The Link Between Effective HR Practices and Better School Outcomes

Like business organisations, schools and academies are people places. Managing and communicating with your staff, teachers, students, and other stakeholders is a key function of human resource management (HRM).

Effective HR practices are important in designing education quality and learning outcomes in schools and MATs. Common HR practices in schools include recruitment, hiring, training, and managing staff. However, as we step into a more modern and digitised education landscape, the role of HR goes beyond the regular functions.

The effectiveness of HR in private sector workplaces is often correlated with workplace performance, but is the same applicable to schools and MATs?

Through bespoke HR services, Keystone Knowledge supports UK schools and MATs in navigating the complexities of the HR landscape, addressing common HR challenges, and building practices and people strategies.

This blog explores the vital link between effective HR practices and positive school outcomes. 

What Is the Role of HR in Schools?

The main purpose of HR in schools is to attract, retain, and develop high-quality educators and staff. It's also responsible for ensuring a safe and inclusive working environment for students and staff.

Human resource management in secondary schools differs from that in MATs. Small schools usually have school business managers who handle HR-related matters, while larger MATs generally have a dedicated HR person or department.

Typical HR responsibilities include recruitment and selection, onboarding, managing employee relations, professional development, performance management, compensation and benefits, and meeting changing regulatory standards.

While the role and responsibilities of your school's HR staff are clearly defined, certain challenges can hinder them, affecting your MAT or school's overall performance and outcomes.

Common HR Challenges in Schools and MATs

Effective leadership in schools helps facilitate effective HR practices. Robust HR policies for schools and good communication are also vital. However, even with these aspects in place, your MAT or school can face the following challenges:

1. Recruiting and Retaining Skilled Staff

Good recruitment and selection practices are fundamental to ensuring your school and MAT attract and retain top teaching talent. However, with teaching staff shortfalls in certain areas, recruiting and retaining the best can be difficult.

2. Budget Constraints

Most schools and MATs seek to cut costs and maximise their existing resources. Limited spending power can make maintaining the compensation competitive and investing in training, development and engagement initiatives challenging.

3. Staying Updated with Changing Regulations

Employment regulations and laws change almost every year, prompting your school staff to invest time in research to ensure compliance. With routine operational responsibilities on their plates, your staff may find it difficult to juggle both.

4. Employee Engagement and Training

Investing in teacher training and continuous professional development (CPD) is key to improving teacher effectiveness and student learning outcomes. However, staff shortfall and budget constraints can hinder the training and development initiatives.Understanding the common HR challenges is the first step; implementing the appropriate effective HR practices to overcome them is the next.

5 Effective HR Practices to Implement for Better School Outcomes

1. Revamping Recruitment Strategies

Recruiting and retaining top talent in a competitive market is a major challenge. Your school needs to come up with creative ways to attract quality candidates, including posting on university job boards, hosting recruitment days, and other less mainstream recruitment methods.

These strategies will open up diverse recruitment channels and allow you to broaden your talent pool.

2. Aligning HR Policies and Strategies with Goals

Take time to revisit the HR policies your school or MAT has in place. Human resource management in secondary schools or MATs can't function in isolation; they need to engage in meaningful conversations with all stakeholders. Your school HR needs to align its operations with the broader goals of your school or trust.

Open the channels of communication and collaboration across different departments to facilitate this. Regular communication between your school's HR department and other departments ensures effective HR strategies that support the overall objectives of your school or MAT.

3. Investing in Professional Development

Research has shown that investing in teacher training and development directly influences students. Schools must see continuous professional development and training as an investment, not a cost, to achieve positive student learning outcomes, create a more engaging learning environment, and boost staff morale and retention.

4. Simplifying HR and Employment Law

HR and employment law in the UK can be complex, and it's easy to get tangled in a web of regulations. What you need is an expert HR consultant familiar with the complexities of employment rules and ready to simplify the steps to compliance.Keystone Knowledge can help you comply with the laws and regulations related to hiring procedures, employee rights, health and safety requirements, and diversity and inclusion programmes. With us as your partner, you receive HR advice for routine issues and employment law expertise when you need it. Contact us to learn more about our HR retainers for schools and trusts.

5. Building People Culture and Strategy

Managing human resources in schools and trusts requires a higher level of understanding. Building a people culture and strategy requires you to assess your options and think long-term in terms of fostering trust in the workplace and workforce restructuring. Keystone Knowledge has CIPD-qualified experts who have worked within the industry to provide guidance and workable solutions for all kinds of education HR obstacles.

Partner with Keystone Knowledge for HR and Effective Leadership in Schools

To develop effective HR practices for favourable school outcomes, it helps to bring in HR management specialists who have lived and experienced first-hand what you're going through.

Keystone Knowledge specialises in the UK's education sector. Our team of highly qualified CIPD-accredited education experts has extensive experience working both within and with schools.

Our bespoke HR retainer and HR management services are available to support you whenever you need them.

Book a consultation to learn more about our wide range of HR services.

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