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!

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.

Absolutely!!

I’d highly recommend having a good read of some of the information here: www.gov.uk/government/collections/reducing-school-workload

I’d also suggest arranging appointments with union reps (maybe as one meeting so you get a shared message) as soon as possible after you start. It would be much better to have discussed your aims and how that would impact on their members before making changes, rather than argue with unions later.

Spend a week shadowing teachers and TAs. Our HR staff haven’t got the foggiest what our job consists of and it prevents them from answering questions we have about pay and conditions.

You sound very thoughtful OP. But also naive.

Your employers will value you massively and you will probably never meet the teachers/non teaching staff so I wouldn't worry too much about what we think. You will very much be expected to manage us.

Here is the reality:
I'm master qualified and have 20 years experience and earn 31k. I'm UPS 3 and work 4 days and do about 37 hours work a week (full time hour part time wage) I get in at 7.30 and leave at 4.30 and don't take work home. I actually ran to the toilet today and ran up the the stairs. I get 15 minutes to inhale lunch. I'm under a huge pressure to get grades for student.

I think you need to realise that staff don't really have time. We have to ignore staff surveys or we may be managed out. You will be dealing with managing staff out and negotiating NDA and PILON and gardening leave.

We don't call it leave we call it LOA. We want to fill in the form because I'd like some to read that my mum has a Brain tumour and I need and afternoon off the pick her up from her Brian surgery. Or that I've had my third miscarriage and need to go for a scan to see if the products are not retained. Or my friend had breast cancer and need to take phone call or she will be bumped down the list for chemo.

My SIL is CIPD it's fairly standard for HR. I'm not hostile to HR. teaching contracts are so tightly controlled there is little scope to change things.

I am presuming that part of your HR strategy will be reducing sick leave as this is expensive for the MAT. My top tip would be to properly analyse exit interviews and speak to actual people. Then, instead of penalising people who are physically or mentally unwell, or having to lie in order to fulfil their life-commitments, bring about change so that your workplace is a healthy place to be, with safe places to go if staff are bullied, sensible workloads and appropriate pay. Get out and shadow teachers for whole days, not just popping in and out.
Of course some teachers are hostile, they are doing a 60 hour week for less than half your pay and still being directed to do their jobs better, faster with fewer resources by people who they know couldn't manage their class for half an hour!
Also, staff surveys are not a reliable indicator of staff morale/opinion.

Tbh the main issue is that MAT are run as businesses with a business ideology. Most teachers think they are the core of the problem not the solution. Look at a chart of all the roles in a MAT and it isn't hard to see that there are many people whose role is highly paid and they have little to do with the day to day work of running a school. Then look at the consultants who are brought in with their fabulous ideas. They bring things in that are impractical or don't work. They have been paid for so we are stuck with trying to implement them even if we know they are not as good as something we made two years ago.

Ultimately you don't need to listen to the teachers here because your bosses don't really care what the staff think. Just crack on and bring in some new systems. Your boss's will love them.

@cansu Sadly, I think you have hit the nail on the head.

I recently joined a MAT. The welcome meeting included the HR lead whose shoes probably cost more than my car telling us about the sickness policies. There was lip service paid to mental health and being like "a family".

When I ended up hurt as a result of student assault the main concern was that I fill out the form online correctly and not take time off.

The above posts that sound hostile just want parity- the pay of those managing MATS is so insulting to teachers and support staff who are constantly told to do more with less, for less, and be happy with it. Being told it's all for the children. If it's all for the children, pay yourselves less, invest more and actually give a fuck about mental health in staff instead of just offering us biscuits every now and then.

I am seeing a groundswell in staff working to rule now and that includes me. Schools are now just businesses and more than that, they're businesses all about nice wages and feeling smug about doing a "helping" job for triple a teachers wage for those at the top and cuts, cuts, and fuck yous for actual teachers.

Our school is bleeding out staff. Some jobs are on their 4th ad round.

If a staff survey pops up in my inbox,I'm not answering it. It won't ask anything useful, and if it did, the replies would be ignored anyway.

It's interesting that nobody has come on the thread and said, "I work for a fantastic MAT." This sadly means that we have loads of heartfelt suggestions for what you shouldn't do, but very few tried and tested innovations.

phleb is right. Also, no way am I answering a staff survey, we all know how anonymous they are.

Nutellacrumpets had it right with her take on special leave forms. Maybe you could automate the 'human' back into 'human resources.' When someone returns from a traumatic event, it could trigger an email to a member of SLT along the lines of, 'It's Miss Smith's first day back after her mum died. Offer condolences.'

What phlebas said, and this bit from another PP.

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.

The fact that you've even mentioned your salary in a thread that you've intended for teachers to comment on, in a part of the website meant as a safe space for teachers, is a bit of a red flag for how this job will go for you.

Have you started yet, OP? I agree with others that I'm sure you're a nice person, good at what you do in a business scenario.

Schools aren't businesses, though. As someone else said, we are working at the coal face. I've been working in different parts of the education sector, on the admin side, for 20 years. Now I'm in what should be a nice little primary. Infants only. I came from a failing secondary and was sick of the misuse of money when "consultants" came in from other schools. "Super"heads. Bordering on corruption. In fact in one instance, it WAS investigated.

So I moved to the nice little primary. Which was an enjoyable change for a while even though the workload is extreme. Now the head is leaving and there are whispers of amalgamation/joining a MAT. If that happens I won't be staying around. No offence, but I've seen the waste of money that happens in them, with all the money going to people at the top, implementing this new policy, or that new procedure, in the name of streamlining. They don't ask staff lower down if it would work, though, and there is the issue. People don't want to appear negative, and wouldn't tell you the truth. All the schools in the MAT will have their own individual needs, you can't make them into a brand. And the truth is, a lot of it is pointless box ticking, pointless IT "solutions" which cause more trouble than they're worth.

It's just a shame that more money and autonomy couldn't be given to individual heads of individual schools. They KNOW how best to run their school. They're just sick and tired of having other people who know little about it trying to tell them out to run it with less and less money every year.

I‘m questioning whether you are actually the right person for the job - it’s concerning that you have little to no knowledge of the environment you are joining?

Are you familiar with the STPCD (also known as the burgundy book)? I know some MATs don't follow this, but most will. These are the working conditions that most teachers will expect, and if you start changing things, you may well have a real battle on your hands- even if you believe you are changing things for the better. Teachers and unions will get edgy, wondering if the MAT intends to make things worse elsewhere.

Teachers (and support staff) tend to still be pretty unionised- so you do need to work with the unions on any changes you wish to bring in.

In terms of flexible working, as others have said, the problem is it can end up benefiting some more than others. If you say "everyone can go home for their PPA" (and some heads will hate this as it leaves them without cover in an emergency)- but my PPA is on a Friday afternoon and a Monday morning, and Mrs Jones has hers P2 on Thursday and P3 on Wednesday, who benefits more? It also could mean that HoDs etc are around less when their staff need support/need to speak to them, which also isn't ideal.

STPCD are actually pretty good. It's when MATs start breaking away from this that working conditions often get worse- and yes, it can very often start as positive change.

Someone else did mention part time working, and if you can do anything around that, it would be a major positive- especially things like ensuring those on 0.6 contracts don't end up being made to work 5 days a week, etc.

MATs have a reputation within the teaching profession for treating staff poorly and hiring mainly young cheap malleable teachers, bleeding them dry for a few years, then moving on to the the next tranche when they burn out. I would recommend considering how many of the staff you met are over 35, and if most weren't, considering staying in your old post as you won't be being hired to make life better for staff.

I'm sorry so many of you have had such bad experiences.

I'm happy to say that things are going well in my role and that I'm pleased to say there's lots of older, experienced teachers within the Trust and there are no plans to move away from STPCD - that seems like madness in the current recruitment climate.

A lot of my work initially is actually going to be working with SLTs in the school to develop their skills and confidence in leading and managing and updating policies from ancient local authority adopted processes so they are more modern and attractive - family friendly leave etc.

Again, sorry so many of you have had such bad experiences and I hope you don't work for my MAT!

Just to address this comment directly. I cover 10 schools. That's less than 10k per school for full time, unlimited expert hr and legal advice (I am dual qualified), training and coaching support, someone to update policies and manage the HR administration function.

I was paid more for less in my last job. Yes, I'm paid more than a teacher but it's a completely different job (no more, no less valuable to the organisation- the difference is there's only one of me)

Er NC?

But you cannot be full time for each school - as you say, there's only one of you!

Glad it's going well but you're only a few weeks in and not really in a position to make judgements I'd have thought.

Some are going to be riled by your statement that you are no less valuable to the organisation that a single teacher......

I would imagine that as most terms and conditions etc. are set by national standards for most staff, including admin staff if your MAT follows those scales, you will have little autonomy in making meaningful change in those areas. Our school has recently introduced new systems for pretty much everything (e.g. Aktivabsence) which causes lots more admin work for middle leaders but has very little genuine benefit.

Honestly, I would not be impressed if someone began working at my school, who was being paid significantly more than all teachers and TAs for a role which will have little to no direct impact on students, had so little experience in the sector that they needed to come on a mumsnet forum to ask how to do their job.