Succession Planning, Staff Development and Talent Management

 

As you already know, the best way to manage recruitment and retention is to make the most of those staff you already employ. Ensure they are in the right roles, and have the right knowledge, skills and resources to do their job now and are developed for those future roles needed. They are also likely to enjoy their job more, have greater satisfaction and engagement and as a result giving higher discretionary effort.

Start by clearly identifying the performance and potential of all staff members and use this analysis to identify current and potential gaps, support attraction and recruitment decisions, manage performance, develop talent and all staff members. This will help to minimise the number of good staff leaving, fill future leadership positions with people identified and developed for the role and save substantial costs and management time.

You are already likely to have a Trust process or programme and below is an example of a system you can use, adapt or take elements from.

The first document sets out a grid where you will plot your staff for Track Record and Potential using 'High, Medium & Low'.

This will place them in one of the boxes in the grid and use the questions asked to help you place staff in the box you believe best represents their position. This is subjective and it is to help you start the right conversations. 

The second document asks additional questions that consider leadership potential and can be used to further support your discussions and decide where staff sit within the grid.

You can plot staff onto the available grids - one is for use at a school level and the other at the Trust. This is simply a way to keep a record and to continue to track staff. This also asks you to identify staff at risk of leaving, as well as the impact of them leaving.

Once you have identified a staff member to a grid position you can check against the behaviours listed to confirm they there is a match - again this is a subjective process and one that will help you manage succession and talent.

Once confirmed you can show all staff members within the grid box to which they have been allocated.

Finally, you can use this document to decide on the action you might take to support and develop each staff member, based on the grid position you have allocated. This provides suggestions that you can build on.

If you do not already have a process then this is one you might adopt to support you - it will take time and you can start by reviewing key staff and positions and building from there.

Automate the process

If this appeals and you would like to use technology to speed up the review process then do get in touch. This would mean you only need to carry out the reviews (on-line) and the allocation to the grid and ability to filter across the MAT and schools would be immediately available through your own dashboard (available for the MAT and all schools within it). 

Training and Development

Once you have identified the support, training and development that staff members need, you will want to consider how this can be delivered. It cannot simply be about short twilight sessions, 15 minute briefings, inset days and workshop merry-go-rounds or carousels.

It is about career conversations, an agreed long and short term plan and making sure this is highly relevant for the individual as well as the Trust and school. This includes preparing for leadership for those that want it, rather than waiting until after their appointment.

We have previously covered the 12 competencies proven to prevent and reduce staff stress, and leaders whose behaviours meet these competencies are very likely to better engage staff and deliver higher performance. To further help we have identified specific knowledge and skills for training and development - you can download this list by clicking here.

Dip your toe in the water...?

Can we take just 25 minutes of your time to show you how we make improving staff wellbeing easier for Trusts and their schools? 

Use the button below to book your free no obligation 25 minute Demo.

“Welbee provides an amazing foundation to our wellbeing strategy. It's cost-effective, easy to use and provides excellent support, making the complex job of managing multiple pieces of data from 1300 employees, easy. Welbee is a highly effective staff wellbeing evaluation and improvement tool, making staff wellbeing simply part of what happens every day.”

Debbie Duggan

Operational Resources Director

It's OK if you are still not sure and would like more information first - just email support@welbee.co.uk and we will share the features and benefits of Welbee and how these help deliver the evidence proven benefits of higher staff retention, lower staff absences, better financial performance and further raise student outcomes. All starting with DfE Staff Wellbeing Charter recognised measurement.