It's Maria again :)

First of all, thanks so much for all the input! It has been really helpful!

No, I don't think that any of teachers are particularly unhappy at all, quite the opposite actually. What got me thinking is that one of our teacher's is leaving this month because in another center they are offering her a better schedule (but with a significantly lower salary). And it got me thinking what could I improve to try to keep staff longer (most of our teachers have been with us for over 3 years though so this isn't a pattern - it's the first time someone has left to another academy). It's really important for me to try to ensure a good atmosphere. I'm aware, however, that it's human nature to complain ("I want to earn more and work less", "My schedule is tricky", etc.). The main teacher that complain matches the profile of someone who just isn’t particularly happy himself (3 kids so higher expenses, not too involved with the company, doesn’t prepare anything (and as a consequence has less classes as some students weren’t too happy. So he now complains he needs a higher salary and that without it, he won’t work harder so it’s a bit of a vicious cycle).

I try to adapt the schedule the best way I can to their needs (which isn't always easy), we offer plenty of teacher's resources, a fridge with some things in it for them to have from time to time, teacher's support, we provide a free tee and coffee machine for staff, we are going to start offering a weekly basket of office fruit too, etc.

In terms of salary, our teachers get paid per hour, but they all have a minimum guaranteed a month (around 70% of their scheduled hours). Perhaps offering a higher minimum would be a good option and anything that they do above that, they just get paid for as extra. As of now we don't pay for prep time but I am beginning to realize it is necessary. I was thinking about offering 70% of the teaching price as prep time for anything that takes them more than 10 minutes to prepare and I think that's a fair system.

Our academy is quite modern so we don't tend to have technical difficulties but it is a valid observation.

Thanks once again! I'd appreciate any other tips about trying to get people to be happy at work :)