Case study: St George's Weybridge
Over the last two years, we have seen an increase in the number of schools commissioning us to carry out a staff survey. Our parent surveys are well-known across the sector, but the fact we also offer employee perception and satisfaction surveys is perhaps less so. That was certainly the case for Jo Lander, Head of HR at St George’s Weybridge, in Surrey, United Kingdom.
“We already had an excellent relationship with RSAcademics as a result of working with them on two senior leadership appointments, so when a fellow HR Director recommended RSAcademics as a staff survey provider I was thrilled.”
The research project
Jo got in touch with us to talk about our staff survey. Having worked in other sectors, she was familiar with this type of research, but was concerned that research organisations she had worked with before would not understand the schools sector. Schools are our specialism, research is our expertise, so we were delighted to be commissioned to run St George’s first-ever staff survey.
“The fact that RSAcademics already understood St George’s, combined with their in-depth knowledge of independent schools, meant that we knew we were in safe hands and gave us the confidence to proceed. Their benchmark data was also particularly important, as it has helped us to put our results in context.”
Our tailored surveys have a core set of questions, but each one is tailored to meet the specific research needs of a school. Our approach is not prescriptive. We work with you to maximise your response rates and to ensure you are able to offer all of your staff the opportunity to participate, from part-time visiting music teachers, to grounds staff and heads of department. Jo commented that we helped St George’s develop their questions and ensured the survey was pitched appropriately to reach all staff:
“We were impressed with the level of support and insight from the team. We felt valued every step of the way.”
With the continuing challenge of recruiting and retaining staff in schools, we are actively seeking to work with schools on staff engagement surveys. At RSAcademics, we recognise the importance of measuring and monitoring staff attitudes and perceptions as a means to ensuring strong engagement, overall employee satisfaction and importantly staff wellbeing.
The outcome
“The RSAcademics survey was excellent value, not just in terms of cost but also in terms of the insight it has provided to St George’s Junior School and College. The RSAcademics team has worked with us to guide our senior leadership discussions, to feed back the results to staff and to help us consider our action plans as a result of the findings. I would recommend them to anyone considering a similar project.”