Last week I attended a fascinating conference—the ASU + GSV Summit—that brought together educators, tech minds, and human resources leaders from around the world. I decided to focus my time and energy on the session strands that centered on employee recruitment, support, and engagement because those are topics that are often on my mind, especially this time of year as we plan our staffing for next school year. Though the sessions spanned sectors beyond just K-12 education, much of what was discussed affirmed the thinking and practices of ANCS when it comes to finding, developing, and keeping great teachers and staff members.
Many of the speakers and panelists noted that the most important first step in forming the employee-employer relationship is having a shared belief in a compelling organizational mission and clear role for the employee as to how she or he will support that mission. Many schools and organizations have “pie in the sky” mission statements that don’t really speak to the actual day-to-day experiences of the people that work within them. I believe that the mission of ANCS, by being grounded in the principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools, really captures what we strive to do for our students and how teachers and staff make it happen. Moreover, the CES principles call for schools to involve teachers and staff in decision-making, which inspires a deeper commitment to our school’s mission.
While there was quite a bit of talk at the conference about the “millennial” generation (and the even younger “centennials”) and how their needs and wants as an employee might be different than earlier generations, one panelist pointed out the obvious but important fact that just about every organization has multiple generations on its staff, and, therefore, needs to differentiate supports and roles for the range of employees. At ANCS, we’ve got a team of high-quality teachers and staff, and I believe that’s due in part to the mix of development and leadership opportunities we offer to those who work at the school. Professional development comes in many forms for all of our teachers and staff, such as sending teams to national conferences, working in cross-school “critical friends groups”, and more personalized coaching by our school leaders and instructional coaches. For more experienced employees, opportunities for growth are available through serving on campus leadership teams or taking on a teacher-leader role like serving as a mentor in our CREATE teacher residency program or CFG coach. And this year we established a “study grant” program to further the development of teachers and staff with five or more years at ANCS.
Creating a culture of high employee engagement involves showing respect for employees as professionals. We ask teacher and staff feedback regularly, through surveys and conversation. We work to provide as much time and resources as we are able to equip teachers and staff to do their best work. And we show concern for the well-being of those who work at ANCS, by offering an employee wellness program, covering a substantial portion of health insurance premiums, and celebrating individual and collective successes.
Of course, even if all of these conditions are in place, you won’t be able to sustain hiring and keeping excellent teachers and staff if compensation is not competitive, something we aim to offer at ANCS. In the FY18 budget proposed to our board tonight, we include a 2% cost-of-living salary increase for all employees to keep pace with the local public school job market. Additionally, the board will be hearing about a proposed “tenure bonus” program designed to reward sustained performance and commitment to ANCS by teachers and staff. ANCS has thrived for the past 15 years for many reasons, chief among them the retention of many terrific employees and this new bonus program will allow us to provide additional compensation to longer-term employees now and into the future.
Obviously, we know that not every teacher or staff member hired at ANCS will stay with us for decades. People choose to leave for a variety of reasons, many times out of our control. But I believe that if we put our attention and resources into hiring, supporting, and engaging strong teachers and staff members, we are doing one of the most important things we can be doing to create the best possible educational environment for students.