If you work for in a MAT...

[MATHRD]

Apologies if I'm infiltrating... I am about to start a new role as HR Director for a MAT of 10 schools (primary and secondary) and one of my first tasks is to look at an HR strategy. I don't have an education/schools background.

So, if you work for a fantastic MAT what makes it great? If you don't, what would make it ten times better?

I'm looking at things like automation of HR processes (booking leave etc) to reduce workloads, flexi-benefits and flexible working (including home working during non-teaching time). Not much I can do re: pay as the MAT follows National pay.

I'm used to having a budget and a team - I don't have either in the new role at the mo so looking for a steer!

Without being offensive, I think you need to get into the schools and see how they work.

Booking leave - not applicable to most school staff so be careful about shouting that as a policy. Teachers work the 195 days that schools are open and TAs are normally contracted to work term time only.

Flexi working and working from home - fine in principle but it doesn't work in secondary if the timetable doesn't allow it (e.g your free is period 3 of 5) and it doesn't work in primary if you need to plan in a team, have children at that school, have a Tuesday pm for your PPA and then staff meeting every Tuesday after school.

If it was me in your school, I'd want consistency on things like returning to work after maternity leave. It's often far easier for secondary colleagues than primary. Also things like working 0.8 are often far more possible in secondary because of timetabling than they are in primary. Is this fair?

With regard to having time off - is it consistent? E.g time off for moving, funerals, graduations, etc.

Good luck in the job!

*returning to work part time

I've also thought of another one - probably something you can't influence but how are TLRs paid. Often in secondaries people won't do any leadership if they're not paid for it whereas in primary it's extremely unlikely you'd to get a TLR and everybody leads a subject in the school

I won't be getting involved in the really operational bits - it's a strategic role. I'm starting to get cold feet because I'm making a sideways move and although they've matched my salary (£75k not for bragging but in terms of where I sit in the structure/scale) I'm concerned I'm not going to have any influence because schools are very "we've always done it like this before..."

Well schools are a bit unique as workplaces in some regards…some things are ‘done that way‘ because that works in a school even when it wouldn’t anywhere else.

Surely there is nothing wrong with explaining that impact & influence wise you need to fully understand existing systems first so won’t be making any changes immediately and properly get to know your schools & the MAT first. Eg do enough people need to / have the ability to book leave to make an automated system a worthwhile investment?

What kind of benefits are you thinking? They’re a bit alien in the school world (obv we’re lucky with sick pay & pension but not a lot happening beyond that) so could be a really positive thing to implement.

The main thing people I know who work in MATs don’t like is when their school is expected to be identical to every other school in the MAT, without taking context of learners into account. So supporting schools to be independent within the MAT would be a big plus in my book.

Also what is the MAT looking to achieve / develop? Is it recruitment, retention, staff development, cost saving etc etc…that will surely make a big difference to where you go strategy wise?

I’m sure your outside perspective will be really useful but do take the time to understand schools too…some of the seemingly random things we do are actually for quite good reasons!

Top tops:

Don't mention your salary. You earn more than double most teachers and 7 times more than our TAs.

Don't dismiss the ways things have always been done. Schools are not businesses despite this MAT, CEO, HR strategy director bullshit we find ourselves living in.

@careerchange456 that's the hostility I'm not looking forward to.

I do a completely different job to a teacher/TA. I could earn more in another sector but like the idea of improving working life in education. Of course I wouldn't tell people IRL my salary

You can see it as hostility.

Or you can see it as experienced teachers trying to help you not to make the same mistakes that the many business people with no background in education have made before you. We have seen a ridiculous number of people come in with ideas to change education without the foggiest idea about how schools work. They try to make all kinds of jazzy initiatives that make bugger all difference to the education of children and then hot foot out of education as soon as they realise they can't hack it.

You have been given the advice to go into your role with idea of properly learning about the schools and the people who work in it before you launch into any kind of change in strategy. To put it bluntly, nobody will give 2 shits about your leave booking system because for the vast majority, it won't apply. You need to learn our sector before you can plough into your strategy.

If you actually want to improve working life in schools, you need to find a way of increasing pay, particularly for support staff, reducing the ridiculous workload expectations from SLTs, the DfE and Ofsted so that teachers stop leaving in their droves and increase schools budgets so that we're not counting every piece of paper and pencil used. But whilst we continue to battle these major challenges, please don't patronise us with bullshit initiatives.

TBH - you are part of the problem - that trust is paying you 75K _ where should that money really be going ?

Listen to what teachers tell you is detrimental to their MH, and act on what you hear.

Also to PPs - do remember that school staff includes many who are not teachers or TAs.

To be fair, in a primary school nearly everyone is a teacher or TA. We don't directly employ our dinner lady or janitor. All our middays are TAs. The only person who is neither is the SBO.

Yes, you do a completely different job - one that doesn't have a direct impact on the lives of children on a daily basis. But one where you get paid multiples of those who actually understand the sector, and are responsible and accountable for what actually happens. What would be most useful would be a reduction in the amount of unnecessary admin performed by teachers, and a reduction in money being spent in MAT's on central services. Can you implement those?

(@TwitTw00 that sounds like a smaller primary then? Def not the case in secondary)
I think it's a little unfair to the OP to criticise her for the post she's been appointed to and for not knowing the politics of a sector she's just moved into. Yes she needs to get up to speed quickly but let's hope she makes a difference!

Even in a massive secondary, the amount of people who aren't employed as teachers or on term time only contracts will still be a relatively small percentage of the staff as a whole.

True, but you originally said "vast majority". I've just counted up and we have 15-20% of staff apart from teacher/TAs - stand alone secondary academy. Most not allowed to take holiday in term time, agreed! A bit different with some centralised services in a MAT though.

OP, I think it'd be really interesting if you kept posting here as you get further into your new role. Hope it goes well.

I would expect someone on that pay to have done sufficient research beforehand to know that the main problem school staff face is not related to the mechanics of booking leave.

85% means the vast majority are teachers or term time only contracts though?

Anyway, that's not the point. As all people working in a school know, leave is not a major issue that affects staff. That's all I was trying to say to the OP.

@HatRabbit Absolutely this!!!

Oh dear, OP, you’re getting a hard time from teachers. Simple fact is, I think we know that what you may be able to achieve is very little which will have an impact on the current situation in teaching.

Nonetheless, I would suggest doing whatever you can to avoid a culture that attempts to penalise staff who have 39 weeks a year off from taking time for their health appointments or those of their children; that encourages long service (additional term time days off?), that doesn’t penalise older more —expensive— experienced staff , that looks at shared PPA time in departments or year groups, that ensures all staff have a fair crack at promotion (not just the favoured few), that staff who want to achieve additional qualifications (Masters, SEN etc) are supported to do so with additional PPA time and opportunities in school as well as funding support. Nice to haves are policies that allow time off to attend your child’s nativity or end of year show and creative solutions to part time working (which some heads actively discourage).

If you want to understand the state of teaching, I would suggest joining the Exist the Classroom and Thrive Facebook group which will give you a very clear idea of what we are currently facing as a profession.

@Shiningsilverargent Actually my first posts were about what I thought the OP could do from a HR position in a MAT and focussed on ensuring consistency across the 10 schools with regard to time off (I mentioned moving and graduations rather than nativities and medical appointments but it all the same idea). I also mentioned consistency about things like returning part time after mat leave and pay for additional responsibilities.

All of which were dismissed as not being part of HR strategy. So then you think - well what is HR strategy if it doesn't include those things as part of its role? And unfortunately for the OP, you can see how this is going to go because we've all seen it for the last decade and the academisation of schools.

My first piece of advice still stands - get into your schools and see how they operate (without judgement!!!!). Speak to staff and learn their jobs. You cannot implement any kind of successful strategy without doing this.

@careerchange456 I wasn't having a go at you. Sorry if it came across that way.

I spoke to lots of staff as part of my three stage interview process, and have a copy of the staff survey.

Why I have automation on my list- office staff seems to spend a lot of time on HR'y admin that could be completely eradicated with a decent system. You say leave isn't a problem but you're referring to annual leave- I was referring to sickness and leave of absence. One school of 35 staff had over 300 instances of absence last year- all of which had to be written out on a form, signed by the head, passed to the office staff who then input the absence onto a school system. Some need to be passed to payroll for processing.

I found some of the teachers I spoke to to be completely dismissive of my role- I'm masters qualified and have over 20 years experience in another transferable sector- but I suppose the reaction has led to me getting cold feet. My current employer is desperate for me to stay and I'm worried about moving to a culture where I'm not valued/wanted.

Your OP specifically said book leave, not the paperwork for sick leave. Either way dealing with sick leave will be a minimal part of their job. Automate it if you want but it will be neither here nor there to most staff. Also last year was not a normal year for sick leave because of covid. Our staff absence was over 10 times our normal rate.

Speaking to staff on your 3 part interview is not the same as really getting to know how your schools operate. You know that.

Staff survey - some MATs can be absolutely ruthless and people would never put their actual thoughts on a piece of paper for fear of losing their job. Hopefully your MAT isn't like this. Also they knew you were being interviews so they won't have told you all the worst parts. SPEND TIME IN SCHOOLS AND TALK TO THE STAFF ONCE YOU'RE IN POST!

As for your experience - welcome to the world of education. If you have 20 years plus of teaching experience you can often be treated like absolute shit on the bottom of somebody's shoe. Most heads don't seem to value experience, academy chains are the worst. You know you're seen as too expensive and again you're fearful for your job because you know they want to replace you with the cheap, mouldable graduates just out of teacher training. You will have to earn respect and you will earn it by being good at your job and helping in whatever way is pertinent to your job to relieve the stress that is being a teacher or TA in the current climate.

Teachers (and support staff) are absolutely committed to teaching and the education of children. The 'hostility' you're worrying about is because we're absolutely fed up to the back teeth of the way our jobs and lives are going. Being a non-teaching person in the management of schools will not be welcomed with open arms. I can give you a whole list of things that my school could do with your £75k that will actually benefit our children because our budgets have been cut to the bone so many times you can't even see the bone anymore.

This is the reality of education in 2022. It's an absolute shitshow, and I love my job.

That wasn't a sarcastic 'I love my job'. I meant I'm one of the ones who loves my job.

OP, it is good that you are taking time to consider whether making this move is good for you or not. And it's normal to get slightly wobbly before taking on a new role. However, you seem genuinely surprised that teachers were not falling over backwards to welcome you. I do find this odd and very naive.

I don't know what sort of sector you are used to working in, but many do contain 'bullshit jobs' (as in the book). Schools are not full of bullshit jobs. They are full of people working at the coal face. Who know what they could do with the money spent on the salaries of those who work in central MATs. And resent every penny.
I know that efficient and compassionate HR could improve the lot of schools in some small ways. However, when conditions have been so bad, for so long, when we cannot even provide safe spaces for our children to learn because we cannot afford to pay TA's (and we cannot recruit because conditions are so awful) then why would we value or want someone who at the point of crisis only makes things worse by swallowing up more budget?
I'm sure you are a nice person OP, and these points are made in the general sense, not as a particular dig at you.