Congratulations! That’s the first month of the first term out of the way. Only another 11 to go… Make those months count by choosing 2022 to be the year that you streamline your school’s HR activities, once and for all.

Optimising the Workforce Census (WFC)

We’ll start with something that we learnt in school: a brief point, evidence, explanation analogy. Are you still recovering from the hassle of last term’s WFC? We thought as much. Whilst we can’t quite make up the time you spent pulling data from your MIS, chasing staff for gaps, and compiling employee information to satisfy the DfE, we can help you to utilise this time.

It’s all about what you choose to do with this data next. You see, now that your staff information is accurate, up-to-date, and organised, name a better time to integrate it into a new system?

One of the most common reservations about switching software is the transfer of data. Whether it be the time aspect or uncertainty about it going ‘missing’, being the one to transfer thousands of pieces of confidential information is a big responsibility.

We understand this, so that’s why we’ve dedicated an entire module to data integration. Every® HR easily communicates with a wide-range of existing MIS allowing us to take care of the ‘heavy lifting’ aspects of the integration process, so that you don’t have to.

A holistic approach to HR

The WFC is just one of the vast number of jobs that HR teams within education organisations tackle. And as their to-do list grows, so too does the need for a stable HR management system that underpins all processes, old and new.

At Every®, our vision has always been to bring the most reliable and user-friendly system to life. The ability to access MIS, HR, and payroll from one-central place streamlines HR staff members’ activities, and saves valuable time and energy (that was before spent trying to engage numerous different systems housing critical information).

With the number of schools being incorporated into MATs growing in England, it’s becoming even more important to invest in HR software that can adapt as your organisation does. Every HR® is scalable, so no matter the size of your standalone school or the number and range of schools within your MAT, our software can be easily deployed across your range of sites.

So, whether you’ve got various HR teams across the trust or a single HR staff member within a small school, you’re always working collaboratively via the same software. With a central dashboard, a bird’s-eye view across all HR activities (from payroll to staff development to the Single Central Record) is enabled, then finer details drilled-down by specific users.

From theory to practice

We’ve talked the talk, and now it’s time to walk the walk. Staff absence is one of the most headache-inducing aspects in education at present, meaning the importance of effective staff absence management has been significantly heightened.

Both Covid-and seasonal-related illness are threatening the effectiveness and productivity of the school workforce. Though we can’t prevent your staff from catching a cold, we can provide useful overviews and refined details of staff absences both school- and MAT-wide. The dashboard provides accurate,and easy-to-understand attendance and absence data that empowers leaders with better decision making abilities.

For instance, Every HR® automates alerts and triggers notifications when certain patterns in absence are detected. That’s both individual staff and site-wide attendance behaviours, meaning you can predict staffing levels across the organisation and proactively source cover.

What’s more, it helps to lessen the risk of absences that could otherwise be rectified. For example, where trends, like members of the same department all taking time off in the same moment, could be indicative of an underlying cause.

Empower your employees

As we leave the depths of Christmas festivities behind, the whole employee community (from teachers to back-office staff to estates teams) are hopefully coming back to work feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

Unfortunately, the January blues often cause loss of this positive momentum, especially in testing times like these! That’s where taking care of the smaller things can really come into play. Make sure that your staff can focus on what they’re actually coming into work to do rather than the niggly tasks that take up time and deplete energy.

For example, our software gives each employee their own portal to keep their details up-to-date and access information about their personal career progression. This can significantly lessen the amount of queries HR teams receive, freeing up valuable time for more pressing issues.

The same feature, but from an employee’s perspective, gives a sense of control and responsibility over their role and progression. In our ever-digitising world, it’s important to give your employees transparency and authority over their personal data. Staff progress can be recorded and viewed on the employee portal, empowering employees to perform to the best of their ability.

It goes without saying that when processes are organised, efficient, and streamlined, your school’s operations run more effectively. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!