MAT workplace planning should run like a red thread through everything a multi-academy trust (MAT) does. After all, the key strength of any organisation is its staff. And yet for many institutions, workforce planning is an afterthought or bolt-on. Just 32% of companies “have a strong vision for the workforce that they want to build in three years’ time”, according to Oxford Economics.
When you’re stuck in the bumper-to-bumper traffic of school recruitment, it can be hard to see the road ahead, or easier alternative routes. Or to shift metaphors, school leaders are so often firefighting every day. Dealing with staff absences, supplying teachers, covering rotas, that maths vacancy that still needs filling… – that they fail to take a longer-term approach which would alleviate many of these day-to-day headaches.
Workforce planning for education institutions entails analysing past and present trends in order to anticipate future needs. And, more importantly, address them.
Multi-academy trusts are primed to adopt such a proactive approach. Enjoying economies of scale and numbers, they can deploy staff across schools, recruit from within, and motivate and retain ambitious staff who want to rise through the ranks. As SecEd reported in November 2020, “Leading MATs are already implementing innovative workforce planning initiatives, such as building their own ‘Covid-secure’ pool of supply teachers.”
Here are our top mat workplace planning tips for future-proofing recruitment for your multi-academy trust.
#1 Have a workforce plan!
Factor retention and recruitment into the school’s overall development plan. The Department for Education’s own guidelines suggest, “Schools are advised to plan and implement staffing reviews over the medium to long term (3 to 5 years) alongside financial planning.” With staffing accounting for 70 – 80% of expenditure, it makes sense to align workforce planning with income and expenditure.
#2 Use data to inform – look at the narrative behind the numbers
Good schools know their staff: their aspirations and ambitions, where they’re at and where they’re heading. This is a central strand of mat workplace planning and recruitment. While it may be more difficult in a large network of schools, the resources are there to address this.
Look at the narrative behind the numbers. Look at trends to inform your strategy. Consider the age of staff, average length of service, turnover, staff absences, and suchlike.
You know how old your staff are, and it’s possible to anticipate when some of your major players will be looking to downshift or hang up their boots. Other staff may be looking to move on to seek promotion elsewhere. You may be able to persuade some teachers to stay, however, if they’re aware of opportunities within the trust. With inevitable employee churn, you not only need staff waiting in the wings, you need them primed to take on new roles and responsibilities.
To make better-informed decisions, it helps to benchmark data. You may, for example, wish to look at staffing structures in multi-academy trusts of similar size, or those facing comparable challenges. This data is included in the Department for Education schools benchmarking service.
#3 Involve key stakeholders
Workforce planning is a shared endeavour. Involve all levels, across the schools, from support staff to heads of department and SLT. Embed recruitment, marketing and enhancing employer brand in inset and CPD. Take a read of Top Tips For Employer Brand Success At Your School.
More and more schools are using staff to create talent pipelines. It could be as simple as regular emails updating staff on upcoming vacancies, or requests for the names of local teachers who may be interested in future roles. Have a look at How To Develop A Talent Pipeline For Your MAT.
#4 Use a SWOT analysis
Originating at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) way back in the 1960s, this remains a useful framework for assessing an organisation’s current position by identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Some categories may overlap. For example, schools increasingly need those practitioners who are at ease navigating digital learning platforms and the bewildering array of online resources. Though a possible current weakness, this is also an opportunity. Similarly, new schools in the area may offer opportunities for collaboration, as well as the threat of competition for teachers and pupils.
Changing demographics, rising pupil numbers, teacher shortages all offer challenges and opportunities. Forward-thinking institutions who plan ahead will be the ones who’ll survive and thrive.
#5 Conduct a skills audit across the organisation
And match this to current and future requirements – or get caught on the hop down the road!
Performance reviews – or Annual Reflections on Practice (APRs) – are the ideal opportunity for heads of department and SLT to get to know the aspirations and ambitions of current staff, and their stated desire to develop as classroom practitioners or leaders outside the classroom.
As we’ve written before, “Effective mentors are worth their weight in gold. Kind, canny and experienced, they know their mentees. Acting as life coaches and talent spotters, they’re well placed to offer advice and guidance, as well as opportunities for upskilling and career development. They can organise secondments and other opportunities for mentees looking to try on different roles for size.
“A good head of department, for instance, knows when the time is right to delegate roles and responsibilities to younger staff. They may also offer ad hoc opportunities, such as the chance to go to local heads of department meet-ups or courses in the area where they’ll meet like-minded, forward-thinking professionals.”
Along with IT and digital/remote learning, future skills gaps may include provision for SEND, and student and staff wellbeing, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
#6 Anticipate future needs
Prepare for different scenarios. Be ready for the usual combination of attrition, retiring, up-and re-skilling. For example, as retirement looms for major players in your organisation, begin succession planning in good time.
You may wish to prioritise recruitment in key roles or shortage subjects such as maths, sciences, and languages, with a consideration of which subjects are proving popular for option subjects at Key Stages 4 and 5.
#7 Put your plan into action
Don’t sit on all this insight and data. Get moving. Put in place communication channels, inset, CPD, secondments, and suchlike which will motivate and develop your staff. Make the most of the wealth of opportunities each multi-academy trust offers the best teaching talent. And don’t discount the possibility of possible partnerships with other schools.
Final thoughts on planning for MATs
MAT workplace planning education institutions is an ongoing endeavour – and not just an annual or quarterly to-do list, but a mindset. It’s all about being proactive rather than reacting when it is too late. It’s by being forward-thinking and forward-looking and looking beyond the car in front that you begin to see a clearer road ahead.
For more on what the future holds, read what the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has to say on “Teacher shortages in England: analysis and pay options”.
If you’re looking to review your school recruitment, get in touch.
Ambleglow looks after the recruitment advertising needs of around 600 schools. In a typical week, we’ll place around 150 vacancies in all kinds of media from the mainstream education job boards to the selected local press, social media, regional sites and of course specialist media. We also have years of experience in producing professional packs for schools across the UK.