budget on teaching staff. With a £4.6 billion budget shortfall facing schools by 2019 and the student headcount predicted to rise by nearly 20 per cent by 2025, schools cannot afford to waste money on inefficient and ineffective recruitment processes. By embracing technology and listening to what teachers want, schools can nurture education professionals through a life-long, fulfilling and rewarding career, inspire new minds into the profession and ultimately help save the money they need to educate now and for the future.
- Paul Howells is the founder and CEO of Eteach and a former teacher.
Further information
Eteach’s full report – Attract, Recruit, Retain: Teacher recruitment for a modern education system – can be found at www.eteachgroup.com/modern-education-recruitment/