Improving Faculty Climate to Boost Retention

By Dr. Harry Bloom, Founder and President, Benchmarking for Good, Inc.

Previously Featured in JEIC Online Publication, jewishchallenge.org

The recent Prizmah/JEIC reports that indicated that Jewish day schools need to take steps to enhance faculty retention is very much on target. Recent faculty climate surveys conducted by Benchmarking for Good with nearly 1000 educational personnel from 16 diverse Jewish day schools indicates that ~⅔ of Jewish day school teachers have more than 11 years of teaching experience and nearly half have over 15 years’ experience.

Coupling heavy seniority with the fact that only half of teachers are satisfied with the competitiveness of their salary –suggests that this is a situation that is ripe for potential attrition. While salary is not at the very top of teachers’ hierarchy of wishes, 67% of teachers indicate that receiving a competitive salary is very important to them in terms of choosing an employer.

Teachers Have an “Employer of Choice” Enthusiasm Gap

Additional support for the existence of an enthusiasm gap among teachers is their response to the question: “How likely are you to recommend that a friend or family member work at your school?” When we calculate a Net Promoter Score which is developed by subtracting the percentage of teachers unlikely to recommend working at their school to a friend or family members from the percentage that would be very likely to do so we get a relatively low score of 35%. In contrast, the comparable Net Promoter Score for Educational Administrators is 65%. Thus, the teachers are much less enthusiastic about their school being an employer of choice than their bosses!

Strengthening Retention by Focusing on What Drives Employment Preference

Utilizing statistical correlation analysis applied to the Benchmarking for Good Faculty Climate Survey database, it is possible to determine which employment related factors drive teachers’ enthusiasm for their employer. It turns out that four factors correlate most strongly with the propensity for teachers to want to recommend to friends and family that they pursue employment at their school. 

These key factors are the extent to which teachers feel aligned with their school’s Mission; the extent to which they believe their supervisor has a reasonable expectation of their workload; how free teachers feel able to communicate about ideas, concerns and suggestions; and the extent to which teachers feel they have been provided with the tools they need to do their jobs in the form of space, curriculum and technology. By focusing on opening a dialog with their teachers to better understand how to optimize their perceived performance on these factors, school administrators can build strength of affinity among their teachers and thereby enhance retention.

Indicated Actions for School Administrators

Create Public Forums that Encourage Open Faculty Communication and Demonstrate Active Listening and Willingness to Act on Suggestions

Communicate to Faculty About the Rationale for the School Mission and Build Teachers’ Perceived Alignment with the School Mission

Research Specific Faculty Tool Needs and Work to Fund the Acquisition of Required Tools that Enhance their Effectiveness

Encourage Supervisors to Explicitly Discuss and Clarify Teachers’ Workload Expectations Coupled with Steps to Help Them Preserve Work/Life Balance

Finally, attention must be paid to working with board leadership to narrow perceived gaps in salaries relative to competing schools so that teachers feel they are being paid competitively– at least relative to teachers working in area private schools. Where necessary, plan to bridge gaps over multiple years and clearly communicate this intention as part of strategic planning processes.

In Conclusion

A focus by school administrators on how to actively promote faculty retention is a fundamental priority for Jewish day schools due to the seniority of current faculty members, perceptions about non-competitive salaries, and gaps in enthusiasm. By leveraging data derived from faculty climate surveys, school administrators can purposefully target the key factors influencing faculty affinity and retention and thereby safeguard their schools’ most valuable resource.

For information about how your school can participate in Benchmarking for Good’s next round of Faculty Climate Surveys via a no-cost grant, please contact Dr. Harry Bloom at harrybloom@benchmarkingforgood.org