Increasing numbers of US teachers are experiencing burnout amid rising student behavior issues, stagnant pay, and AI-powered cheating. Surveys show a significant drop in teachers finding their stress "worth it" and higher exit rates, with student behavior cited as the top stressor.
Minor changes to your company culture can help attract millennial and Generation Z employees through a "culture calibration," says S. Chris Edmonds, an executive consultant and author. For example, 86% of millennials and 89% of Gen Z employees are looking for a sense of purpose at work, while 40% of millennials and 44% of Gen Z have turned down an employer due to a clash over personal beliefs.
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Prosek Partners keeps turnover low and employee engagement high by providing a "corporate university" program that customizes learning based on each person's goals, says Chief HR Officer Karen Niovitch Davis. "My job is to understand and then help create an opportunity within their remit of what they're working on," says Niovitch Davis, who exposes employees to areas of the business that fit their interests.
Vanderbilt University is planning to establish a $520 million graduate campus in West Palm Beach, Fla., which has become known as "Wall Street South," writes Christopher Rim, CEO of Command Education. The new campus, which could open by 2026, will offer specialized programs in business and AI to support the financial sector with a steady flow of skilled graduates and foster regional innovation, Rim writes.
Leaders should take vacations to recharge, gain new perspectives and set a good example for employees, writes Dede Henley, the CEO of Henley Leadership Group. "When you openly prioritize and take a vacation, you send a powerful message to your team: self-care and work-life balance are important and integral to success," Henley writes.
Sakichi Toyoda, who founded a business that would eventually be Toyota Industries, was a prolific inventor. What did he start making when he formed his first successful business?
I had a heated discussion with a close friend recently over teacher salaries and the rigor of the job. She’s an HR technology professional who has worked in education -- K-12 and higher ed -- for more than 20 years. Since she works in HR, she’s acquainted with wages, benefits, hours worked, classifications and so forth.
“They have it easy,” she said, casually. “They work 10 months of the year and six hours a day. They get paid very well for that.”
All I could do was stare. She shrugged. “It’s true,” she maintained. “Teachers in our districts make over $100,000 a year. For 10 months.”
I took a deep breath because I didn’t want to sound angry. I wanted her to hear my words, and not get distracted by my frustration.
“Kyla*, first of all, that $100k salary is for California teachers, in certain areas,” I said slowly. “But that’s not standard across the states. It’s much lower, in fact, in many states. They are professionals with a special skill. They deserve higher salaries. And let’s be clear: No teacher has worked just six hours a day, just 10 months of the year, especially since 2020.” She opened her mouth to talk, but I held up my hand. I was on a roll.
Educators put up with things in their workplace that other employees would never be expected to tolerate, I said to Kyla. “Students will taunt and bully teachers and there’s little to no repercussions for that. Parents are unsupportive and demanding. I’ve seen it,” I explained. “That would never happen to me. If a client or a peer was routinely disrespectful, it would be shut down. My workplace protects me.” She conceded these points and we changed the subject.
Today’s top story digs deeper into the challenges in the teacher workforce. I included it because HR folks need to be aware of the issues. What happens in education can affect society. We saw that during the pandemic when schools shut down. Suddenly, employees across every business sector were scrambling to manage their families and workloads. And employers had to make decisions and new policies.
Workplaces should be safe and workers should be respected and compensated fairly. That’s not happening at many schools today. This has to change or more teachers will leave the profession. If that continues, we will face a crisis in our schools.
And that will absolutely bleed into our workplaces.
