Evaluation of the Golden Hello Initiative - York Consulting

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• there is a (mis)perception that Golden Hello payments for schoolteachers are higher than for FE staff. Although this is amisunderstanding, it is important that care is undertaken whenintroducing initiatives for FE that are similar to those for schoolteachers. This is in order to avoid exacerbating perceptions that FEteaching is undervalued as compared to school teaching where salariesare higher.• LLSCs are operating differing local initiatives for Basic Skills as part ofthe Skills for Life strategy. In some cases this can be divisive wherelocal project activities offer greater incentives to attract Basic Skillstutors than do Golden Hellos.Timing and Amount of Payment6.33 Several issues emerged concerning the issue of the Golden Hello payment.We provide comment on:• timing of payment;• requirement to stay;• amount.Timing6.34 The timing of the payment has been questioned. If the initiative is aiming totackle recruitment then it is felt that the initiative would be moreeffective if payment were made earlier.6.35 With regards to retention, several stakeholders felt that payment ininstalments over a period of time would be more effective.Requirement to Stay6.36 There is some concern that there is no requirement for individuals tostay in teaching for longer than a term after payment. This issue wasconsidered by the Department in the initial design and it was felt that theassociated administrative costs of ‘policing’ would be counter-productive. Analternative therefore, could be to introduce a clause for repayment ifindividuals leave after a defined period post-payment.
The Evaluation of the Golden Hello InitiativeAmount6.37 Given that the payment is subject to tax it could be questioned whether theamount received is sufficient to make a difference.Flexibility6.38 The design of the Golden Hello initiative means that it is focused on theindividual and as long as the individual meets the required eligibility criteriathen they are entitled to receive a Golden Hello. Several colleges highlightedthat lack of flexibility in the framework means that Golden Hellos are notan effective tool for colleges to tackle recruitment and retention issues.6.39 It was suggested that it would be more effective to give colleges moreautonomy and flexibility to distribute a ‘Golden Hello’ according to theirneeds. This could be achieved for example, by operating a quota-typesystem. However, the merits of such an approach require detailedconsideration in terms of determining how any future system should operateand the levels of bureaucracy associated and thereby costs and resources(time) implied. Issues to consider include:• whether monies should be distributed to LLSCs to allocate tocolleges via a bidding situation for example;• whether research needs to be undertaken first given that to be effectivethis approach would require an understanding of where the greatestdifficulties lie (nationally, regionally, locally);• whether focus should be given to just one or two national shortagesubject areas (again research would be required to ascertain this);• whether money should only be allocated to colleges that candemonstrate evidence of a problem.6.40 All this may require a much larger initiative and hence funding andbureaucracy to make the Golden Hello worthwhile and to have a real impact.6.41 The findings suggest that the initiative has not addressed recruitment andretention issues in the majority of cases because of the way it has beenframed and is being delivered. Under its current framework the initiative is toogeneric, open to interpretation and, in some cases, deemed as unfair. It istherefore questioned whether there is a need for:56 York Consulting Limited
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