The findings give insight into where there is already a solid foundation and where targeted support can make the greatest impact. To understand more about this pressing issue, we analysed our data on workforce resilience across the sector in 2024. Workforce stress remains a significant challenge across the education sector.
An anonymous cross-sectional study was conducted in 2023 with staff at HE institutions across 16 countries. The ongoing global crisis of Higher Education (HE) institutions during the post-COVID-19 pandemic period has increased the likelihood of enduring psychological stressors for staff. This is a critical group as quality field placements are often hard to come by, and enrollment in teacher education programs is low.
Scottish Government
For school business officials, that means viewing benefits, workload, and vendor partnerships not just as cost centers, but as levers to protect people and strengthen the district’s mission. Organisational changes, such as improving staff HWB, are often long-term objectives and it is key that the necessary time is provided to these to ensure their sustainability and success. There are existing frameworks that could support LAs to consider how best to measure the impact of HWB practice, such as an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and other Quality Improvement methodologies. LAs were observed to be at different stages in their approaches to making strategic improvements to staff HWB. The key findings reflect the most frequently discussed categories of support being developed and delivered in LAs, in response to local and national challenges as well as being informed by key national recommendations. There should be a balance of approaches to encouraging feedback and these should be clearly defined for staff to understand their purpose.
3 Existing Research and Current Approach
Our study also showed that staff with multiple co-morbidities or mental health issues or moderate to high levels of psychological distress had higher levels of job insecurity. Numerous studies have explored the impact of COVID-19 on HE students , however, very few have examined the health and wellbeing of staff who managed and supported students directly. By taking these steps, schools can not only protect the wellbeing of their staff but also create a healthier, more resilient educational community. The findings point to the urgent need for schools to implement strategies that reduce workload and promote mental health support for all staff. The guide will also support schools and colleges to implement the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which commits schools, colleges and trusts to placing wellbeing and mental health at the heart of their decision making.
Teaching and learning
Staff with Bachelor and higher qualifications, Professor appointments, smoking, current alcohol use, recent blood lipid profile checks, and perceived good to excellent mental health were more likely to exhibit medium to high resilient coping. (Table S.1) Details of socio-demographic data and characteristics of study population are presented in Table 1. For country-wise comparisons, the reference country was selected based on the lowest prevalence of perceived job insecurity, perceived burnout, moderate to very high psychological distress, and medium to high resilience coping. A structured survey based on a previous global study led by the first author (MAR) was used . Email invitations containing the online survey link were distributed to all staff in the participating organisations through the assistance of the lead investigator from each organisation.
Both over- and undermanaging were listed by our survey respondents as pain points, with differences across generations. Respondents in our survey reported that micro- or undermanagement, a lack of recognition, and a lack of empathy and psychological safety are the most detrimental leadership behaviors to their well-being. Their behaviors and interactions with their teams can set the tone for the team and the workplace culture. Based on our experience with clients, the work determinants listed in figure 4 have an outsized impact on employee well-being. Prioritize those spaces that can have the greatest impact on worker well-being, defining the organizational levers that can help fix what is not working and drive momentum. Organizations may collect reams of self-reported data about aspects of employee well-being, but they may not connect those data points with empirical operational data and create a holistic, real-time measure of the state of well-being across an organization.
- The survey sought to diversify the sample to be representative of the US workforce based on US Department of Labor data.
- Back-to-back hybrid meetings, blurred home–working boundaries, reduced in-person support for early-career staff and unmanageable workloads have become normal.
- As a department, we have a strong focus on the wellbeing of all staff and students to create a sense of belonging and a positive environment for teaching and working.
- This report used data from the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE), a nationally representative survey of the ECE workforce collected in 2012.
Creating effective systems for support staff to provide essential feedback about the children they support can significantly impact outcomes for children and young people. While staff consultation activities can be used at an organisational level to gain insight, informal approaches at establishment level are also key contributors to improving workplace culture. Either in summarising key information to pass on or to gather information from staff to support Tackling teacher wellness in schools approaches going forward.