Strategic Staff Wellbeing in Schools: Six Steps to Boost Retention and Reduce Burnout

In the corporate world, investing in employee wellbeing typically yields a return on investment (ROI) of 5:1, where each £1 spent results in £5 gained in increased productivity. In recent years, schools worldwide have been increasing spending on a wide range of staff wellbeing initiatives. Yet, despite good intentions, their efforts often fail to bring meaningful change. 

At the heart of this problem is a lack of strategy. In my work with schools I have witnessed underutilised new staff rooms, poorly attended social events, ineffective staff recognition programmes, and surveys that collect dust after completion. This represents a waste of precious resources that schools can ill afford. So how can school leadership ensure a good ROI on teacher wellbeing initiatives and take a more strategic approach to staff wellbeing in schools? 

Common Pitfalls in School Wellbeing Initiatives

So why do wellbeing programmes fail? Too often, schools adopt a scattershot approach, launching piecemeal wellbeing initiatives that fail to address core issues. Some of the most common pitfalls include:

• Insufficient commitment to workplace wellbeing – poor understanding of the connection between staff wellbeing, student outcomes and school effectiveness. Viewing employee wellbeing as a “nice to have” rather than an essential.
• Limited awareness of the factors that impact wellbeing – insufficient knowledge of the actual drivers of stress, especially the key role of workplace culture.
• Failure to address the real issues – especially those related to workload.
• One-size-fits-all solutions – overlooking the unique context of each school.
• Top-down decision making – failing to consult with the staff community.
• Neglecting diverse perspectives – omitting to consider the full range of staff roles, all of which may experience work stressors differently. 

Why Schools Need a Strategic Approach to Staff Wellbeing

To receive a good ROI on teacher wellbeing initiatives, schools need to adopt a more strategic approach to staff wellbeing.There is no one-size-fits-all approach to wellbeing and a strategic approach ensures that school leadership is identifying and addressing the specific issues that impact their school context. It also ensures that staff wellbeing initiatives are aligned with a school’s mission, vision and goals; are supported from the top; appropriately costed and budgeted for in the short, medium and long term; and monitored and reviewed properly. The opposite of piecemeal approaches.

A Proven Framework for Teacher Wellbeing: Six Steps to Success

 I have developed a strategic framework, Staff Wellbeing: Six Steps to Success, to support schools on this journey:

1. Build collaborative structures for inclusive input and engagement of all staff, including a Wellbeing Team and a communication strategy. 
2. Raise awareness – educate leaders, staff, and governors on the connection between employee wellbeing and school effectiveness and the factors that impact workplace wellbeing. 
3. Gather insights – collect data to identify and understand a school’s key wellbeing challenges.
4. Develop a strategy – set goals that relate to the survey findings, with specific, measurable objectives.
5. Take action – implement focused initiatives designed to tackle the main issues.
6. Track progress – identify successes and failures and adjust focus for lasting impact.

How this works in practice

Building collaborative structures

Building a wellbeing team in schools is a crucial first step. It is essential that a team reflects the diversity of the school staff. The team should represent various roles – senior and middle leaders, teachers and teaching and non-teaching support staff. Diversity in the team helps capture a range of perspectives, ensuring that the process reaches and resonates with everyone and implements inclusive wellbeing strategies for school staff. A well-chosen team balances those who are supportive of leadership with those who are more critical, ensuring a fair and balanced approach. A communication strategy allows all staff to be well-informed and feel part of the process, which is vital for fostering trust and buy-in.

Raising awareness

Educating leaders, staff, and governors about the importance of workplace wellbeing is essential to ensuring a real commitment to the process. When everyone understands how wellbeing directly influences staff performance, student outcomes, and overall school success, it fosters a shared commitment to prioritise wellbeing as a critical component of sustained success, rather than a luxury or an add-on. It also helps leaders at all levels to understand why wellbeing matters in education leadership.

Gathering insights

One of the most common missteps schools make is conducting a wellbeing survey only to ignore the results or fail to follow up with action. There are now many excellent tools available to survey the wellbeing of a workforce, which provide valuable insights. Schools must choose wisely, however, as some surveys fail to ask the right questions or consider the specific context, resulting in data that is not actionable. 

Low participation rates can undermine the credibility of a survey but can be avoided with a few simple considerations that involve an understanding of how to run effective wellbeing surveys in schools. These include involving the wellbeing team in the promotion of the survey; allocating time for staff to complete the survey; making sure it is anonymous; committing to sharing the results with all staff; and committing to acting upon the findings. 

Develop a Data-Driven Staff Wellbeing Strategy

Following the completion of the survey, a Staff Wellbeing Strategy should be drafted collaboratively by the school’s senior leaders and the wellbeing team to establish data-driven teacher wellbeing goals. It is important that leaders clearly articulate what is actionable and achievable and what is not, as there are always non-negotiables and budgetary and time limitations. Developing a strategy crafted around data-driven goals, directly linked to the survey findings, will provide clarity, relevance, and measurable outcomes. Goals should align with the school’s overarching mission, vision, and values, as well as its wider strategic objectives, ensuring that wellbeing initiatives are not isolated efforts but integral to the school’s priorities. Ideally this will be part of a whole-school wellbeing strategy that includes student wellbeing. 

Implement Targeted and Evidence-Based Interventions

The most effective evidence-based wellbeing strategies for educators flow directly from the wellbeing strategy. Primary interventions target the root causes of stress at the organisational level, such as workload reduction and improvements to the workplace culture. These should form the bulk of initiatives as they have the most impact. Secondary interventions, which equip staff with tools to manage stress and provide mental health support are also an essential part of an effective wellbeing strategy.

Initiatives may include training a mental health champion or lead; the provision of training for all staff in effective work recovery; training for leaders in how to identify and approach staff with wellbeing concerns; and training in mindfulness and other stress management techniques. Tertiary interventions are designed to provide targeted support for individuals already unwell and often off work. These may involve counselling, access to occupational health services, or gradual return-to-work plans. Together, these tiers create a robust framework that addresses wellbeing holistically and sustainably.

Track Progress and Measure ROI on Wellbeing

Ongoing monitoring and review are essential to tracking wellbeing progress in school. Schools should implement regular check-ins – such as follow-up surveys, individual feedback, or focus groups – to gauge the effectiveness of their strategies. Tracking metrics like staff retention, absenteeism and use of school-provided health care services can also provide critical insights into the ROI of staff wellbeing programmes. Reviewing and analysing this data allows schools to fine-tune their approach, ensuring that the Wellbeing Strategy continues to evolve and remain impactful over time.

Final Thoughts: A Smarter Way to Invest in School Staff Wellbeing

By moving away from piecemeal initiatives and focusing on a strategic, data-driven process using the Six Steps to Success, schools can help maximise ROI of teacher wellbeing programs. This approach enables schools to identify key priorities based on reliable data and ensure that initiatives are targeted and effective. It also allows for a less wasteful allocation of resources, focusing efforts on areas that will drive meaningful change, fostering a healthier, more productive environment for both staff and students and ensuring sustainable wellbeing in schools.