HR, Operations, and Education Consultant, Yemisi Ogunlade has imparted crucial strategies for school owners to effectively retain staff and navigate the current economic landscape.
Ogunlade gave the strategies during an insightful webinar organized by the CEO of Edumark Consult, Yinka Ogunde.
Serving as the Principal Consultant at Plumptre Advisory, addressed over 400 global participants, including school proprietors, educators, and stakeholders, on how to transform their passion-driven educational institutions into sustainable enterprises.
The webinar, themed “Pathway for the Education Industry in the 2024-2025 Academic Year,” aimed to alleviate the concerns of school owners grappling with economic uncertainties threatening the viability of their institutions.
She emphasised the necessity of viewing schools as business enterprises, highlighting that “a lot of school owners are passionate about their schools, but they have failed to realize that a school is a commercial enterprise. Passion is great, but they need structured processes and systems to build a lasting enterprise. You might have a passion for a legacy, but it is a business.”
She emphasized that treating a school as a corporate entity requires adherence to corporate engagement rules.
Beginning with human resources management, she remarked, “Human resources management is key to a corporate entity. It is rather challenging that many well-established schools do not have in place people management structure. There is no officer who is responsible for human resources management. We must realize that a school heavily relies on human services.”
Further stressing the importance of corporate governance, she stated, “We must recognize the fact that as we are running a school, it is not a stand-alone entity. As a founder, you are also a steward. The school is not yours. It is an entity where you are also providing services. You also have a responsibility that the school runs effectively and efficiently.”
She also advised on the importance of market intelligence. “School owners must study the market situation and examine how it affects their business. If they are mindful of the market indicators, then they have to plan strategically,” she stated.
To endure the economic realities, she suggested revenue diversification. Notably, she pointed out that federal government admission age restrictions could be leveraged by schools to develop programmes for students under 18, including AI training, thereby maximizing their fixed assets.
Addressing the challenge of retaining teachers, Ogunlade highlighted the significance of people and talent management, noting the sector is heavily reliant on human resources.
“We are already aware of the current talent shortage in the education sector. This could be traced to the incident of COVID-19 pandemic. Before that incident, there were lots of talents, but COVID-19 accelerated the exit of many teachers from the school system,” she observed.
To combat this shortage, she advocated for retention strategies, stressing, “Retaining the good hands in the school system is crucial. School owners should strive to retain their teachers, especially the talented and competent ones. The cost of replacement is extremely punitive. Teachers are much aware of what obtains in the market. There are celebrity teachers everywhere on social media. Their eyes are now very open. A lot of them are now realizing their worth.”
She also suggested offering scholarships to the children of loyal staff as an effective retention tool.
Moreover, Ogunlade recommended the automation of administrative tasks to alleviate teacher workloads, thereby allowing them to focus more on teaching.
“Automation will reduce the teachers’ workload and reduce heavy reliance on human services. To be able to deliver learning to multiple students, administrative tasks on the teachers should be removed and automated. Schools should audit the teachers’ jobs to know the tasks that strain them and give these to non-teaching staff,” she concluded.
Ogunlade’s strategic insights provide a blueprint for schools to enhance their operational efficiency and secure their future in a challenging economic environment.