This year, Expedia was ranked number one UK company to work for, for the second year running. Based on employee responses to a questionnaire about job satisfaction, the performance of the chief executive, work-life balance and employee benefits, Expedia staff scored them an average of 4.3 out of 5. Attrition is low and productivity is high.
If there is one industry where happy staff = best results, it’s education. So what attraction, recruitment and retention lessons can colleges take from the most successful companies in the world?
Recruiting creatively for creative staff – and letting them stay creative.
One of Google’s recruitment campaigns was an invitation embedded in a complicated bit of computer coding which said, “You’re speaking our language –Up for a challenge?” It’s great employer branding because, as a candidate, it shows they are as excited about code as you are. Lego, on the other hand, hold creativity competitions with a set of building blocks and offer the most impressive builders jobs there and then. When Volkswagen wanted to catch the best mechanics in the industry, they sent broken cars to garages with recruitment invitations hidden under the engines.
Further Education lecturers, whether academic or vocational, enjoy the chance to be creative so to catch the best ones, ensure your recruitment process is open and inviting of innovation. Do you allow potential new team members to submit a video portfolio of their teaching and learning instead of a demonstration lesson? Once recruited, do tutors have totally free evenings and weekends to allow for inspiration about how to wow the students?
Leading from the middle.
Interestingly, the questionnaire on which Expedia scored so well included questions on the performance of the Chief Executive. Staff perceived senior leadership to be both effective and accessible, listening to their opinions and respecting their contribution. As a result, staff enjoy a sense of fairness, and of their input being appreciated. “Amazing leaders, very accessible and communicating a lot with all employees.” – Expedia Area Manager, London.
Showing you think of teaching staff as people first.
Facebook, Google (Ranked 1st on the global list of best companies to work for) and other large American companies understand that their staff are humans who live, sleep, eat, exercise, worry, feed children, dress grandparents, get sick, care for pets, then come to work. The wellbeing benefits packages of the world’s most impressive employers are significant, with ‘New baby’ payments of £4,000-£10,000, several months of paid maternity, Pet Care Sick days and Duvet Days giving staff a liveable work-life balance. Other perks include free wifi, travel and free snacks or meals. People, happy people, don’t live to work.
UK Further Education institutes have holidays and a statutory maternity system, but large class sizes or underfunding can lead to significant demands on lecturers’ non-teaching time. Free lunches might be outside of budget but many Deans and Department heads have garnered a sense of community with staffroom fruit bowls, 5pm Friday kick-outs and genuinely slashing the workload to allow for a real lunch break.
Allowing for progression.
ARM Holdings, the microchip designer (ranked 2nd in the UK list of Best Companies to Work For) and Peninsula Employment Lawyers (ranked 6th in the UK) both scored highly for career progression. Training courses and time to reflect on self-improvement are as key in these businesses as they are in teaching.
Further Education has clear benefits as a teaching choice but it needs to be easier to move between colleges to get the leadership role you want. To attract the best lecturers, your college’s or UTC’s candidate experience needs to be competitively inviting. Ensure you offer online and mobile application forms and have a process in place to communicate constantly and personally through the recruitment process. When advertising, think, ‘What does my faculty have to offer?’ A career site specifically promoting your benefits as an employer and showing your campus and facilities will engage candidates selectively researching their next move.
Once you have the right FE lecturer, remember progression doesn’t have to be vertical. Professional development such as working towards assessor status or taking on specialist leadership will give the sense of progression while not forcing you to create extra positions.