Teachers & Talent Management

During a recent Zoom call with approximately 60 heads of independent schools, an informal survey indicated that two thirds were experiencing mid-year teacher departures, again. We individually and collectively lamented that schools are experiencing this now in ways never before, and research indicates it may continue. According to a recent McKinsey report on the Great Attrition, “People are switching jobs and industries, moving from traditional to nontraditional roles, retiring early, or starting their own businesses. They are taking a time-out to tend to their personal lives or embarking on sabbaticals.” What does this mean for the teaching profession, a field that requires highly skilled educators in classrooms with students every day?

Teachers are working harder than ever before. In addition to staying current with subject content and culturally responsive pedagogy, teachers are expected to update course websites and online gradebooks; respond to ever-increasing numbers of emails, Zoom, Slack, and other school-based messaging systems; work with students individually who need support; attend professional development; collaborate with colleagues; and many other tasks that they don’t get recognized for on any given day.

Paraphrasing from a the McKinsey report on the the Great Attrition:

What we are currently seeing is a fundamental mismatch between schools’ demands for talent and the number of teachers willing to supply it. Schools continue to rely on traditional levers to attract and retain educators; including competitive compensation packages and professional development opportunities. These are still important for “traditionalists” however, there is a structural gap in the labor market because there aren’t enough “traditional” employees to fill all the openings. Even when schools successfully woo teachers to their school, they are just reshuffling talent and contributing to wage escalation, while failing to solve the underlying structural imbalance.

Spoiler alert — there is no single approach that is going to attract and retain highly effective educators, so schools must take a multifaceted approach to attract and retain talent.

Enter Talent Management.