A lot of it (re looking for a new job) will be bluster and a feeling the grass is greener.

Be prepared to be a sounding board, try and find out what the actual issues are and see if there is anything you can do to alleviate or even just put into perspective. Even the act of being a listening ear can be enough - but you may find that there are career development options you can offer which have little cost to you (allowing them to manage a small project etc) but have large value to them.

If it turns out they leave at least you will know you did what you could. From experience on the other side of the fence a lot of teachers had an over inflated view of their equivalent role in commerce and struggled to step sideways on the same £ let alone more initially

I don't think you can. Its not something you have much, if any, control over.

What you should do, is raise speciric complaints with your own line manager and discuss ways of managing the problems. I might also suggest you use your time before then to find out and be in a position to make some practical solutions - if they are any!]

Good Luck.

I don't work in the education sector but am a school governor. A lot of governor meetings recently have focused on worsening behaviour (parents and children).
Have your teachers had training in dealing with this behaviour, is it being tackled at a strategic level, do school policies need updating to address the issues?
As a HR professional you need to make sure the leadership team are aware of the growing level of unhappiness amongst the staff and help them to make things better.

My own view - as a corporate parent in my councillor role - is that it's a very difficult time. Schoolchildren are still reeling from two years of education disruption and such is the pressure on schools we need to invest in everyone’s welbeing to create a resilience system - and that's not just the children, but staff too.

Unfortunately, these days teaching our children is only one of the things schools are expected to do. Goverment seems to think schools are now one-stop shops... and increasingly time and resource is being dragged away from education. This needs to be recognised - and resourced. I'm not surprised those working in education settings are finding it very tough. 

In reply to Steve Bridger:

Couldn't agree more Steve. Wellbeing is paramount at the moment! Thank you for your insight.

I work with HE academics at the moment and they are facing similar challenges. My first question is whether they are looking for another job within academia (in which case, I mostly just try to schedule an exit interview and wish them well), or whether they are looking to leave HE entirely. If the latter, it's usually a red flag for other issues and, if tackled early enough, there are opportunities to reverse the decision, at least, to leave HE if not to prevent them leaving my institution.

Of course, if it's a question of cost of living, there's not a lot I can do. Our pay structures are based on nationally-agreed standards and if they need private sector pay to make ends meet then our other benefits (lots of holiday, a pretty easy workload in most cases, and a very good pension) don't really help in the short term for those struggling to pay their mortgages.

In reply to Robey:

Thank you for your insight, I've had complaints about the cost of living crisis too and agree that our hands are tied with this so the best thing we can do is be supportive in other ways and signpost them to resources and services.

Hi Chelsey,

Do you have mechanisms to find out about the way that your staff are feeling before they get to the door? I'm thinking about staff surveys, consultative forums etc?

In schools where I've worked, we have tried to address some of the issues in a targeted way - so where the complaints are around workload, find out what would help. One suggestion was a week every term where there are no after school meetings scheduled at all, for example. Ask the staff what small changes the school could make that would make a difference.

Clarity is also really important I think. So if behaviour is challenging, being 100% clear and consistent about the behaviour policy, what should be challenged and how, helps everyone know what should be expected and how to handle it when things go wrong - and that if they follow those steps, that the school will have their back when parents complain.

Consistency is similarly important around workload. If I had £1 for every person whose timetable is much heavier than everyone else's, I'd be retired. But actually setting out those expectations in writing - a full time teacher will teach X periods per week, with remission of Y if they are a head of department/head of year etc. They will be expected to do Z duties and to run $ clubs. Anyone whose timetable for logistical reasons is below that will be used first for cover, and should be expected to be available up to the normal full time expectations.

Good luck.

Nina

In reply to Nina Waters:

Thank you so much Nina. These are some great points that I hadn't thought of and I think they will really help.

In reply to Chelsey:

If I can help at all - the template for our staff survey, or the structure of our staff consultative group for example - just shout.

In reply to Nina Waters:

If you could that would be great! Thank you.

Hi Chelsey - keep talking to your staff and like others we have just sent out a staff survey covering a variety of topics. This Easter we have two colleagues leaving the teaching profession - that's quite a a rarity for us but I know there is more context behind it other than the national picture. Colleagues must keep lobbying their unions and sadly home teaching (and how tough it was) has all but been forgotten. We offer exit interviews to get as much insight as we can.

In reply to Sarah Trueman:

Hi Sarah. Thank you for your insight. I've been thinking about implementing an exit interview as we only currently do an exit survey so this is really helpful.

Just posting because I'm really happy to see so many great ideas and supportive comments on this thread - and thank you Chelsey for acknowledging that :) Great that you are focused on the wellbeing of your team too - and make sure you're also looking after yourself of course.

My daughter is about to embark on a career in teaching primary education after three years at uni and it seems a tough time to join the profession, but equally she's got loads to offer and is raring to go!

In reply to Johanna:

Thank you for the lovely comments, Johanna. Employee wellbeing is very important to me and it's great to be a part of creating a positive culture in my organisation. I think all school's are feeling the tension at the moment. My fiancé works in primary and it's the same but I think if people can get through this tough time in the sector they will truly thrive! Best of luck to your daughter on her journey and I wish her all the best. Have a lovely day.