Hiring and Retaining Top Talent: The Importance of Site Leadership and Identity Alignment
If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.
– Simon Sinek
INTRO
It doesn’t need to be in the news for us to know: hiring and retaining teachers and school staff is an increasingly difficult task. And it’s also the most important for our students. Yes, there are larger, more complex problems that need to be resolved, but there are also changes you can make now that will help you start hiring and retaining the talent your students need and deserve.
OBJECTIVES
- Reflect on your current staff and hiring practices: are you hiring talent who align with your school’s/district’s identity? Does your staff reflect your student population?
- Begin brainstorming how you can create more equitable and effective hiring practices for the next round of hiring (using this post’s ideas as inspiration)
RESOURCES
- CROWDSOURCE VIDEO CLIP: New Hiring Practices at AUHSD
Hiring & Retaining Top Talent Begins With You
Site leadership matters. The principal is key to attracting and retaining talent.
A New Way of Hiring Top Talent
Find and hire top talent who align with your sites’s identity, vision, and mission, and who are then likely to remain.
FIRST INTERVIEW
Panel of top teachers from throughout the district/school.
Interdisciplinary and diverse grade levels and experience.
This panel conducts the first interview and selects those to be interviewed by their respective sites.
“Top teachers” not only perform well, but do so in alignment with the district’s/school’s identity, vision, and mission.
This panel sorts through the applications and selects applicants for interviews.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Have nothing to do with content, etc. — the focus is on discovering Is this the right fit for our school/district?
What you don’t know — and need to know — aligned with your maxims/identity.
Remember, you already know about a candidate’s knowledge, skills, experience, references, etc. (that’s in the application/resume) — what you really need to know is if they’re a good fit for your district/site.
SECOND INTERVIEW
Panel of top teachers site-level interviews — again, the focus is on discovering “Is this the right fit for our school” from throughout the district/school.
Equity Lens: Consider the demographics of your student population and the current makeup of your staff in addition to your school’s maxims/identity.
REFLECTION
- Reflect on your current staff and hiring practices: are you hiring talent who align with your school’s/district’s identity? Does your staff reflect your student population?
- Brainstorm how you can create more equitable and effective hiring practices for the next round of hiring (using this post’s ideas as inspiration)
Responses