Working with new organizations always brings some challenges! Of course, communication is a critical element of any relationship. It’s our job to onboard and train you on how to work with us best, so that you can get the most out of your partnership.
In this guide for school districts, we go over the main building blocks of seamless collaboration. Following these tips will allow you to save time and money on recruitment, fill your vacancies faster, and keep your schools operating smoothly for the long term.
Partnership, simplified
What happens after you decide to partner with Teachers On Demand?
That process, in short, looks something like this:
- Work with our sales team to sign your partnership contract.
- Establish the main point of contact.
- Onboard with our customer service team.
- Continuously respond to communications about your vacancies.
- Give feedback on candidate profiles and interviews we share with you.
At each point in the process, there are opportunities to pave the way for staffing successes, as well as for communication breakdown. We share these key examples from the onboarding process so you can learn from our experiences with other school districts.
Best Practice 1: Establish main point of contact
Challenge: Building alignment on who will stay in contact with Teachers On Demand.
We know school administrators have a lot of big decisions on their shoulders, and this can mean spreading our attention thin across many different tasks.
Often, we’ve seen that the person who signs our partnership contract isn’t the main hiring manager. But when school partners don’t delegate a proper chain of command from the beginning, it can create long-term roadblocks in the staffing process once we shift you from our sales team to our customer service team, who your school will be working with most closely.
Solution: Before signing the contract, we recommend establishing a main point of contact who is aware of the expectations and has time to share feedback on the candidates we put forth. Not only does this streamline the review process, your team can respond to us more effectively, taking work off your shoulders.
Best Practice 2: Maintain healthy lines of communication
Challenge: Getting in touch with the right person.
When you partner with Teachers On Demand, we commit to staying in consistent contact with you about your vacancies and other staffing needs.
Especially in cases where there is no main point of contact, not hearing back from you creates further barriers in the staffing process.
Solution: A straightforward conversation goes a long way! Let us know what the best mode of contact is for you — whether phone, text, or email. In return, be sure to look out for our calls and messages to keep the mutual lines of communication open.
Best Practice 3: Share timely feedback about candidates
Challenge: Missing out on the best candidates due to a delay in response.
When we partner with you, we search through our extensive network of qualified educators looking for a type of educator, what we call a RARE educator, to fit your job vacancy.
These pre-vetted candidates are ready to go through the interview process after you view the recording we send you.
But high-caliber candidates are also in high demand. If we don’t hear from you in a timely fashion, candidates may accept another position, leaving your vacancy open for longer.
Solution: Together, we hope to avoid disorganization by using the protocols set out in our partnership contract. Sharing feedback about candidate recordings in a timely way enables us to fill your vacancies effectively.
In certain rare cases, a consistent lack of communication can lead to us ending the partnership.
Let’s build a productive partnership
Building and maintaining a fruitful collaboration with Teachers On Demand, as your full-service education staffing agency, involves just a few simple best practices.
We work very well with school districts that:
- Are diligent, responsive, and responsible
- Answer messages in a timely way
- Remain open to suggestions
- Follow the chain of command laid out in our onboarding materials (know the right person to reach out to when needed)
- Follow protocols; for example, for schools tracking teacher absences
In other words, we want you to be as excited and engaged to work with us as we are with you!
Who benefits most from partnership?
Any school that feels overwhelmed by the administrative burden of hiring educators and other non-teaching staff, or which struggles to find substitutes for teacher absences, can benefit from partnering with Teachers On Demand.
As educators ourselves, our specialty lies in identifying candidates that best meet the needs of your unique school culture in order to dramatically improve your fill rate.
Ready to take the next step? Reach out to us today.