Why doesn't anyone ever say thank you?

[Piggywaspushed]

... to the reliable ones, the ones who pick up all the flak, who pick up the pieces when things are falling apart? The ones who meet all the deadlines and work as hard as they can, nay harder?
By this, I don't obviously mean parents and students, who, oddly enough, say thank you rather more than one's fellow teachers?

Does an SLT contract ban this?

Sorry for outburst but feeling a bit under appreciated!

I am sure if we all stopped being so helpful and amenable we would very quickly be told off!

Is this a general workplace thing, or are teachers and especially teacher senior managers just really bad at this soft skill? Are the wrong leaders actually getting promoted?

[TheletterZ]

Depends on the school, some a better than others and it really does depend on the culture. We have staff appreciation once a half term where everyone writes down small things we are grateful for and management do take the time to say thank you and notice when you have done stuff.

Don’t forget it is nearly half term in February and everyone is knackered, which makes people more sensitive and also less prone to say thank you.

[Corneliawildthing]

I'm fed up being taken for granted. I was Whatsapped yesterday (it was our half term long weekend) and I was battling through awful weather at the time - asked to cover a colleague's absence instead of doing my usual job. I didn't even get thanked. So fed up of this

[Piggywaspushed]

I guess so letter but this isn't peculiar to this week or this term in my gaffe!

[marblesgoing]

If it's any help op this is not just in your profession unfortunately

Having the piss taken out of me royally for the last few months at work and the load gets dumped on me more and more as each week goes by.

Opened my mouth finally last week as was actually dreading going into work.

The staff team members that I am responsible for and in charge of get told a lot thank you for your help,patience etc and well done on a good job when it's use because I make sure I say it.

A little appreciation goes a long way

[Piggywaspushed]

That is oddly comforting!

[noblegiraffe]

When SLT say thanks at my place it feels like they’re ticking a box. My HOD is generally good at sounding sincere though.

[AtMyDesk]

It is not the teaching profession. I went to a presentation given by a leader of our company recently where we were told what we did last year wasn’t good enough. We needed to work harder. Last year I took 2 weeks leave and that was it. I worked flat out.

[happyhappyme]

We have a notice board in the staff room where people put a note about people who have done something to help somebody else. The popular people are on it all the time and some names never appear no matter what they do. of course my name has been there a lot as I can make pigs fly

[Piggywaspushed]

Well, it's good yo vent at least!

[Piggywaspushed]

to vent , obviously...

[Trying2310]

@happyhappyme exact same at our school. These schemes end up being all about the 'popular' staff, those who shout the loudest about their achievements and completely disregarding the hard working, head down, reliable staff who never get recognised or thanked for their efforts. Waste of time and has become meaningless and resented where I work. But then I could say the same for the hard working, head down student who doesn't say much and gets overlooked with all the focus, motivation and rewards going on those who flaunt the behaviour rules and disrupt the learning of others... You can tell I'm hanging on for half term.....

[keiratwiceknightly]

My HoD sent an email to our dept today which simply said "Team English. Tough Term. Thank you all for everything you do. "

The head also thanked the whole staff in morning briefing.

We also have the weekly Good Egg award, awarded by the previous winner to a colleague who goes above and beyond.

So it's not all schools. Sorry it's yours, piggy.

[Piggywaspushed]

Our HOF thanks us . The thing I note is that her direct line manager doesn't thank us. Not even choccies at Xmas, for example.

[Theduchessstill]

And do you/the rest of the team thank that HOF, Piggy? I'm a HoD and send emails like the one quoted above and give cards/gifts at Christmas & the end of the year. My lovely department tend to reciprocate, which I certainly don't expect, and thank me as well for support etc.

What I really noticed since becoming a ML is that no one above me thanks me for what I do, and if my department weren't so lovely it would really get me down. My department aren't even fully aware of all the paperwork-type stuff I have to produce and it is rarely acknowledged by anyone.

Last year I had a particularly nice team leader when I did my exam marking and I felt pathetically grateful for their praise/thanks, which is ridiculous really!

[SleeplessWB]

It's sad to read that people feel so underappreciated. I am SLT and spend quite a lot at the end of each term buying chocolates and wine for my team as well as regularly thanking them. This is normal at my school - the head often brings cake and fruit for the staff room, as do the governors.

[Really123456]

I really hate it when they take the attitude to treat customers/ students well and with utmost due care and attention yet can't even be arsed to even smile to their staff! Not only is it so two faced, It's so OLD FASHIONED and VICTORIAN!!! Let alone ridiculously stupid as staff are the greatest asset, without them there'd be no business or school 😂 But I guess it's the Peter principle for a lot of people, i.e. great at the day job but complete utter shit at leading and managing people!

[noblegiraffe]

If you’re feeling under appreciated by fellow teachers, piggy...

Thank you for your education posts on here. Lots of interesting debates over the years, especially seeing someone fighting the corner for English against my maths-centred views. It’s good to have the supportive and helpful views of someone with SLT/pastoral experience and you can always be relied upon to have read the latest edubook so that we don’t have to.

[noblegiraffe]

The head also thanked the whole staff in morning briefing.

It’s easy to do this but it sounds insincere unless backed up by actions where it’s obvious that you do actually value your staff. If you’ve got a massive turnover of staff due to various grievances, a thank you in briefing just won’t cut it.

[Really123456]

@noblegiraffe but it's a start. Often folk leave not just for one reason but many many small straws. Also it sets the tone for the culture you want, i.e. An appreciative one where staff actually want to go above and beyond.

[Piggywaspushed]

Awww, thanks noble! See, now I feel warm and fuzzy

[Piggywaspushed]

We do sometimes duchess and when I was a HOY I would say I did give and get thanks. What does grate is that our SLT lead thanks our HOF at Xmas (cards, chocolates etc.) but does not acknowledge at all the rest of us. That is a real bone of contention. I have no beef with my HOF other than I would like her to fight our corner more.

[Piggywaspushed]

And thank you back noble by the way for your support and insights

[Whatelsecouldibecalled]

I would say I’m ‘lucky’ as my school on the whole are pretty good at it. The head regularly recognises when it’s been a particularly tough week and encourages everyone out by 3.10pm on a Friday. He publicly says thank you to those who have gone above and beyond for various reasons. As a HOD I try to make sure I regularly say thank you to the team and will often send emails saying how awesome they are. I buy small gifts at Christmas and summer. I try and take time to thank those that make my job a bit easier on the background eg cleaners and admin support staff also get a little gift at end of year. It’s important to me

[GreenTulips]

These schemes end up being all about the 'popular' staff, those who shout the loudest about their achievements and completely disregarding the hard working, head down, reliable staff who never get recognised or thanked for their efforts.

It’s the same for the kids, so why would management be different?

[Piggywaspushed]

The main issue I have with heads who thanks specific people very publicly is how does s/he know who goes above and beyond? And, why should people only be thanked when they do more that necessary?

I find that music and drama staff get disproportionate public thanks for shows etc at many schools : they, of course, deserve thanks. But heads need to make sure that they know who else is working really hard or battling against tough circumstances, either personal or to do with school. I don't actually want public thanks. Just sincere thank yous and some recognition of what we have done at the ends of terms.