To motivate your staff , work out what inspires them, offer guidance and direction – but don’t micromanage.

Stimulated staffrooms

In the ever-changing educational landscape that colleagues work in, and as the autumn nights start to draw in, and a long term stretches ahead, how can senior staff ensure that their teams remain motivated and focused?

We know that motivated staff , on the whole, work smarter, better and harder, so taking the time to think about the strategies you may employ as senior leader to enthuse and inspire more of your team will be of benefit in the long term. 

Remember, too, that motivating them is about giving them the right mixture of guidance, direction, resources and rewards so that they’ll be inspired and keen to work in the way that you want them to.

Leading by example is critical here: if you show your staff that you respect them you’ll (it is hoped) get it back. Think about how they’ll pick up on the way that you speak to people and act in different circumstances and make sure you’re behaving and responding how you’d like them to. In general, adopting a policy of treating people how you’d like to be treated yourself is a good starting point!

But why is motivating staff so important? At the most basic level staff are more likely to remain in post if they are motivated to do so; it often costs more to replace them than to keep them. Staff like to feel needed and respected and keeping them happy and motivated may mean they’ll perform better and stay with you longer.

Visible leader

Communication is key in this. Staff like someone they can ‘see’ – a visible leader and one they know they can go to should they have problems.

Hide away in an office and staffay get the impression that you don’t care and if you don’t care, why should they?

It is not always about the ‘big picture’ or strategic visions, however. It is also about having informal conversations to make sure that staff are content, aren’t confused and that they don’t need clarification about something. Informal conversations can be a simple way to motivate individuals.

Making sure you communicate with your staff on a daily basis and that you say good morning and good night at either end of the working day may be easy but it can make a world of difference.

Trusting and empowering your staff to develop by giving them a range of professional opportunities is, in itself, motivating. A good leader will delegate tasks to others, and critical in keeping these staff motivated is not to micromanage them.

The balance between helping your staff and not micromanaging can be challenging, particularly if the task is not being completed in the way you envisaged!

Resist the temptation to step in at every opportunity or to look over shoulders, as this can damage the confidence of those involved. Be accessible to them should they need help or advice but trust them to complete the task to the best of their ability.

As a leader you will want your staff to perform to the best of their ability and to do this they have to be given the tools to do so. Engagement in continuing professional development (CPD) not only keeps staff up to date, it can also allow them to focus on an aspect of their work and help them to improve their skills.

Providing needs-matched CPD is important. If your school or college has a culture of investing in a range of CPD as well as giving opportunities for staff to feed back to colleagues regarding their CPD, they are more likely to develop further and perform better.

But remember: don’t fall into the trap of assuming that all your staff will be inspired by the same things. Recognise that we are all motivated by a range of factors and this may change as careers progress.

Staff values

Trying to learn about staff values can give you a sense of what motivates them. A staff survey may tell you whether your staff are motivated by recognition, status, praise, financial rewards or something else. Having this information will give you the key elements of how you may motivate them further.

Five top tips for motivating staff

• Lead by example.
• Communicate and listen daily.
• Be accessible.
• Let staff know how much you value them.
• Provide a range of CPD opportunities.

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Further reading:

• Frase, Larry, 1992, Maximizing People Power in Schools: Motivating and managing teachers and staff, 5th ed, California, Corwin Press, Inc.
• Frase, Larry, 1992, Successful Schools: Guidebooks to Effective Educational Leadership, volume 5, California, Corwin Press, Inc.
• McVey, Kenneth, Motivate People: Proven Strategies to Motivate Volunteers, Employees, Children & Friends, ebook ed.

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