Would more teachers train, and stay, if flex was an option? Our new, year-long Innovation Unit project will see us working with three multi-academy trusts to research, design and test flexible teaching roles.
By Emma Stewart, Co-Founder, Timewise
It’s no secret that the teaching profession, is struggling to recruit and retain the teachers it needs. Pre-Covid-19 data indicated that targets for the required number of secondary school trainees had been missed for the last seven years, and that 33% of state school NQTs leave within five years. And although the pandemic appears to have triggered a spike in graduate teacher training applications, it’s not yet clear whether this will last – or be enough to bridge the gap.
While it isn’t the only factor behind the teaching brain drain, the lack of flexible teaching roles compared to other sectors is likely to play a part. Indeed, there is evidence to suggest that some teachers leave the profession because they can’t access flexible working; and that many secondary school teachers who do leave reduce their hours when they do so.
In fairness, it’s true that teaching roles are not easy to make flexible; there are a range of barriers, such as timetabling, budget constraints and the student-facing nature of the role, which are all complex to overcome. However, we believe that no sector is un-flexable; we specifically set up our Innovation Unit to tackle these hard-to-fix sectors, and show what can be done.
So, on that basis, and following on from our 2019 report on building flexibility into schools, we are launching a new action research project for the teaching sector. Working in partnership with three large multi-academy Trusts (MATs) and supported by education specialists Talent Architects, we’ll start by exploring the barriers in more depth, as well as building on the insights that these schools gained during Covid-19, and seeing what positive experiences can be taken forward. We’ll then use our learnings to design flexible roles that work around or overcome these barriers, and pilot them within schools.
The project, which is being supported by Barclays Life Skills and Browne Jacobson LLP, will last a year; we’ll post updates about what we’re learning along the way, as well as a full final report. In the meantime, if you’d like some initial inspiration, take a look at our case study of a school with a hugely successful track record in this area, Huntington School in York, where more than half of teachers work part-time.
Right now, though, schools like Huntington are in the minority, and they are having to work it out for themselves. It’s our hope that this project will deliver a clear roadmap for schools for designing and delivering flexible teaching roles, so that wherever they are, whatever their size, they can attract and keep teachers by offering the flexibility they need and want.
Published September 2020
The statistics around teaching staff shortages are well known, but they bear repeating. Data from the NFER has indicated that targets for the required number of secondary school trainees have been missed for seven years in a row, and 33% of state school NQTs leave within five years. And while the Covid-19 crisis appears to have triggered a spike in graduate teacher training applications, it’s too early to say whether this will deliver sustainable growth.
Yet it is possible to buck these trends. There are a number of schools who are managing to hold on to their experienced staff at far higher rates than others. Step forward Huntington School, a community secondary in York, which has a miniscule staff turnover rate of 7%. Around half of teachers work part-time – including members of SLT – on contracts ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 FTE, and there are several job shares.
So, what’s the secret? According to Headteacher John Tomsett, it’s all about the culture. John’s philosophy is that good schools don’t just pop up overnight; they grow over time out of a supportive culture, led by the leadership, that guides the school’s vision in the right direction.
In practice, at Huntington School, this means busting the myth that part-time teachers have a negative impact on students, and that the timetable can only accommodate a few part-time jobs. It means understanding that happy teachers stay, and that supporting the other aspects of their lives allows a school to get the best out of them. And it means taking a positive, proactive approach to flexible working, with a process built on the presumption that “We will make it work.”
It’s becoming clear that, when the workplace gets back to ‘normal’, it won’t look like it did before. The crisis has challenged the concept of the office being the best place to work. And employees in all kinds of roles, whether office-based, frontline or elsewhere, have seen for themselves the benefits of working flexibly or reducing their hours.
The knock-on effect of this is an increase in demand for permanent flexibility. A recent survey suggested that 13 million people plan to request changes to their long-term pattern once the crisis has subsided.
Is this something employers should fear? On the contrary, we believe this is a catalyst that will change workplaces for the better. And so instead of worrying about opening the floodgates, leaders and managers should see this as an opportunity to be proactive, and encourage their staff to explore their options in a way that will work for the business.
It’s for this reason that we’ve created a free toolkit for employees, Beyond lockdown: How to negotiate flexible working, for the long-term . It’s part of our free Covid-19 support programme, and will help individuals understand the different flexible working options, explore which best match their role, and think through the impact on their team and the wider organisation.
Sharing this toolkit with your employees will help them consider the issues and potential solutions before they bring their request to their managers, which should lead to really positive conversations. It will also encourage them to ask for a flexible working pattern that benefits the business as well as themselves.
And critically, being proactive about offering this support will demonstrate that you’re a forward-looking, proactive employer who puts staff wellbeing at the heart of your strategy. In the post-Covid landscape, where organisations may be judged on their response to the crisis, that’s a powerful position to be in.
Our free Covid-19 programme is supported by Barclays LifeSkills and Trust for London.
Published June 2021
The current crisis has been described as ‘full-time work meeting full-time life’; a remote working experiment that we’re all having to work through. So how are employers supporting their employees during Covid-19 – and what should they do next?
We recently co-hosted a session for Timewise Partners, in which we explored how different companies are managing the status quo, and provided a mixture of short-term practical guidance and long-term issues to consider. Here are the highlights.
Among the insights we shared with our partners were these snapshots of workplace life during Covid-19:
Our attendees shared a number of examples of good practice from their organisations. These included:
Leadership and management
Changes to processes
Information and resources
Mental health and wellbeing
Planning ahead
We also shared four core principles to help employers take the right next steps to support their employees:
(1) Think about WHAT people are doing
Assess what work needs doing, right now. Set priorities, new objectives and expectations for what needs to be done, before working out how to do it differently. Recognise the backdrop to people’s current working lives and consider the balance between the business’ needs and individuals’ needs.
(2) Think about WHERE people are working and how to support them
Consider providing enhanced broadband or a proper office chair. Create space for collaboration and engagement such as virtual team meetings and remote cafes, and check in on anyone who goes under the radar. Note what’s working and what isn’t to ensure you take the best examples with you into the long term.
(3) Think about WHEN work needs to be done and how that matches with people’s needs
Some people may be splitting childcare with a partner and so may need to have blocks of time off. Others may need to get ahead at the weekend to allow more breaks in the week. Build a framework that looks at your organisation’s needs and each individual’s needs to identify working patterns that will suit both parties.
(4) Think about HOW MUCH work needs doing and can be managed at the current time
Some employers need staff to reduce their hours to save costs; some employees need to work less to juggle their other commitments. In order to make this work, leaders need to either reduce the workload or find alternative resource. Expecting people to do the same work in less time isn’t a sustainable option.
We also shared our thoughts on the opportunities and risks coming out of Covid-19 and what employers need to do to mitigate the negatives and make the most of the positives.
As the situation continues, we’re keen to gather and share more stories about what’s working and what’s not, so more businesses are able to come out of Covid-19 into a more flexible future. If you have any insights to share, or need support from the Timewise team, do please get in touch.
Published April 2020
By Kevin Green, Interim Chair, Timewise Executive Board
It’s becoming increasingly clear that many of us will be working from home for a significant period of time. It’s also likely that many managers will be leading a completely remote team for the first time.
This situation was no doubt thrust on both parties with little time to think, talk or prepare for this new way of working. And it will call for managers to operate very differently.
We know that the way we engage and communicate with each other when people physically work together is often informal. Great managers understand their people, and can pick up on changes by observing both individual and team behaviour. However, both of these become much more challenging as people work from home or remotely.
But there is a massive, positive opportunity here. 80% of people who work remotely say that if it’s done well, their engagement and morale improves; and 62% say they feel more trusted. This is therefore an opportunity to be grasped.
Here are my six top tips to help you support and inspire your remote team.
In times of crisis and change, people look to their managers and leaders to provide clarity, support, guidance and direction. True leaders will step forward, recognising the importance of their role. And they will start by reinforcing why the work the team does is important.
The more this work is aligned to a compelling purpose, the better, as this creates meaning. Leaders who are good at this get their people excited about what they are doing and why it’s important. They need to walk the talk and be visible and available to their teams, but they also need to demonstrate energy and the ability to make tough or difficult calls.
A leader’s true values will be thoroughly tested under pressure. After all, it’s relatively easy to live your values when times are good. But when success and results hang in the balance, an authentic leader will demonstrate what they are prepared to sacrifice and the trade-offs they are willing to make. Leadership is about putting your team first and yourself second.
It’s important to set clear expectations about this new way of working. This includes your expectations of people’s availability and accountability as well as how often team and one-to-one conversations will take place.
My advice is to do generic scene-setting with the whole team so they all hear it together at the same time. Make sure there is plenty of time for questions, and remember to ask for ideas. How can we make this work together?
Then, have a one-to-one conversation with each member of the team about their specific deliverables, what you expect of them and by when. Clarity is important, but so is giving people the space and opportunity to share ideas, ask questions and explore the issues; it avoids misunderstanding and difficulty later. So don’t rush the process.
Team communication is an important part of a leader’s role in any circumstances; but when everyone is working remotely, it becomes critical. So you need to recognise that you should spend more time talking, listening and engaging with your people –it’s important people feel connected.
First, if at all possible, use video rather than conference calls. If you can’t, use conference calls rather than the dreaded email, which has so much potential there is for misunderstanding. The opportunity to use video is a godsend in the current situation, and is so much easier today thanks to tools such as Zoom, Skype and Google Hangouts.
Over 60% of communication is non-verbal, so seeing people as they talk enables you to pick up on these signs. Keep the team communicating as a whole. Continue with regular team meetings; indeed, to support this new way of working, you may want to increase their frequency –perhaps starting with twice or three times per week. This will help people get comfortable and allow them to test how it works for them.
Make sure you allow time for small talk, too; people may be feeling isolated or even lonely after several days with little social contact. A good way of doing this is to get everyone to check in (say how they feel at the moment) at the start of the meeting.
It’s also a good idea to carry on doing creative and brainstorming sessions with the team, asking for ideas or solving problems together, This will enable your team to feel connected and that they are making a collective contribution.
One-to-ones must continue and, as with general team meetings, you may want to do them a little more regularly to start with. Ask lots of questions to find out what’s going on for each individual. Share agendas in advance, and make sure you know what you’re going to be covering.
Preparation is even more important for conversations over the phone or video, as they tend to be shorter and more business-focused. Listen actively to what’s being said and try to avoid assumptions and talking over other people. Ask questions to clarify what’s meant, so you’re not talking at crossed purposes.
It’s important to foster friendships among the people that work for you. Apart from formal calls and meetings, encourage your people to have informal calls with each other to help them stay connected. We know that people feel more engaged and passionate about their work if they have workplace confidants and supporters. This may disappear during remote working if it’s not encouraged.
People go to their work friends when they need help or want to celebrate or commiserate about workplace things. In the absence of that support, work can feel lonely and isolating, and lacking attachment. However much we like what we do, we won’t be fully energised or motivated if we don’t have close and supportive relationships at work.
A study by Harvard Business Review showed that remote workers are far more likely than on-site employees to worry that co-workers say bad things behind their backs, make changes to projects without telling them in advance, lobby against them and don’t fight for their priorities. Be a leader who encourages a culture of open positive friendships among co-workers — this will avoid these concerns becoming a reality.
Be responsive and available to your team. Set aside time in your calendar when you’re happy to be contacted, so your team know they can catch up with you on anything.
One thing that really makes people feel distant is the communication time-lag. If they have to wait hours for a response to something they are working on, or an idea they have, whether it’s right or wrong, people feel it’s not important to their manager.
By setting time aside where you’re available online or over the phone to provide feedback or insight instantly helps people feel recognised and listened to.
Many of the things I’ve proposed here will feel unnatural to start with. But if you persist, then there is no reason why your team shouldn’t be as productive, creative and energised as if they were on-site together. In fact, you may even find that they perform better and deliver better results working this way. From adversity comes opportunities; let’s grasp them.
Published April 2020
One of the most visible examples of the impact of coronavirus on the workplace is the growth of remote working. And as we’re flexible working specialists, you’d imagine we’d be delighted. But while it’s great to see companies adapting to the need to work together while apart, it’s time to take stock of where we are – and where we might end up. Are all the changes we’re seeing for the better – and will they last?
It’s certainly true that there are a number of positives coming out of the crisis. On a societal level, as an organisation who has been working to support work-life balance for nursing staff, we feel the outpouring of appreciation for NHS employees is long overdue. And we sincerely hope that their value, and that of other frontline workers such as teachers, retail staff, government employees and carers, who are putting themselves at risk for all our sakes, continues to be respected and rewarded once the crisis is over.
Additionally, on a practical level, this enforced experiment in remote working has overturned some long-held objections to remote working, creating real opportunities to change the narrative:
It’s our hope that, as a result, the reasons traditionally given for not allowing remote working just won’t wash. And so the debate can move on from whether it should be used to how to make it work – and the focus onto practical solutions such as job design and culture change.
However, there are also some ways in which the impact of coronavirus is more negative. For example:
And of course, we also need to beware the assumption that this is a temporary response to Covid-19, and that everything will go back to normal once the restrictions are lifted. Despite the pitfalls outlined above, I very much hope that isn’t the case.
Indeed, I’d argue that there is no normal to go back to. I believe that some of the more positive experiences caused by the impact of the coronavirus – avoiding the commute, spending more time with family and being able to work at times that suit us – will encourage employees to push for greater flexible working. And forward-looking employers will need to incorporate it as part of their offer.
If that’s the case, what should employers do to set the right tone, right now? Here are three good ways to start:
Here at Timewise, we’re already exploring the best way to turn the impact of coronavirus into a positive force for change. We’re creating a programme of webinars, training sessions, toolkits and advice for employers, with two core aims:
It’s a challenging time right now; no question. But it’s also an opportunity to change workplaces for the better, for good. If you’d like to know more about the programme we’re building, or need support with any of the issues I’ve noted here, do please get in touch.
Published April 2020
By Muriel Tersago, Principal Consultant, Timewise
Following government restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus, employers in all sectors are working through the implications for their business and their employees. There’s a lot of useful advice out there on topics such as supporting employees to work from home or how to run virtual meetings. But one group which is easy to overlook is older workers, typically defined as those over 50.
There are a number of reasons why this demographic need bespoke support, and a number of steps you can take as an employer to provide it, both in the current crisis and beyond. Here we set out the key points for you to think about.
In the short term, employers need to make sure that their older workers are being considered in any strategic or operational decisions that are made:
(1) Recognise the particular circumstances of this group
While many older workers are in good health, some do develop health conditions as they age, which might make them more vulnerable to coronavirus. They may also have caring responsibilities for high-risk elderly relatives. Critically, they may be unwilling to ask for help.
Suggested actions:
Line managers should proactively seek one-to-ones with older reports to discuss their needs and concerns, and explore adapting their work to fit.
HR could set up company-wide social networks for older workers, and sign-post to websites offering advice and information on relevant issues.
(2) Consider how employee contract decisions affect this group
Many employers are facing difficult decisions around reducing staff hours and redundancies. They are also having to understand and share information about the government’s financial support packages.
Some older workers, who are approaching retirement, may need to think carefully about how any changes to their working hours and employee status could impact their pensions, and other employee benefits such as healthcare cover.
Suggested actions:
It may take HR teams time to work through the implications of these issues and for leaders to decide on their preferred course of action. So, in addition to issuing a general holding statement, it is worth reassuring older workers that you understand their specific concerns.
(3) Be proactive about providing tech support
Although older workers are likely to be comfortable with the technology they use at work, some may be less familiar with the platforms and apps that support remote working.
Suggested actions:
Don’t assume that everyone is up to speed with existing or new technology. Provide clear and friendly one-page guidance documents before using a new platform, encourage people to practise, and invite questions.
How-to tips are often best provided by peers within a team, rather than a more formal conversation with the IT helpdesk. Consider setting up IT buddies, or appointing a ‘tech guru’ in the team who can help others.
(4) Seek their input on remote and flexible working
Flexible working can be used very successfully to help older workers ease into retirement. The changes brought about by the coronavirus mean we are all working differently and there is an opportunity to understand and share learnings from different groups, including older workers.
Suggested actions:
As a minimum, line managers should be checking in with all colleagues about how they are adjusting to any new patterns on a day-to-day level.
The next step is to take a more strategic look at its impact on individual roles, to evaluate what is working well and what could be done better. Exploring this specifically with older workers could help HR create a flexible pathway into retirement.
(5) Encourage staff to use downtime for personal or career planning
On a similar note, it could be worth encouraging older workers to use any downtime to reflect on their next steps, both inside and outside of work. The change of pace and environment offers an unusual opportunity for people to consider their options as they start looking towards retirement.
Suggested actions:
HR could provide guidelines and tools for individuals. The Centre for Ageing Better has developed a midlife MOT framework which provides a structure and ideas on what to consider.
HR or training departments may also want to alert employees to any training opportunities which are available.
It will be important to handle this issue sensitively, however, so older workers don’t fear they will be first in line for redundancy consultations.
It’s widely accepted that society will be different after coronavirus has passed. This will be reflected both in the workplace as a whole, and for specific groups of employees.
Here are five issues, which will impact older workers, to consider when you begin your post-pandemic planning.
It is also important to remember that, as Patrick Thomson from the Centre for Ageing Better recently noted, there are many over-50s working on the frontline right now, for whom remote working is not a possibility. These include care workers and NHS and retail employees, as well as people working in local government and education, who are keeping things running for the rest of us.
And when we exit this crisis, we need to ensure that we value these roles properly, and enable the older workers who are delivering them to have some say over how flexibly they work. It will be our duty to protect their well-being and living standards in future, as they are protecting us now.
If you would like support or information on any of the topics covered above, please contact Timewise or the Centre for Ageing Better.
Timewise and the Centre for Ageing Better ran an 18-month programme with employers including Guys’ and St Thomas’ Trust, and Legal & General, exploring how to support over-50s to access the benefits of flexible working. The full report was published in 2020
Published April 2020
Conference and video calls have long been used to bring people from different offices, companies and even countries together. But with many full teams now working remotely, they are the only option for managers who want to have a meeting with their people. And that means it’s more important than ever to get them right. Here are eight principles to help you improve virtual meetings.
If you’re planning a meeting for team members who are used to being together, you need to give them the chance to catch up before you start the more formal meeting. Include it on the agenda, and make sure whoever is chairing the meeting draws a line under the chat when it’s time to get down to business.
We would also recommend setting up some specific social sessions for your team; here at Timewise, we have a daily Zoom coffee morning for anyone who is free to log in.
There are a number of reasons why video works better than audio for virtual meetings. It’s more like the real thing, and is definitely better in terms of natural conversation and team bonding. It also makes it easier to pick up on non-verbal clues that you would be able to spot in person, and to avoid people talking over each other.
And on a practical level, it helps put people in work mode, both mentally and physically (though some people may still choose to only be smart from the waist up).
There are so many platforms you can use for virtual meetings (unsurprisingly, they are experiencing a boom right now.) At Timewise, we tend to use Zoom; other options include Skype, WebEx, Google Hangouts and GoTo Meeting.
Whichever you choose, make sure everyone in the team is trained in how to use it before you meet, to avoid wasting half your available time faffing around with the tech.
It’s important that people take virtual meetings as seriously as they would face-to-face ones – and the best way to achieve this is to be clear about what you expect. For example, you might want to agree some practical points, such as that using laptops or phones for unrelated messaging is a no-no, or that headphones should be used for call clarity. You might also want to consider some wider principles, such as that everyone has to contribute, or that staying silent means you agree with what has been concluded.
It’s all too easy for virtual meetings to drift if someone isn’t keeping them on track. So have a clear structure in place, and give someone responsibility for chairing and keeping discussion focused.
As a rough guide, we’d recommend around 45 minutes for a productive session, including time at the end for wrapping up and agreeing next steps. This doesn’t have to include any social time you have decided to include to kick things off.
It can be difficult enough getting people to take their turn in a face-to-face meeting and it’s definitely hard to manage on a video call. You’ll need to identify a way to facilitate this, otherwise the meeting will become a cacophony of opinions.
Most platforms will have a function to support you; on Zoom, for example, there is a hand-raising option which allows the meeting chair to organise who responds and in what order.
Another thing to be mindful of is that introverted members of your team may more easily slip under the radar than they would face-to-face. If it’s your meeting, it’s up to you to make sure everyone is contributing.
So if your quieter team members don’t offer their opinions, make sure you actively seek them out, or ask if they have anything to add.
Finally, however clearly you may all have agreed any next steps, it’s worth putting them in writing. It’s easier for points to get missed when you’re meeting virtually and the tech can sometimes let you down.
By circulating a brief summary of what has been agreed and allocated next steps, you can be sure your virtual meeting has been time well spent.
For more advice on how to manage a virtual team, take a look at our practical guidelines for successful remote working.
Published March 2020
The word unprecedented is being overused right now, but it’s fair to say that things are changing at an unrecognisable pace.
In the two weeks since we posted our advice on setting up remote working, the workplace landscape has totally transformed. With schools and offices closed, and anyone who can do so working from home, organisations of all shapes and sizes are having to get used to remote working as a long-term reality.
For employers, many of whom may have had to hastily put some kind of remote working in place, the next step is to think strategically about how to make it work well in practice. From understanding what your employees’ current issues might be, to thinking through how to communicate with a remote team, here are our guidelines for making remote working a success during Covid-19.
Aside from making sure your IT systems are working seamlessly, the most critical success factor for remote working is communication. As you can’t physically read people’s moods, grab someone for an informal catch-up, or pull everyone together for a briefing, you need to create remote opportunities to do so.
How to address this:
It’s not business as usual right now, so it can’t be delivery as usual either. And while working from home can be highly productive in normal circumstances, that’s may not be the case for some of your employees right now.
The practical impact of school closures is that many remote employees have their children at home. They may not have a dedicated work desk, and may be juggling space and broadband capacity with their partner. So it’s important that leaders and managers understand the constraints their people are working under – and review priorities and objectives accordingly.
How to address this:
It goes without saying that stress is a real issue at the moment; it also takes more effort to keep an eye on staff wellbeing when everyone is working remotely. So it’s vital to put structures in place to make sure everyone is OK, and create guidelines to help them take care of themselves.
How to address this:
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be offering further advice and tools to help you manage the new workplace order. In the meantime, if you need any support from us, do get in touch.
Published March 2020
As the impact of the coronavirus continues to spread, companies are having to adapt to frequently changing guidelines. But one initial strategy is now pretty much standard practice among office-based businesses: moving to remote working.
As companies like Twitter realised early on, this allows you to protect your staff from potential infection, and minimise the spread of the virus, without affecting their ability to work. (It also offers a number of other business advantages, which we’ll explain at the end of this article.)
However, if you want to do it well, you need to have some core principles in place right from the start. Here are five things to think about when setting up remote working.
Remote working works best when managers value outputs more than inputs, and trust their employees to do their jobs when out of sight. So give your team the tools and priorities they need to do their job from home, then trust them to get on with it. If you don’t, that’s an HR issue, not a flexible working one.
A significant barrier to remote working is not having access to the right files and systems. You need to develop a solution that replicates their office desktop at home, whether on a company laptop or their home computer – and have the right IT support at the end of a phone.
Clearly, some tasks are more suited to remote working than others. So if you’re using it as a short-term solution to the coronavirus, it’s worth working out which of your priorities can be tackled most successfully at this time – and making sure your team are aware of what they are.
From Skype calls and Google hangouts to Slack and social media, there are a large number of tech solutions to enable you and your team to communicate with each other. In one company in Hong Kong which has moved to remote working due to coronavirus, teams have set up What’s App groups to mirror the informal office chat they’re missing out on.
When people are working from their kitchen tables, it’s all too easy for them to get caught up in a piece of work and let it spread into the evening. Support your employees’ work-life balance by encouraging them to formally switch off at the end of their working day.
