What is your vision for your college when it comes to health and wellbeing?
The question above has to be the starting point. The big challenge many organisations have is finding the time to create that vision or even consider it.
The education system is highly aware of the problems facing the sector, and the challenges HR teams face with performing their day-to-day duties as well as analysing and implementing wellbeing programs for staff and students - that produce meaningful results.
However, the first step toward implementing a health and wellbeing program has to be doing some form of analytical screening to determine the current state of play. Then you can assess your vision for the future.
One analytical tool you may want to use for burnout prevention across the year is the Maslach Burn Out Inventory, which measures how close someone is to burnout.
Depersonalisation, emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment are all areas that can potentially cause SEND staff to burn out, according to a 2020 Meta-Analysis of Teacher Burnout.
Burnout of staff has a profound effect on sickness, absence and burdens placed on other team members and has a knock-on effect on learners who require consistent support.
Determining burnout or chances of burnout across the academic year may indicate when risks arise and provide an opportunity for HR and senior management teams to intervene.
You may also want to consider running some focus groups to act as a qualitative data source that will back up your findings, allowing you to create a clear picture of the obstacles and interventions that would support whole college wellbeing.
