January Recruitment Planning: Get Ahead of the Game

Are some of your staff looking to move on? This month, Rebecca Cunliffe shares proactive strategies for schools to kickstart their recruitment planning early, ensuring a smooth staffing process for the year ahead

I know it is only January, and you are recovering from the holidays, but there is no better time than right now to start planning for recruitment.  Where do you start?  Why start now?  Let me try to help you get control of your staffing.

Knowns

You know who is retiring – they will be the ones with that knowing smile! You know who is pregnant, they are the ones with a look of fear and excitement.  You know who is attending interviews because they have to tell you and ask the head if they will be a referee.  Start here!

If you know someone is going to be off long term or is retiring, it is fair that you start asking, what next?  Are you looking to replace like for like?  Do you need to replace them?  Is this an opportunity for someone to progress and if so, who are the likely candidates and what will you do about their role?  Can you already see why starting early is a good thing?

Unknowns

OK, so you can’t plan for these. But what this does give you is the chance to assume that if you don’t know someone is moving on (you have your ear to the ground so you will have moved some into the unknown/knowns, even if they have not decided themselves). So, plan for them to stay and plan for their pay progression.  This is starting to look like a spreadsheet already.  Keep going…

Ask Questions

Meet with the head teacher / principle and ask questions, go through the whole staffing list and check, are they OK? have they made any suggestions that they may be applying for Upper Pay? This will build a picture for you and give you insights into the staffing plan.  You need to keep revisiting this when new information comes to light and adjust your spreadsheet accordingly.

Pupil Numbers

You won’t know your pupil numbers exactly, but you will have an idea of how many pupils are applying to your school.  Is this a significant change up or down?  Do your teacher numbers match the classes you will need/have planned for September?  Have any of the conversations between feed schools indicated a high number of pupils with SEND? Will this affect your support staff numbers?  Have you included this in your conversations, and have you changed your spreadsheet accordingly?

Advertising

We all know the early bird catches the worm, so planning your recruitment and starting conversations early will give you the best chance to get your advert out and start recruiting before the rest. Once you have exhausted the knowns and the unknown/knowns, asked all your questions and are ready with your staffing structure, get advertising.

Think about the wording of your adverts and have a look at some other schools that you know attract staff.  How is their advert different from yours and do you need to change your advert to make sure the first-class applicants choose you? Have you considered a video on your website where your staff tell everyone how great it is to work there?  Or ask the students to say what qualities they want in their teachers. Stand out from the crowd – you work hard to provide an amazing educational journey so celebrate it and put a link to this on the advert.

All this done and its only January – You are amazing! You’ve got this!