Lifestage

org-wide talent strategy & staffing models

Identifying your staffing needs relative to your organization’s mission, goals, and strategy is foundational to talent work. This is essential work not only when starting out, but as your organization grows or the market changes. Start by gathering:

• your organizational goals and strategic plan;
• your current staffing state (headcount, skills, and student-to-teacher ratios);
• current and projected budget;
• current and projected student count.

Gather as well any persistent pain points that point to potential understaffing - stubborn challenges are often a sign that skills, capacity, or both are misaligned to the organization’s goals.

The primary sign that the right staffing plan is in place is the ability to deliver on organizational promises with sustainability to staff workload. Put metrics in place to track both of these states. Your organization’s promises to students and staff should be objectively measured and reported by the leadership team as part of organizational performance. Consider using staff satisfaction surveys, focus groups, talent development conversations, and actual hours worked to assess staff sustainability.

To ensure your staffing model and talent strategy are realistic and aligned with the organization's culture, engage key stakeholders to inform and drive the work. Identify who needs to approve the final model, the individuals who will be required to implement various components, and any team members who have particularly unique insights about the current staffing challenges.