Attracting Top Talent: How schools and academy trusts can improve their strategy

Attracting top talent in a school or academy trusts’ recruitment process is crucial in ensuring they are staffed with the best teachers, administrators, and support staff. However, attracting the best talent is often easier said than done. In this blog, we will explore some strategies that school and academy trust leaders can use to attract top talent and look at sustaining a strong and successful team to ensure ongoing success.

1. Establish your school/academy trust as a great place to work: To attract top talent, it's important to establish your school/academy trust as a great place to work. You can do this by creating a positive work culture, offering competitive salaries and benefits, and providing opportunities for professional development. It's also important to communicate the vision and values of your school/academy trust to potential candidates, so they can see how they fit into your establishment, think about your school, your setting and what is required to get the best talent to join your team.

2. Create a strong online presence: Creating a strong online presence is essential in attracting top talent. This includes having a well-designed and informative website, as well as a presence on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. By using social media, you can promote your school/academy trust and engage with potential candidates. It is important to always highlight and celebrate your successes. It is worth looking beyond your school improvement plan and looking at raising your local profile. Social media, local events and general publicity is a good way to maintain this.

3. Partnerships: Recruitment agencies can be a valuable resource in attracting top talent. These agencies have access to a large pool of candidates and can help to match candidates with the right roles. When working with recruitment agencies, it's important to communicate your school/academy trust's vision and values, so they can find candidates who are the right fit for your establishment.

4. Job adverts should be engaging: Ensure that your job advert is less of a job description and talks more of the opportunity available. When applying for a role, at any level, the overall opportunity and challenge at the school / academy trust is often what appeals more than a list of job duties. Ensure that it s clear what is expected of someone within the team,  yet highlight how this is supported by senior leadership.  

5. Make the application process simple: Demanding workloads means time can be limited and potential candidates will be busy with their existing commitments. Therefore, a lengthy application process can dissuade candidates from applying for a new position. The application process needs to be simple and positive. Concise application forms, relevant questions and clear deadlines will ease the process and responding to all applicants is essential.

6. Using Google: Using Google and keywords can be an effective way to attract top talent in school/academy trust recruitment processes. This includes using relevant keywords in job descriptions, optimising your website and adverts for search engines (SEO), using google ads to target specific individuals, and monitoring your online reputation on websites such as Glassdoor.

Attracting top talent requires a multifaceted approach, including creating a positive work culture[HL4] , using streamlined processes, and creating a strong online presence. By following these strategies, school and academy trust leaders can attract the best candidates and create a positive and safe working environment for all staff and students. The traditional methods of recruiting to education roles are becoming more challenging and the current market is making many schools / academy trusts think differently about their approach and how to manage this on an ongoing basis.

How Strictly Education can help…

Recruitment Services:

Our Education Recruitment service, in partnership with Eteach, offers schools and academies access to a range of features to showcase their establishment. Features include customised career pages, unlimited recruitment advertising, access to talent pools, and a GDPR-compliant online application process, ensuring effective promotion and attracting top talent.

HR Resources Hub:

Our HR Resources Hub offers a range of comprehensive guidance and a variety of valuable tools and templates on a range of HR matters. If you are not currently a subscriber, you can register for a FREE 7-day trial of our HR resources. This trial provides access to over 1000 sector-specific web pages and downloadable materials specifically designed for schools, academy trusts, and sixth form colleges in England. Sign up now to benefit from this trial and explore the wealth of HR resources available to you.

Get in touch to find out more on 0330 123 2549 or at enquire@strictlyeducation.co.uk we are happy to answer your questions.