Recruitment is set to get even trickier for schools and colleges, if the latest reports are to be believed. The National Foundation for Educational Research says “significant” teacher supply challenges are “re-emerging” after two years of a Covid-related boom in applications.
The Teacher Labour Market in England annual report also reveals the number of teachers leaving the profession is also rising back to pre-pandemic rates.
Researchers say there is a “substantial” risk that a range of secondary subjects will not meet targets for the 2022 recruitment cycle.
Schools and colleges are powerless to impact any impending recruitment crisis – all you can do is ensure that your recruitment is up to scratch and do everything you can to hold onto your best staff.
So, ahead of a potential recruitment crunch point, it’s going to be crucial to be able to assess what is working for you and what needs to be tweaked. Here are the key metrics that you need to judge your efforts against:
Time to hire
How long does it take to fill an open position? This is probably the easiest recruitment metric to work out. All you have to do is work out the time from posting a new job opening to hiring a candidate.
It is every recruiter’s goal to reduce the time to fill by as much as possible – but at the same time, giving enough time for quality candidates to apply for the role.
With online, customisable job templates and online application forms, for example, you can streamline your administration processes and get in front of candidates quicker than other colleges.
Quality of hire
Did the candidate prove to be a good or bad hire? This is a trickier question to answer, as it’s subjective and you can’t easily put a number on it.
To improve the quality of hire, you need to be recruiting proactively, identifying, and communicating to the best talent before your competition.
Cost per hire
How much are you spending for each hire? Tracking this metric will help you analyse which part(s) of the recruitment process are costing you more than they should, how to reduce it, and where the money could be better spent.
To drag down the cost, you might look to machine learning and AI, to automate many mundane tasks that will give you time and money back.
Candidate experience
How do candidates perceive and interact with your hiring process? It’s becoming increasingly important to make the hiring process as smooth and streamlined as possible for candidates – if you come up short, you could lose a potentially good hire.
With the right software in place, you can seamlessly communicate and collaborate between schools and hiring personnel across your school, group or MAT. This kind of joined-up approach is crucial for ensuring the candidate gets the best possible experience.
First-year attrition
How many hires don’t see out the year with you? Almost one in six teachers in England quit after just a year in the classroom, the stats suggest. That’s not necessarily on you and your school, but it’s important to get to the bottom of why some candidates fail to make it 12 months.
It’s important that your employer brand tallies with reality – so you’re not selling candidates an image that doesn’t exist.
Offer acceptance rate
What percentage of candidates accept a formal job offer? It’s the most frustrating thing in the world as a recruiter to go all the way through the process, find the ideal candidate, only to see the offer of employment turned down.
It’s important to listen to any reasons that a candidate gives to why they’ve rejected an offer – then go away and make any improvements to the hiring process to reduce the chance of it happening again.
For example, was your process too slow and in the meantime their current school has provided them with a better offer? If so, look at ways to improve that time to hire.
Application completion rate
How many candidates finish your application form? The biggest reason for application attrition is that the process is simply too long (the average school application process takes over two hours).
As anybody who works at a school knows, teachers and school staff are busy enough as it is – don’t add further to their day. Make it easy for them by giving them the option to complete a job application on the move on their smartphones, for instance.
Whether it's faster time to hire, a boost in applications or a reduction in administration time, Eteach can transform the way you attract, recruit and onboard teaching talent. Get in touch today to hear about our education-specific recruitment software.
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