Challenges in recruitment and retention: School business and support staff

Across the sector, from a school business and support perspective, just as for teaching staff, recruitment is getting harder. There are the ever-expanding expectations on our core purpose and accountability, and a reducing talent pool to recruit from.

The expectations on our business staff and support workforce are growing. Accountability matters, but we are finding we need more experienced and qualified colleagues to keep up with the demands on our sector: ICT and developing technologies, communications and marketing strategies, cyber awareness, health and safety, estates management, financial management, governance, and HR. The compliance requirements and the tasks that fall to school and trust business leaders and their teams are increasing and becoming more specialised. 

The changing expectations on pupil-facing and pastoral staff, often due to under-resourced children’s support services, mean we are looking for people who are prepared to take on roles which may be isolated, without the network of professional support from local services. 

The talent pool is changing too. We are in a society where, mostly, both parents in families need to work full-time. In the past, schools have relied on families where one parent can afford to work part-time and term-time only. It’s often not the case anymore, possibly more often in underserved communities. The difficulties in matching the pay, conditions and flexibility other sectors can offer, along with insufficient funding coming into our schools, is a reality our leaders are facing.