Facing the challenges of HR management

I find it incredible that the area of my work that takes up most of my time as a headteacher is seldom discussed. Human resource (HR) issues often dominate large chunks of my day to almost the total exclusion of all other things. These may include situations such as industrial tribunals, formal grievance procedures, informal grievance procedures, competency procedures, absence procedure interviews or timely warning meetings. Then there are meetings – both formal and informal – with trade unions, meetings with the local authority relating to redundancy or redeployment and meetings with the legal representation of all sides – to name but a few!

It is a frustrating fact that in every case of industrial tribunals that I have been involved with – after hours of work over many months – none have ever actually arrived at the tribunal stage.

The agenda with individual staff can often be exceedingly complicated with concerns which overlap several of the above categories. It is essential to be well organised otherwise a breach of procedure may well lead to an unfortunate result for the school and an expensive, unresolved situation.

Staying focused
My experience has been that, when relationships break down between a teacher and their employer/school, it is often very difficult to mend a rift. Inevitably, the person with the issue will employ every procedural device to gain maximum advantage to pursue whatever it is that they feel has gone wrong. It is crucial to stay focused in these complicated situations and keep a keen eye to details – rest assured the other side will be looking for any inconsistencies to exploit.

Situations often start in an unremarkable way, with a remark or action which is subsequently turned into either a sinister aside or is presented as being a bullying tactic, when this was not intended. Sometimes a headteacher will have an uneasy feeling after conversations with a colleague and there are two golden rules when this happens:

1. Always have a colleague present when discussions take place with the member of staff in question.
2. Make accurate notes of the meeting with a copy given to all parties at the meeting and invite amendment for accuracy only.

And of course the platinum rule is to make sure that you are familiar with the procedures and regulations that relate to the area that you are dealing with.

It will almost certainly be the case that the colleague in question will be represented by his/her trade union. By definition, their function as case worker will mean that they are completely conversant with the correct way of working and are highly knowledgeable on the regulations and laws that relate to their member’s situation.  It is imperative that, after taking the difficult decision to embark on a procedure, the headteacher is not put on the back foot or future actions will be made that much more difficult.

A range of individuals
It is often easy for those outside education to underestimate the difficulty of dealing with an organisation such as a school with a workforce that can be as large as 250 adults, many educated to university level (not forgetting 1,500 students and their parents).

There is also an emerging plurality in school with various categories of adults other than teachers working in a school. Such a wide range of individuals with differing experiences is of course an overall strengthening of the system but sometimes those who have worked in other environments have a different expectation of working conditions and this can be problematic.

On more than one occasion, I have dealt with colleagues who came to work in education from a private sector environment and who have found it difficult to comprehend how different life is in the public sector. It is a revelation to them that in school we all do a lot of work that we are not paid for, often we do not have a fixed time when we leave, and we cannot book a holiday in term time no matter how cheap it is.

These can be tough nuts to crack, especially if the member of staff concerned has yet to buy into the distinctive culture and work practices that are the hallmark of successful schools. This different view of work has led to friction in the past between heads and such staff, whose perception can be that they are being victimised, because the explicit terms and conditions were not made clear to them at interview and before they started employment.

This merely illustrates, yet again, that getting the paperwork correct and setting up a system and sticking to it is the key to harmonious relationships in cases such as this. I only wish that I had learned that lesson 15 years ago when I first became a head as I naively assumed that everyone who wanted to work in the school would share my ethos and aspirations for the school. I had my fingers burned more than once, as I am a slow learner!

Team playing
I have talked about systems but at least as important as getting those right is the quality of relationship that the headteacher enjoys with the staff. My experience as someone who has worked in a variety of roles in schools – and observed a range of management styles – has shown me that any headteacher who is not a team player will almost always run an unhappy school, where HR issues spring up with increasing regularity.

It is not good enough to pay lip service to the notion of being open, transparent, listening etc if the reality is not the case. It is a great temptation for some to be economical with the truth, for the best reasons of course, or to construct scenarios whereby an assured result is guaranteed. If this is done as a matter of course distrust and cynicism will enter the staffroom and any subsequent attempts to rectify this will undoubtedly be an uphill struggle.

Giving hard messages can be difficult and emotionally draining. School leaders often shy away from it as it can be unpleasant or in the misguided belief that it serves no useful purpose. If it is true that we learn more from mistakes than successes, then it must also be true that messages about under-performance should be delivered in such a way that the member of staff in question can take something positive out of the experience. This is one of the biggest challenges of leadership and works best if it is part of a continuing professional development (CPD) policy in action.

Part of a continuing professional dialogue must be to equip people to understand why they are performing in a way that raises issues. It is simply not good enough, for example, to challenge a teacher for lack of progression in his teaching groups from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3, unless a conversation is had to analyse why this situation has arisen and a proposed strategy discussed to rectify the situation. If the school leader believes that this situation cannot be changed then action via another route is appropriate. In either case doing nothing, as was so often the case in the past, is no longer an option.

Attracting the right staff
We always put the interest of the children first in education and this is essential, but often a desired outcome is very hard to achieve. For example in an area in an inner city, where there is great social deprivation, it may be very difficult or even impossible to attract staff of high calibre.

Similarly there are parts of the country situated in areas of outstanding natural beauty where the cost of housing deters many from working in the schools. Many headteachers in such circumstances employ staff who they know will need a great deal of professional development to make them effective in the classroom.

I believe that this HR issue not only poses us the greatest challenge in education but also provides an opportunity. Establishing a robust, highly effective CPD policy is the best way of minimising potential HR problems as by definition a more effective teaching force will generate less of the problems that are so costly to a head’s time.

Realistic recruitment practices will mean that many schools will have to do the job of ‘upskilling’ the only qualified maths, science or music teacher within a 50-mile radius. Providing the school has the infrastructure and expertise to deliver this then it is not necessarily a problem.

Discussions about teaching and learning, combined with the teacher feeling supported, almost always lead to an improvement across the range of skills necessary to be a good enough teacher. Indeed I have known such staff blossom to such an extent that they have achieved a grade 1 ‘outstanding’ judgement from an Ofsted inspection. If such a process is intrinsic to the way that the school operates it is also very rewarding for all those who work with such staff and above all it is the students who reap the benefits of this process.

Time is not an elastic resource and it may be necessary on some occasions to decide that it is impossible to take an individual any further in their professional development and the point that they have reached is not far enough along to meet the school’s needs. When this situation is reached, after due process (which will have included copious amounts of feedback to the individual concerned), the final step should not be painful or a surprise to them. It should not be stressful to the leader either because they will know that having followed all appropriate procedures, provided support and transparency that they have done their job well.

Taking effective action
Sadly there are some people that are not suited to working in education, for whatever reason, and we owe it to the students to ensure that we as school leaders deal with these situations effectively. It must be remembered at all times that however compassionate we are to the needs of our colleagues we have a duty to act in a way that maximises the benefit our schools give to the students. Too often in the past this has been forgotten and round pegs have been rammed into square holes with a range of costs to all concerned.

Many schools now use a CPD diary or a reflective practitioner’s journal for staff to identify their training needs and this can be a useful tool during professional development interviews with their line manager.

The crux of what I believe is that the engagement in the learning of our staff, in terms of their professional development, will enrich our schools. Release them and give them the power to take control of this and as learning instructions we will take a great leap forward. Ignore this and disenchantment and negativity may well become new members of your staff team.

National Standards for Headteachers: Developing self and working with others
Under the heading ‘Professional Qualities’, the National Standards for Headteachers states that leaders should be:

Committed to:

• effective working relationships
• shared leadership
• effective team working
• continuing professional development for self and all others within the school.

Able to:

• foster an open, fair, equitable culture and manage conflict
• develop, empower and sustain individuals and teams
• collaborate and network with others within and beyond the school
• challenge, influence and motivate others to attain high goals
• give and receive effective feedback and act to improve personal performance
• accept support from others including colleagues, governors and the LEA.