Lifestagehiring
Best Practices in hiring
The strongest candidates have accepted offers by end of May [1]. Teachers hired after the start of the year are twice as likely to leave within one year.
By aiming to hire at least 90% of staff by the end of May, organizations have access to the highest-quality candidates, retain more new teachers the following year, and minimize the financial and cultural impact of turnover.
[1]: Levin J and M Quinn. 2003. Missed Opportunities: How We Keep High-Quality Teachers Out of Urban Classrooms. TNTP.
Need more help with designing best practices in hiring? Partner with us.plan
Step
1
Assess Current State
Start by critically assessing last year’s hiring strategy to identify what worked and what needs improvement. Reviewing feedback provided on new hire surveys and data from last year’s hiring tracker is particularly valuable in highlighting essential areas for growth. Then, explicitly name challenges that prevented hiring early or incorporating DEIA practices into the hiring process in order to find tangible solutions to these barriers.
DEIA Callout
Examine the trends in candidate demographics across each phase of the previous year's hiring process to identify potential biases. This analysis will offer valuable insights for implementing targeted interventions in the current year.
plan
Step
2
Identify success metrics
Optimize your hiring process by pinpointing key metrics for success. Set measurable benchmarks, such as fulfilling all staffing requirements before the school term begins or achieving a time-to-hire of 6-weeks. Consider incorporating more challenging goals to focus on as well, such as increasing the number of high-quality candidates hired or boosting new hire diversity by 30% to continually make progress in best hiring practices.
DEIA Callout
Establish ambitious yet achievable goals for enhancing equitable hiring practices. If you don’t do so already, start tracking demographic information for all your candidates.
plan
Step
3
Define Your Hiring Process
Aim to implement a hiring process that honors the time and talent of all parties involved while anchoring in DEIA core practices. Talent leaders should prioritize high-impact changes to this year’s hiring process and use standardized processes and timelines that can be tracked for each candidate using a hiring tracker.
RESOURCES
- 50CAN Advocacy Competency Map
- Academics Competency Map
- Best Practices in Teacher Selection and Hiring Guide
- Data Competency Map
- Define Your Hiring Process: Best Practices and Process Overview
- Development Competency Map
- Finance Competency Map
- Hiring Profile Example
- Hiring Profile Guide and Template
- Leadership Competency Map
- Operations Competency Map
- Talent Competency Map
DEIA Callout
If candidates will be required to undertake a performance task that directly benefits your organization, consider providing compensation for their efforts.
plan
Step
4
Leverage Others
Leaders can unintentionally prolong the hiring process because they are juggling many other responsibilities. Instead, leaders should focus their time on the highest impact activities and delegate other tasks to a trusted group of team members. Prioritize diversifying talent committees so that the members reflect the school community in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, perspective, etc.
DEIA Callout
Participating in talent work requires additional time, effort, and mental energy that may already be in short supply for staff. Consider fairly compensating those that agree to this important role.
EdFuel can design hiring systems and processes for you.