Your guide to managing staff wellbeing

Recommendations

Info

The Key for School Leaders Your guide to managing staff wellbeing Staff surveys: advice and template This booklet features a selection of articles we’ve written in response to school leaders’ questions. Over 3,500 up-todate articles are currently available online on www. thekeysupport.com/SL What should be in a staff survey questionnaire? Conducting staff surveys We asked Trevor Bailey, one of our associate education experts, for advice on conducting staff surveys. He said that although staff surveys are not a statutory requirement, it is good practice to carry them out. He said that engaging staff in dialogue, valuing their contributions, and acting on them when appropriate are key ways of building a positive staff ethos, which supports school improvement. In addition, a carefully structured survey can demonstrate trends over time. This provides valuable evidence of planning for reporting to governors, sponsors, local authorities and Ofsted. Trevor suggested that schools could also get feedback from staff through: • Setting up working groups to discuss specific issues or areas where developments are being considered • Open or structured discussions with groups of staff; such groups might be made up of a particular department or Key Stage, or include a crosssection of staff • A structured schedule of one-to-one conversations between members of the senior leadership team and members of staff • Exit interviews with staff who are leaving • Informal discussions, for example in the staff room You may decide that you wish to: • Conduct a general survey of staff views and attitudes, across a range of issues • Review a new initiative that has been put in place • Survey views about a particular aspect of the school An annual review survey may cover behaviour, health and safety, staff morale, resourcing, and key aspects of the school’s improvement plan which have been implemented during that year. Choosing a format for the survey Trevor suggested three possible question formats. He advised that the formats you choose will depend on the purpose of the survey, as well as the number of staff being surveyed and the resources your school can allocate to analysis. 1. ‘Yes’ or ‘no’ questions Questions that encourage ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers can be useful when you need a quick snapshot of views on a straightforward matter. 2. Scale of satisfaction Respondents are asked to select an option from a range – such as ‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’, ‘disagree’, or ‘strongly disagree’. This allows you to see a full range of opinions across the staff team. 3. Open-ended questions Asking some open-ended questions can be helpful if you want to get detailed feedback. However, you will need to build in more time to analyse the responses. Writing a staff questionnaire Choosing which questions to ask Trevor explained that, when deciding what to ask staff members, you should consider the purpose of the survey and what it is that you want to find out. It is important to be transparent with staff and share the survey results Presenting the results of staff surveys Trevor said it is important to be transparent with staff and share the survey results once they have been gathered. A good way to present the results is during a staff meeting, as this gives staff a chance to discuss the outcomes of the survey and suggest ways forward. We also asked Gareth Balch, another of our associate education experts, for advice on presenting the results of staff surveys. Gareth advised presenting the results in a positive setting, such as an INSET day or a meeting at the 8 Not yet tried The Key for School Leaders? www.thekeysupport.com/free
The The Key Key for School for School Leaders Leaders Your Your guide guide to to managing staff staff wellbeing start of the school year. He suggested presenting them as simply and clearly as possible, using slides so they can be easily understood. Actions to take after staff surveys Trevor also said it is important to show that you are dealing with any issues that have become apparent. This could be done by: • Developing and sharing an action plan • Setting up a task group to investigate how to deal with or improve a particular issue • Delegating a member of staff to lead on tackling an area of concern Trevor said that sometimes it is not possible or desirable to implement some of the changes that staff want. In these cases it is important to be open with staff, and communicate why something cannot be done. He also emphasised the importance of allowing space for discussion at this point in the process. Trevor added it is crucial that staff feel engaged in the outcomes of the survey if it is to be used effectively for school improvement. Gareth also suggested some ways to show that you are taking the survey results seriously. He said that line management systems can be used to further discuss any major issues identified; for example, focus groups of line managers’ direct reports could be used to gather further feedback on particular areas and to discuss possible improvements. Gareth also recommended incorporating survey results and issues identified in the school improvement plan. He said that this clearly signals to staff that the school is directly addressing any key concerns. Find more on our website This extract and the KeyDoc on the next page are are part of a longer article that contains detailed guidance on how to conduct staff surveys effectively, including subject-specific surveys. Members of The Key for School Leaders can find the article quickly by entering its reference number, 8770, in the website search tool. 8770| Search If you found this article useful, you might also like: Staff wellbeing questionnnaires (quick-search ref. 2480) à See page 10 for a staff survey template from The Key, created with one of our expert contributors to this article. Not yet tried The Key for School Leaders? You can try it for free at www.thekeysupport.com/free Ready to join? Save £100 Membership covers everyone in your leadership team and starts at just £45 per month. Join The Key for School Leaders quoting WB16 before 24 March 2016 and we’ll waive the £100 joining fee. Contact us on 0800 060 7732 or school.leaders@thekeysupport.com. Not yet tried The Key for School Leaders? www.thekeysupport.com/free 9
Page 1 and 2: for School Leaders Not yet a member
Page 3 and 4: The Key for School Leaders Your gui
Page 7: The Key for School Leaders Your gui

Your guide to managing staff wellbeing

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?