How to Onboard teaching staff (and reduce drop-off!)

Introduction: the crucial role of onboarding in education

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, the onboarding (or pre-boarding as it's sometimes known) of teaching staff has emerged as a pivotal factor in shaping the success and stability of educational institutions. While the focus often lies on recruitment, the journey from hiring to the first day of teaching plays an important role in retaining top talent. Given the challenging landscape of teacher recruitment and retention (the government missed it's secondary teacher recruitment target by 50 percent), recruiting and onboarding well can make all the difference. 

This guide delves into effective strategies for onboarding teaching staff, aimed at reducing the drop-off rate and ensuring a smooth transition into the educational environment.

- Understanding the onboarding challenge
- The role of technology in Onboarding
- Step-by-step guide to effective teacher onboarding
- Measuring the success of your onboarding program
- The long-term benefits of effective onboarding

Understanding the onboarding challenge

The gap between hiring and the actual start date for teachers is fraught with uncertainties and potential disengagement - especially so with only three recruitment windows per year (at the end of February, May and October). This period is critical; a lack of engagement or poor communication can lead to new hires reconsidering their decision, resulting in a high drop-off rate. The challenge for schools and colleges is to maintain that momentum and enthusiasm of their newly hired teachers during this interim.

The role of technology in Onboarding

Technology, like an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), can play a vital role in bridging the hire-to-start date gap. A good ATS will include a suite of tools designed to keep new hires engaged and connected - keeping the emotional momentum. That's one of the reasons we created our Welcome Hub in our Jobtrain ATS - it's instrumental to the process. The Welcome Hub facilitates pre-start engagement, allowing just-hired teachers to familiarise themselves with the organisation's culture, values and expectations.

Step-by-step guide to effective teacher onboarding

1. Ensure a seamless and user-friendly onboarding and compliance process: We highly recommend that all organisations prioritise a smooth and easy onboarding experience for new hires. How user-friendly is the process for reviewing and accepting contracts, offer letters, and completing necessary checks like DBS and Right-to-Work? If it's complicated or partly offline, new hires may quickly lose interest. Ideally, onboarding and compliance should be managed online through a single portal, making the process as straightforward and engaging as possible.
2. Pre-onboarding communication: Immediately after a teacher accepts the offer, begin a structured communication plan. This includes welcome emails, information about the school and regular check-ins.
3. Administrative efficiency: Streamline administrative tasks by using the power of the ATS. This includes digital submission of onboarding documents, automated reminders for important dates and swift processing of DBS checks and Right-to-Work clearances.
4. Customised welcome experience: Recruiting into the maths department? Or the arts department? Tailor the onboarding experience and messaging to align with the organisation and department's unique ethos and culture.
5. Interactive Welcome Hub portal: A Welcome Hub provides an interactive and informative platform for new hires to feel connected with their new employer whilst waiting for their start date to come around. Here, you can choose what you want to showcase to new hires - introduce them to other teachers in the department, include essential documents, training materials or even let them know where they can get lunch on their first day!
6. Engagement before the start date: Organising virtual meet-and-greets with future colleagues and mentors. Consider assigning pre-start tasks or reading materials to keep the new hires engaged and invested in their new role.
7. The first day and beyond: The first day should be well-organised, welcoming and informative. Continue the post-onboarding process with structured mentorship programs, regular feedback sessions and professional development opportunities.

Measuring the success of your onboarding program

To continuously enhance the onboarding process, it is crucial to measure its effectiveness. Collect feedback from new hires regarding their experience, keep track of early-stage retention rates and evaluate the impact of onboarding on initial job performance. Analysing this data will provide valuable insights for improving your onboarding program in the future. Using an ATS? Then it should include everything you need to measure key performance metrics.

The long-term benefits of effective onboarding

An effective onboarding program goes beyond simply reducing the number of teachers who leave within the first few months. It fosters a strong sense of belonging and dedication among newly hired teachers, leading to greater job satisfaction, improved performance and long-term commitment. Ultimately, this creates a stable and thriving educational environment that benefits both staff and students alike.