What’s Your Approach?Culture, Cakes or Yoga?

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Mark Eager, Principal

Brixham College

“I am a good collaborator: I feel leadership is about consultation and involving people in decision-making. Like most schools, we did things like cake Fridays. We had a staff management group and set up a staff social committee to pull things together, but none of it really worked.After I met Mark Solomons, founder of Welbee, I decided to take a different approach and started with their anonymous survey. The results were quite poor and it was a real moment for us – we could have looked at it and thought ‘How do we respond?’ ‘Is it all nonsense?’ Or, ‘That will be the last time we ask them.’ ‘Or do we actually take on board what the results were telling us?’

We were in the bottom twenty per cent of schools across the HSE Management Standards measured (bottom 10 percent for three of the seven areas) . And then there were the anonymous staff comments to digest too. Once we got over the pain, we asked ourselves what is this telling us and moved to action.We had people who were leaders that weren’t leading. We had people that were being led, that didn’t necessarily understand what that meant. People saying they would do things and not delivering.It was clear we needed to look at the basics and those things that would make a real difference to our culture. We focused on our leadership and behaviours, communicating about our values and what these meant as a school. The recommended actions that the Welbee survey provides were a big help.

We shared everything with our staff and asked what it meant to work here and to be part of Brixham – that was enjoyable and staff really welcomed it.

We ran the survey again, one year later, and the impact we had made was massive. We had moved to the top 20 per cent in a number of the Standards and improved significantly in all areas.That was back in 2020 and we continue to track our staff wellbeing and focus on those things that are part of our foundations. This doesn’t mean we don’t have cakes. and I now recognise that this only works when you have already built the right culture.

In September 2022 we joined a multi-academy trust and I am delighted to say that they, and the 20 schools we are now a part of, have adopted Welbee too.”

There is nothing wrong with providing cakes, yoga or other perks and activities They are just not the place to start or how to build your wellbeing strategy – once the cakes are eaten or the yoga finished, what has changed?

Improving staff wellbeing is like building a house – it needs to be built from the bottom up and without strong foundations you will be continually undertaking repairs. Yet many leaders start on the ground and first floor, treating symptoms rather than causes, and putting in place sticking plaster solutions. Yet the reward of getting this right is significant.

Evidence (happy to share this with you – just ask) proven benefits of building the right foundations include:

• Higher staff retention and lower recruitment needs – so important today to keep your teaching and support staff
• Lower staff absence and the need for cover – consistency and keeping staff in the classroom makes a big difference
• Better financial performance – a must in the current environment of high inflation and your need to fund pay rises
• Higher staff motivation and engagement – staff willingly giving greater discretionary effort is so important 
• Improved student outcomes – it’s what you are here for and putting staff first is the best way to deliver this. 

What’s your approach? Culture, cakes or yoga?Are you interested in making sustained improvements to the wellbeing of your staff across your MAT, school or college? Do you follow a systemised process, one with DfE Education Staff Wellbeing Charter recognised measurement and tracking, and made easier because you receive recommended actions based on your survey scores?Welbee is much more than a survey company – it is a wellbeing improvement company with a focus on what happens after the survey. In addition to recommended actions, our online platform provides filters, meaning you can focus on the people and the areas that need support, and celebrate and share areas of strength. Welbee Pulse, Voice and the 100+ resources in the Wellbeing Toolkit make moving to action and implementation so much easier too – helping your leaders build wellbeing into the culture (Charter commitments 3 and 10), and all your staff better deal with everyday challenges and take responsibility to manage their own wellbeing (charter commitment 2).If all you want is a survey, then Welbee is probably not for you!If you want support that makes it easier to actually help you improve the wellbeing of your staff, and deliver against your staff wellbeing commitments, then Welbee is the perfect solution.

Why not spend just thirty minutes to find out – use the button below to book your demo.