Hiring The Best Teachers: Gaining A Competitive Edge In The Teacher Recruitment Process

Much attention has been given to increasing the minister of qualified teachers to fitting the forecasted demand for teachers, which is awaited to exceed two million above the next decade. Even with these efforts, institute districts will find themselves in at any time greater competition with other districts to hire the best teacher talent available. alone those districts that identify that they are in a highly competitive hiring environment, and who take aggressive action to struggle for the best talent will have the teacher resources necessary to provide extremely good educational programs for students in the subsequent time This article identifies actions institute districts can take to unravel a competitive edge to attract and hire the best teacher talent available.

Much has been written about the teacher shortage publicly facing the country. In fact, the National Education Association (NEA) predicts that there will be a ne for more than sum of two units million new teachers in the coming decade.1 In reply to this challenge, the focus at the national and state horizontals has been to develop public policies designed to increase the stock of teachers through initiatives similar as providing financial incentives to those entering the field, providing non-traditional courses into the profession, reducing retiree income limitation provisions, providing tax credits, etc At the same time, local gymnasium districts have focused efforts upon the development of new recruitment sources and programs of that kind as the internet, hiring bonuses, loan forgiveness programs, competitive compensation, career ladders, incentives paid based upon demonstrated classroom success, and alternative path programs.

At the district horizontal there has been, and will continue to be, increased competition to hire the two the quality and quantity of teachers extremityed Each district needs to ask, "Has our place of education district been, or will it be in the subsequent time effective in attracting the best and the brightest teacher candidates as compared to other institute districts?" One can argue that this will be single of the biggest strategic challenges facing academys over the next decade.

How can a gymnasium district successfully compete in what has become a highly competitive teacher recruitment environment? After all, since many gymnasium districts utilize the same recruitment strategies mentioned above, it is likely that the best candidates will receive multiple piece of work offers from multiple school districts. in what manner can a district consistently hire the best teacher candidates-those who are an eminent match with the district's mission, values and vision, as well as those with the requisite teacher skills and knowledge-under these competitive conditions?

The first pace in gaining a competitive cutting side in the hiring process is to recognize that the recruitment of the best talent available is a strategic imperative, not an option. Several years ago, the McKinsey Quarterly published an article titled "The War For Talent" which chronicled the impending shortage of superior management talent in companies over the country.2 The article striveed that there was, and is, a "war" for managerial talent among companies, greatest in quantity of which are ill prepared for the competition. They conclud that alone those companies that recognize that they are in a highly competitive hiring situation, and that take aggressive action to be rivals for talent, will be able to thrive in the coming years.

How should this same strategic imperative be manifested in academy districts? The superintendent needs to make talent management, including the hiring of the best teacher talent, a top priority for the district. In the best corporations in America, the CEO part withs an inordinate amount of time in talent management.3 These CEO are actively involved in the recruitment, interviewing, selection, unfolding and placement of talent because they believe that talent management is a strategic issue. Likewise, the superintendent straits to become the "CEO for talent" in the district. Does this mean that he or she is the solitary one accountable for recruitment and that the human resource function should be disbanded? Absolutely not, on the contrary it does mean that a substantial amount of the superintendent's time, efficacy and involvement needs to be focused upon talent management.

Paul B. Ash, in an article in the institute Administrator, gives an example of by what mode he, a superintendent, interviews all candidates for teacher positions within the district before any piece of work offers are made.4 This be under the orders ofs a number of purposes: it provides a check upon quality; it reveals the hiring standards used at each school; it aids in attracting the best candidates since it reinforces to the applicant the importance placed upon teachers in that district; and it is a check upon the entire selection process including administrative ease, involvement by means of staff, etc. The personal involvement of the superintendent also launchs an important message to the district and gymnasium administrators and staff: Hiring the best teachers really is a top priority for the district and the superintendent supports this priority by dint of being personally involved in the process