Courtney Payne

What do you see as your primary concern as you look at coming out of this school year or during the summer with hiring next school year, what’s top of mind for you?

There’s been a major focus on retention for such a long time in the HR profession and we’re seeing that in education now. There’s been an initiative to recruit and hire great people. Retention is the new recruitment.

We’re taking a very hard look at how we retain the staff that we are hiring, how we develop them, and how we compete with our competitive labor market in our area. That means pay and benefits, but what we’re also seeing with younger generations entering the workforce is the desire to want to be developed, to have flexibility, and be engaged in their work. That’s different from previous generations we’ve had in the general workforce, and we’re seeing that in our district as well.

What about stretching it further and looking down the line as far as yours and other district leadership’s strategic vision for the district?

We’ve worked over the last several years to implement programs, systems and supports that will foster the culture and environment that we want for our staff. Retention often hinges on workplace culture and leadership that align with an employee’s morals and values. Discrepancies in these areas can lead to loss of staff.

There’s a very common saying people don’t leave bad companies or leave a bad job, they leave bad bosses. We’re very fortunate in our district to have some amazing leaders. That being said, we have a lot who have retired. So, we are putting a lot of effort into supporting those new administrators that are coming into leadership positions in our district. We’re giving them the tools that they need to support their staff, create those positive work environments, and keep them engaged.

There’s also been a big focus on wellness and what we can do for them. We have an EAP program. We have also expanded that to an online library of resources that serves as a mental health first aid to our staff and their families.

In the mental health area right now, getting an appointment with any counseling agency is going to take a decent amount of time. It isn’t the quick turnaround that we used to see. Having those initial first aid resources that are readily for themselves, or family members, is a great benefit that we have.

You’ve touched on this above, but is there anything else you’d like to elaborate on in terms of what you and leadership are doing to foster positive mental health?

We recognize as a district and understand that teaching and education in general can be a stressful profession. It can be hard to leave things at home and maintain that work life balance.

There is a lot of focus going into the student side of mental health as well to help give students what they need. Those are tools and strategies that our staff can take over into their daily lives and their work routines and implement those as well.

I talked about supporting our administrators and giving them what they need to support our staff. I think a lot of times our staff need to know that they are valued, appreciated, recognized and just seen. I see a lot in my office where sometimes they don’t need you to solve the problem, they just need to be heard. That goes a very long way. That’s something that we’re trying to equip, not just our administrators with, but also our staff to give our students the resources that they need. It’s not going to be an instant overnight result, but over time we will see the fruit of that labor so to speak.