Why is it important to retain high quality teachers and improve their wellbeing?

Teacher wellbeing and stress

The 2021 Teacher Wellbeing Index highlighted a number of issues that might influence a person’s decision to leave the profession. According to the findings, there has been an increase in school teachers reporting that their organisational culture is having a negative impact on their wellbeing, while stress levels are higher for those who are not supported well by their organisation.

Stress and longer working hours appear to be closely linked, with 81% of those working 41-60 hours per week and 93% of those who work over 61 hours a week feeling stressed. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic created a completely unique set of circumstances and while there were many challenges, it forced schools and trusts to seriously assess their ‘people strategy’.

In fact, since 2011 the overall number of teachers has in general not kept pace with increasing pupil numbers. This means that the ratio of qualified teachers to pupils has increased from 17.8 in 2011 to 18.5 in 2020. In addition, the number of teacher vacancies has risen over this period.

This blog will look at the importance of teacher wellbeing and offer tips to better manage retention.

The impact of poor teacher retention

Poor retention will impact the whole school team. Aside from having to engage in a costly and lengthy recruitment process, morale will also take a hit. Back in 2019, one report found that schools had been paying out up to £11,000 in ‘exorbitant finder’s fees’ to agencies to recruit teachers.

While the financial impact is significant, there’s also the wellbeing angle to consider. With smaller teams, workloads become even more stretched and teacher burnout becomes more prevalent. Over time, this can result in higher stress levels and the wellbeing of the whole school team being impacted.

Creating an environment to succeed

From the minute someone accepts a new role you have to ensure that they feel supported, that their personal development is taken seriously and create the best possible environment for them to succeed.

After all, the best way to improve outcomes for pupils is having a high-quality teacher in every classroom. Whether we’re talking about large trusts, recently merged trusts or single schools, it’s crucial to retain your best people.

During the recruitment phase, it’s important to make sure that the trust’s internal culture and ethos complements that of potential employees. Remember: if it’s not a good match, it’s never going to work well and could create a negative working environment.

Learn more about making your school a great place to work.

Developing a written people strategy

One of the key questions a school looking to improve retention should always ask is: “do you have a written people strategy and plan?”. Usually, the answer is no - even though they will definitely have strategies for finance and school improvement.

The fact is that schools and trusts should think about their people in the same way, given that they’re the aspect that will have the greatest impact on children’s learning.

A really good people plan will articulate what you stand for as an employer. People will have a perception of what your trust is like to work for - even if you haven’t cultivated that. So, if you’re a trust wanting to grow and have a poor reputation as somewhere to work for, you need to be able to tell any potential employees, who might be unsure about joining you, what you stand for as an employer.

Whatever form this plan takes, it has to be aligned with what you stand for as an educator. It should speak directly to your current team, and it should be phrased in a powerful, concise way, avoiding vagueness.

A checklist to improve teacher retention 

So, in summary, key people issues to be thinking about in teaching are:

• Do you have a written ‘people strategy’?
• Are the people, capacity and culture of your team at the heart of everything you do?
• Do you have structured mechanisms to bring new team members on board to ensure they feel supported?
• Do you have clearly defined communication channels, to ensure issues can be quickly resolved?

Schools are complex organisations. But, with this advice, retention can be made much easier by prioritising your most valuable asset - your people.