This case study is about a very large secondary school with 1850 pupils, in the suburbs of a city in Northern England.
The school is very successful with specialist and training school status. They have also achieved Investors in People.
The school is about to commence its second year of involvement with the Well-Being Programme. Main concerns already noted by the school were related to an issue with older staff (above 45 years) and burnout.
The HSE Management Standards approach is similar to the Organisational Self-Review Measure (OSRM) developed by Worklife Support as part of the National Well-Being Programme. The Management Standards help organisations assess their performance against six key areas (or risk factors) that can be causes of work-related stress. These are: demands, control, support, relationships, role, and change. Taken as a whole the Standards capture the culture of an organisation that is tackling stress effectively. The OSRM captures all these key areas too, as well as looking at the additional area of personal issues affecting individuals.
As well as the OSRM, Worklife Support also provides: an independent and confidential service to schools, a training programme for Facilitators, assistance with completion of the OSRM, a confidential written commentary and face-to-face feedback with a Well-Being Co-ordinator. To assist with the necessary follow up work after the introduction of the OSRM, Worklife Support offers ongoing support for the Facilitator and individually tailored support to schools through contact with the Co-ordinators. The Well-Being Programme is supported by a national database of information from over 30,000 education employees enabling the development of national profiles.
The working atmosphere of school is characterised by mutual support and a team ethos. They work in departmental and year team groups and the management culture is founded on consultation and participation at all levels. Professional development is at the heart of the growth of the school and staff training and Inset are priorities in its planning and investment. The school is respected in the LEA for its curriculum development initiatives and for the quality of its pupil care and guidance, both of which were extensively praised in the Ofsted inspection in 1999.
Although the school was and is very successful and generally had a culture of positivity and awareness of well being, at the time immediately prior to involvement with the Programme, management were becoming aware of an issue with the 45+ age group and burnout. Many of the staff were ‘first generation graduates’ with high levels of motivation and who had ridden the blows of so many changes that they were becoming worn out.
From having one of the best attendance records in the borough, there was now beginning to be a real issue with absence rates. Out of 170 employees, there were six members of staff on long-term sickness and the school had had a visit from the LEA personnel who was concerned about levels of short-term absence. The Assistant Head took on this issue and challenged one of the more vocal older staff with “What is the problem?” He received very good and honest feedback on 12 main concerns.
At the same time the school attended a regional conference where they heard about the Well-Being Programme. Those staff that attended were enthused and joined as one of a group of 3 schools in the LEA (without support or subsidy from the LEA).
All the staff in the school were encouraged to fill in the confidential questionnaire on line. The percentage of those taking part was 70%, with a slightly better response from non-teaching staff than teachers. After the results were explained to the leadership team and governors, a whole staff meeting was arranged to debrief the findings and smaller groups of staff were asked for suggestions as to how matters could be improved in the school, both in the short term an d in the long term. A ‘Well-Being’ group monitored the changes and encouraged all staff to contribute to each other’s well-being.
The main concern highlighted in the results of the Organisational Self-Review Measure was for the 50+ age group. The report indicated that the well-being of this group was the lowest in the school – despite feeling that they were doing a good job, demands, conflicting priorities and lack of control were impacting severely on their emotional state and on their work-life balance.
To tackle this issue, the school set up a ‘SAGA’ group to address the issues. As a result of discussions, the following measures were put in place:
Confidential interviews when people turn 50 to discuss their careers. For example, members of staff might be asked if they want to shed any responsibility, if there is any change of direction or new area they wish to develop – if there is an untapped interest or passion?
Advice on money matters. The school has a partnership with pension advisors, and staff are given the opportunity to attend one day training to better understand their options. This has helped to raise the morale of a lot of staff.
A sickness absence policy was drawn up to support ‘returners’ from long-term illness. This involved maintaining sensitive contact with staff throughout their illness; giving them support of a supply teacher if required or appropriate for the first two weeks back to ‘phase in’ their teaching; and providing them with monitoring and support from a team ‘buddy’ to ensure that the circumstances leading to their initial illness, if work-related, were not repeated.
A review of the school cover policy was conducted, so that older experienced teachers were no longer given all the difficult classes to cover as a matter of course.
The school has also done some work around new members of staff and sees their induction to the school as very important. They have implemented a formal induction programme for appointees, who all enjoy the support of a specified ‘mentor’. They regard professional development as an entitlement and endeavour to begin that process from the moment of appointment onwards.
Throughout the school there seems to be a renewed sense of motivation and professional commitment from significant numbers of older staff. Older staff also feels more valued and are more confident that they still have an important part to play in the running of the school.
All six long-term sickness absentees have now successfully returned to work.
The school wishes to continue involvement with the Programme, to implement all actions and to monitor and sustain interventions in the future. These actions are now part of the School Improvement Plan.