Maria
- 2014-01-23
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 :)
Polly Vu
- 2014-01-19
Perhaps posting a valid email and Skype address would be useful.
You can start by hiring people that are usually happy to begin with.
If most or all of your staff are not happy at work that says quite a bit about how poorly run the organization is and how bad communication is therein.
Holding meetings that accomplish nothing while talking to or at someone but not with someone achieves nothing.
The other side of the coin is that perhaps you have a bunch of wannabe foreign teachers on staff that could not make it as French chef's and they simply hate their lives and where they are at now. Maybe they are foreigners that had some fantasy about what France is-vs-what it isn't.
Another side of the coin is that perhaps they are not liking the product you are selling, which in this case is ESL.
If the program is filled with problems to include badly written text books and teachers are left to back fill the numerous errors contained therein, then sooner or later everyone knows the course is a joke and worse yet, they are part of it. In other words, the same white monkey in another venue and nothing has changed and the illusion is gone.
Maybe your DoS or principal is a loser and cannot teach him/herself and no one respects those people or that person.
Maybe your staff lacks vision and motivation.
Maybe the building exterior and interior colors are ugly and the atmosphere is bad for day-to-day working.
Maybe the French are thought to be rude by your foreign staff....
Here is a video that might be of interest to you: http://youtu.be/sDH4mzsQP0w
And still another: http://youtu.be/Qy5A8dVYU3k
Feel free to contact me by email.
PollyVuFranceSay (AT) Yahoo.com
I am the owner of an academy in France and I am actively trying to make our academy a nice work place for its teachers.
I’d like to find out what makes you teachers out there HAPPY with your employers and place of work? What do you think is fundamental for an academy to offer it’s workers?
Background: We are an English academy and out focus is conversation & exam preparation, mainly with adults and professionals. Most of the teachers work 25-30 hours. We offer a competitive salary compared to other academies and currently teachers only have to be in the academy when they have class. We have a small area dedicated to teachers with extra resources but nothing big.
Here are some things I'd like to know what you think of:
1) Should teachers be offered additional preparation time or should it be included in the price per hour (considering that the rate per hour is higher compared to other centers)? From my experience – when prep time was offered as something extra, it was difficult to know which teachers did actually prepare the classes well and some of them didn't at all so my impression was that it wasn't a good idea to offer it as something extra but simply offer a competitive salary and make teachers aware that it's their responsibility... If offered as extra, what do you think is the necessary prep-time? 15% extra over the price per hour? Should teachers be “obliged” to stay in the academy during prep time? If so, how could you avoid teachers just sitting there chatting during their paid prep time? And if not, how do you ensure that the actually prepare the classes outside of the center?
2) Should teachers have their own work-station with a computer? We have an area separated for teachers however we don’t have a computer (only iPad) for teachers to use. How important do you think this is for teachers?
3) How regular should meetings with teachers be? We currently do one to one formal meetings with each teacher every 2 months to go over each student individually and general comments and informal meetings quite regularly. Should there be a bi-weekly or monthly meeting with the whole team? Should this be paid additionally?
4) How much training should an academy offer? Yearly to all teachers? Should a teacher from within the center be in charge of this? Is it better to bring in a teacher from outside? Should teachers be sent to another center and be given training?
5) What do you think is more motivating – raising a salary per hour or including a Christmas/end of year bonuses.
6) How can one manage the issue of schedules – we all know that academies unfortunately have a complicated schedule in the sense that you start early and end late. What do you think employers should offer their workers? The days you start early, you finish earlier and vise-verca or work as much as you like as that mean higher salary? (from experience, that only works short-term and eventually teachers complain that they are tired. On the other hand, if they have less hours, they complain about their salary…).
7) Do you think it’s better to have 1) set schedule & work time and lower price per hour as not all hours are teaching hours (e.g. 1600€ and a schedule 8:00-12:00 and 13:00-18:00) or 2) not a set schedule but a higher salary (e.g. you work 30 hours a week and you get paid a price per hour depending on that).
8) What else should an employer keep in mind when trying to make it's workers happy?
I’d love to hear some feedback from teachers out there.
I’d gladly have a Skype meeting with an experienced teacher or a manager of some other academy and pay for their time as I'd really like to have some answers to these questions. I have been trying my best to make my employees happy however it's not always the case...
Thanks a lot!