The document discusses considerations for developing an effective recruitment strategy for an education trust facing a changing landscape. It notes pressures like budget constraints, increased competition, a need to grow while maintaining sustainability, and a focus on business results. The strategy should analyze staffing needs, set goals, and plans for attracting candidates. It should also consider seasonal fluctuations, budget sufficiency, competitive terms, training existing staff, and identifying transferable skills from other sectors. Developing partnerships, using free social media, offering career growth, and addressing reasons for teacher turnover can help recruitment.

1. Education law conference
March 2017, London
Is your recruitment strategy fit for the changing
landscape of education?

2. Is your recruitment strategy fit
for the changing landscape of
education?
Fine-tuning your strategy ensuring that you recruit and
retain the best people
1st March, London
Tom Wallace, HR Consultant
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3. Recruitment Strategy – what is it?
A physical document that outlines your recruitment needs
and goals and how you will achieve them.

4. Recruitment Strategy
Benefits
• Can help your Trust to take a proactive approach to staffing issues
and plan ahead of time
• A chance to be more selective about finding the right employees
rather than scrambling to fill a gap
• Plan ahead for busy periods
• Proactive and structured approach to finding high quality
employees

5. Recruitment Strategy
Should include:
• An analysis of your Trusts staffing needs and any issues or weaknesses
that are present
• A list of recruitment goals and how you plan to achieve them
• Where and how you plan to find new employees
• Seasonal fluctuations and how you plan to meet these
• A way to measure your results and determine whether the strategy is
working

6. Changing Landscape
So what is this? ...

7. Budget pressures
• Doing more with less
• Loss of experienced teachers via a need to restructure
• Rising costs of recruitment services provided by third parties
• Requirement to manage agency costs
• Rising living costs and impact on terms of employment forced to be
offered

8. Competition
• Competition from other Trusts
• Move away from STPCD and Green Book terms
• Higher performing schools/Trusts

9. Time to grow
• Shifting a mentality
• Forced growth to achieve sustainability and correct structure
• Duplication of roles
• Mobility of personnel

10. Business/Results Focus
• Shift towards more varied skills that have traditionally been more
prominent in the private sector
• Investing in existing staff v Bringing in new staff
• Strong emphasis on results based teaching and learning
• Need to retrain/refocus teaching staff

11. Teaching profession leavers
• 4 in 10 new teachers quit within a year of qualifying (Guardian,
2015)
• Teaching is a profession that has become “incompatible with
normal life” (Mary Bousted, General Secretary of ATL)

12. What do you need to consider in your strategy?
Budget Pressure
• What is our budget? Do we have a distinct one?
• What is covered by that budget?
• Is it sufficient to meet Trust need?
• Proportion of In house tasks v External services

13. Budget Pressures – Top Tips
A more serious approach to sourcing talent
• Partnerships and negotiating preferential fees
• Consider whether you could cut costs by taking some of the
work back in house e.g. running assessment days yourself
• Use social media (LinkedIn, Twitter) and ask staff to share
vacancies on social media – all free!
• Use your own website
• Buy in bulk (Total jobs, Monster etc.)

14. What do you need to consider in your strategy?
Competition
• Being an employer of choice – employer brand
• What is being offered elsewhere locally?
• Whether the Trust wishes to remain within national terms or
you wish to offer more (or less)
• Reward

15. Competition – Top Tips
Find ways to attract candidates that are more attractive than other
local Trusts – be different
Consider working with, rather than against the competition:
• Informal agreements with other local Trusts regarding terms
and conditions to be offered
• Create a common pool of skilled temp workers between Trusts
that can be used to fill gaps to the benefit of all

16. Focus on Reward
Zero/low cost initiatives
• Opportunity for growth and career development
• Compliments scheme
• Focus groups in key areas
• Flexible working
• Job swapping/shadowing
• Mentoring
• CPD in excess of statutory

17. What do you need to consider in your strategy?
Time to grow
• Broad job descriptions
• Clear mobility clauses within contracts} fit for the future
• Speed of growth v sustainability timeline
• Clear review process for each vacancy as it arises

18. Time to grow – Top Tips
• Consider combining roles e.g. Receptionist/ General Administrator,
TA/MTA
• Centralising recruitment so that oversight as one employer
• Ensure your documentation is constantly reviewed to reflect the
changing requirements of your employees as you grow
• Consider seasonal fluctuations and make sure you have built in
resource to manage the recruitment process

19. What do you need to consider in your strategy?
Business/Results focus
• What types of skills are required from different role?
• What other sectors can you consider as your pool for recruitment?
• Will training of existing staff be sufficient or is recruitment
absolutely necessary?
• What type of training is required for existing staff?
• What assessments will be used during recruitment to determine
their ability to influence results?

20. Business/Results focus – Top Tips
• Carrying out a skills audit of existing staff to see what is required
from new recruits
• Draw up a list of key skills for each role that could be transferable
from other sectors
• Make sure your selection methods focus on the skills gap identified
within your current workforce
• Consider a “grow your own” strategy

21. What do you need to consider in your strategy?
Teaching profession leavers
• What are your retention rates for teachers at different times of
their career?
• Do these match others in the area?
• Why they are leaving and what can we do to stop this?

22. Teaching profession leavers – Top Tips
• Look at turnover rates for staff in the previous year so that you can
plan and estimate the number of vacancies for the current year
• Identify the key reasons for staff leaving and work to address them
• An alumni approach

23. Any questions?

24. Find out more
www.brownejacobson.com/education

25. Talk to us
Tom Wallace | 020 7871 8513 | tom.wallace@brownejacobson.com
Please note
All information correct at time of production.
The information and opinions expressed within this document are no
substitute for full legal advice. It is for guidance only and illustrates the law
as at the published date. If in doubt, please telephone us on 0370 270 6000.
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