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‘Workforce’ is one of the DFE’s 5 key pillars, and its essential areas of retention, Continuous Professional Development, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, amongst others, are critical aspects of a People Strategy. Ofsted now also includes, for multi-academy trusts, a review of the central trust’s plans about their ‘People’, including employee retention and succession planning.
On these topical issues, EPM recently hosted senior MAT leaders, education industry and HR experts for a roundtable event discussing key people challenges. Led by our CEO, Jen Elliott, the event allowed attendees to discuss areas including recruitment, data to inform decision-making, how to improve employee engagement, succession planning, and employee wellbeing. The session facilitated the sharing of their experiences in these challenging areas. We were delighted to have representatives at the table from Harris Federation, SOKE Trust, Viking Academy Trust, Pathfinder Schools Trust, Activate Learning Trust, Diocese of St Albans, Shine MAT, Tudor Grange Academies Trust and Heart Academies Trust.
Who joined us?
Alex Hawkins, Director of People Services, and Alison Wayman, Senior HR Partner, also attended to share their experiences of EPM's work in this space.
EPM was grateful for the input from Engaging Education, Wellbee and IRIS Education (all sponsors of MATA), who offered their expertise about data and dashboards, employee wellbeing, and the need for integrated people data in trusts. Chair of Trustees, Victoria Del Giudice, also shared insights into the education recruitment market, identifying trends and practical advice to maximise opportunities.
Andy Riches, MAT CEO, and Ross Bennett expertly covered the importance of trust branding and the relevance of the DfE’s Trust Quality Descriptions in strategic decisions.
Mark Solomons, Wellbee, discussed wellbeing as an integral aspect of a trust's culture and values, as the group explored the recurring themes of their own experience. He offered advice on implementing proactive initiatives and embedding them as seamlessly and effectively as possible. The message at the centre of the discussion was that undertaking a few key initiatives well is better than attempting to implement many changes and struggling to conclude them.
Simon Freeman and Nic Clark, from Iris Education, talked about integrated data and their roadmap of data dashboards for central trusts using Iris Central, pulling together data from different systems into one powerful reporting tool. Leading nicely on was a discussion of the potential of an additional overlay of the power of AI to identify trends and correlations easily. Delegates were excited to explore how this technology will help trusts understand where to focus their valuable time and resources to maximise the impact.
What we found
It was clear that, by demonstrating your Trust values and highlighting what differentiates you from others, you can ensure your existing employees understand your proposition and externally market the Trust positively as an employer, leading to a more engaged workforce and ultimately improved educational outcomes.
Delegates unanimously agreed that our roundtable event provided a valuable opportunity to share experiences about creating and implementing a People Strategy in an open, honest discussion. In January, we will follow the conversation with a session on Central Team structure and managing employee relations.
