comfortable with discomfort

It is fair to say, that if you invest in training your best and brightest colleagues, you may still lose them. But, just like your students, if you do not provide opportunities to really stretch and challenge them, they will leave anyway!

So, this point is as much about retention as it is upskilling.

How do you decide where to invest your time and money?

Firstly, there are always the training essentials: effective onboarding, safeguarding, health and safety, first aid and so on. Then there is training which enhances productivity and quality: technical or job-specific training or coaching around project management, time management skills, delegation, adaptability etc.

But what about developing ‘life’ skills? This might include effective communication, self-presentation, negotiation and influencing skills etc. Some are now calling these ‘power’ skills.

When was the last time you ran a session on respect in the workplace or on self-esteem and self-confidence or feeling comfortable with change? These are all topics we have seen an increasing demand for in recent years with positive, proven outcomes.

Equally, have you ever completed individual psychometric profiling for the people in your school with responsibility for line managing others? This can be a quick and highly cost-effective way to help people understand their own strengths, and how they are viewed by others.

Consider asking your teams what training they would like? What are they interested in? What skills would they like to enhance or develop? What might help them achieve their career aspirations or support them with some of the more niche areas of their roles?

If the requests made seem beyond your budget, consider making it a shared responsibility. Or, if it is retention you are worried about, ask that they commit to a refund if they leave within a certain period.

It cannot be said often enough: digital innovation requires ever higher competence and confidence in IT for the most junior to the most senior of staff, whatever role they are in.

Developing tech skills across any organisation is a ‘nobrainer’. We live in a world of such speedy IT innovation that millions of employees are struggling to keep up.

Tech is changing so fast and there are simply too many in the workplace who very quickly find themselves struggling with new digital devices/programmes etc. So, use your upskilling programme to help your staff keep up. These could include weekly ‘lunch and learns’, 10-minute coffee break ‘knowledge busters’ or a little bit of eLearning on a niche topic.

Any upskilling plan you develop must include opportunities for your staff to learn/develop tech skills in a safe environment. You should also recognise that this will take many of them outside their comfort zones. Whether it is an updated customer relationship management tool for your admissions team, increasing digital capabilities within your marketing and finance departments, or more dynamic tech for the classroom, never assume people will just get it.

Do not expect people to be confident or to automatically use your new software to its full capability. Most importantly, never assume your organisation can