Fast-Track Teacher Recruitment - human resource administration in successful hiring and retention of teachers

School Administrator, Jan, 2001 by Franklin Dean Grant

Today's human resources office needs a strategy and the latest tools to fill personnel needs

The growing shortage of certified teachers and qualified principals makes it essential for a successful school system to have three things: a Renaissance human resources director, a strategic plan for staffing schools and a fast-track recruitment program.

The Renaissance human resources director must create a dynamic new perception for staffing the schools, including greater attention to customer satisfaction. This new vision also must address issues of supply, recruitment, stabilization of newly hired staff, retention of veteran staff and how to capitalize on the expertise of retirees and other former employees.

In addition, the successful human resources directors of today will be those whose offices have the capacity to act with lightning speed in the hiring process. Those who continue to operate at the glacial pace of the past will be gone with the wind in this age of pressing personnel needs in our schools.

Key Components

Here are, in my view, what the Renaissance human resources office must be willing to do to succeed in this new environment:

* Customer satisfaction.

School district employees involved in the hiring process need to be trained in public relations techniques, telephone etiquette and positive customer service approaches. In many situations, the only contact a job applicant will make with a school district is his or her connection with an individual in the personnel office. The recruitment of that applicant may hinge on how the individual is treated by the receptionist during a telephone call of less than a minute.

* Candidate supply.

You cannot reap what you have not sown. Concerted actions must be taken to increase the number of college students majoring in teacher education. The critical point in time is when a student entering college designates his or her major field of study.

Special activities promoting teaching opportunities must be directed to students in middle schools and high schools through career awareness programs and magnet schools. Human resource directors can encourage their school districts to sponsor Future Educators of America programs. The ideal scenario would be to have such a program operating in every middle school and high school.

The federal government, state governments and school districts have a duty to devise creative methods for attracting individuals into teaching. The state legislature in Georgia recently began offering full tuition scholarships to individuals who promise to teach school in the state. The South Carolina Center for Teacher Recruitment runs a Teacher Cadet Program for high school students and a similar career awareness initiative for middle school students.

* Recruitment.

Each school district needs a strategic plan to define long-range, short-range, annual and monthly activities relating to recruitment. It must address customer relations, marketing, methods of recruitment, time schedules, employment goals, diversity, job fairs, international recruitment and other employment issues.

While most school districts make recruiting visits to college campuses, the DeKalb County school system in Decatur, Ga., uses a reverse strategy. Once a year, our district invites about 30 college placement directors to visit us for two days. The placement directors meet the superintendent, school board members, instructional leaders and teachers who are alumni of their institutions. The guests travel by school bus to see schools, the special education center and our science center. They dine in school cafeterias and conclude with a visit to a Major League Baseball game.

* Stabilizing and Retaining.

Recruitment is much more than hiring people. Numerous studies suggest that approximately 50 percent of the teachers hired annually will resign from their jobs within five years. School districts can take several measures to retain newly hired staff.

The school principal is the person with the most influence on teacher retention. The assignment of classes to a new teacher is the starting point. Unfortunately, newcomers frequently are assigned the least desirable classes in the school or made "floating" teachers with no classrooms of their own. These unfortunate duty assignments have significant bearing on a new teacher's outlook.

Attention to orienting, mentoring and staff development for new teachers also contributes to stabilization of new staff.

Financial incentives can smooth the transition for new staff. The DeKalb County district provides a $1,500 salary advance to new teachers and then recovers the funds by deducting $125 from each of 12 monthly paychecks. The Baltimore Public Schools provide newcomers to teaching with $5,000 toward the purchase of a home, and several school districts now offer signing bonuses. Boston offers a $20,000 signing bonus to a select group of teacher applicants.

Incentives also can be used to retain veteran teachers, who usually have a greater interest than newcomers in employee benefits and retirement plans. School districts can provide tax-sheltered annuity and mutual fund investment programs. Customized employee benefit statements can be prepared to keep employees informed about the total benefit package. Recognition programs can honor staff members at various seniority levels and district newsletters can provide another way to call attention to long-serving faculty.