How to have more productive conversations with staff
Teaching is a tough job, and as a leader it’s crucial you are equipped to listen to staff about how they are feeling. Some may not be comfortable voicing their concerns or may feel that their opinions are being drowned out by more vocal colleagues – but it’s important to hear from your whole school community.
Giving staff a safe space to voice their opinions can have a transformative effect on wellbeing, allowing you to address the most pressing issues quickly and track changes over time.
But how can you ensure you have productive conversations with staff members?
Regular feedback and insights
Collecting feedback from staff regularly is key in addressing wellbeing challenges. Staff surveys are one way to get feedback on a regular basis, as they can be sent out weekly or fortnightly to ensure you have up-to-date information from staff.
Over time, this provides you with a rich dataset, so you can track wellbeing throughout the year and find out where staff need more support. In a constantly changing environment, this gives you a framework for monitoring how effective any changes to policy and practice have been.
Giving a voice to all staff
Not all staff feel comfortable sharing their feedback openly, especially in a meeting environment. Giving staff the option to give anonymous feedback is a great way to encourage open conversation and let staff share the way they are feeling. Wellbeing survey software such as Tes Staff Management enables you to carry out surveys anonymously, so staff can share openly and you get a fuller picture of the challenges they’re facing.
You can also respond directly to anonymous feedback, showing your acknowledgement and encouraging an open, two-way conversation – all while protecting their anonymity.
Understanding different departments
Not all departments have the same struggles and concerns. With Staff Management’s wellbeing surveys, you can segment your staff into different groups and compare wellbeing across multiple staff segments, tailoring improvement plans to suit them.
Your school is unique and has its own successes and challenges. Identifying these and how they might vary between teams promotes a proactive, positive approach to retaining staff and ensures they are given all they need to focus on delivering the best results for students.
Support wellbeing with Staff Management
It can be hard to get detailed insights into your staff’s wellbeing when you don’t have much time to spend on the process. Survey software such as Staff Management’s wellbeing surveys enables you to get regular, detailed insights in less time – so you can focus on supporting staff.