Leaked reports of an STRB recommendation for a 6.5 per cent pay increase put Gillian Keegan embarrassingly on the back foot. Government have yet to publish the report, but if true it’s proof that they have so mishandled pay negotiations as to be out of step even with their own normally supportive independent School Teachers Review Body.
The figures speak for themselves, but the problem goes deeper. The government’s vague justification that “economic theory would suggest that potential recruits place extra weight on short-term salary offers rather than long-term progression” seriously under-estimates the impact of the past thirteen years.
The influential motivational theorist, Victor Vroom suggests that employees perform better if three conditions are met:
- expectancy (increasing effort will get the job done – with the right resources, skills and support/information);
- instrumentality (rewards for outcomes, trust that those administering rewards will deliver, and transparency of process);
- and valence (the right reward for the outcome).
