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Yet teachers provide the core service of a language school. An unhappy teacher is a danger to the quality
of this service. He or she cannot only affect the satisfaction rates of students, but their unhappiness can
infiltrate into the moral of other staff too. High teacher turnover is an ever-present problem. Teachers can
come and go very quickly, and sometimes this is more due to bad management more than anything else.
So how do you manage language teachers properly? What methods can you use to keep turnover
down? Here are some ideas on how to improve teacher turnover through better management.
3. Create incentives
If indicators are showing increased performance, and quality is rising, and more courses are being sold,
then it makes sense that in a win-win scenario the teacher should also benefit, shouldn’t it? If margins are
tight, then you can be creative with your incentives: through profit-sharing, bonus on objectives, fun day
out, extra paid holiday, etc.
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manager to know how to motivate. One of the prerequisites for motivation is trust. Do your teachers trust
you? Have you spent enough time with them for that to happen? If they trust you, they are more likely to
listen to you and be more motivated to do what you ask. Furthermore, it is very important that you know
both how to congratulate and reprimand properly. Done badly and the consequences can be quite
severe.
9. Be available
I’ve worked in several language schools. In virtually every one the director tried to hide himself in his
office and only dealt with teachers reluctantly when he really had to. Some decisions, especially when it
came to salaries, were just not for the director of studies to make, and it is amazing how hard feelings and
rancour can develop when people think that the director is not available. I don’t mean literally take the
door of it’s hinges and announce proudly that “my door is always open” but it is also very important to be
sincere and pay attention when you do give them time.
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10. Sit in on their classes
Like I said earlier, teachers are your core service. You should be paying attention to what they are doing.
How can you actually manage them if you have no idea what they’re doing? Yes, you can get feedback
from other staff, but think of the benefits of sitting in on a couple of classes a year and see how they get
on. The teachers will feel like you’re really interested and hopefully more well-meaning towards you when
it comes to talking about tricky subjects. Obviously you can’t scowl the whole time when you see things
you don’t like. Use it as an opportunity to give genuine, useful feedback and really find out what’s
happening.