7 tips for employee wellbeing for Christian school leaders

Updated: Nov 17, 2022

Right now, Christian school leaders are wondering how they're employees are going as they adapt to online learning across the world.

Here's another 7 tips to help leaders of Christian schools to navigate employee wellbeing:

1. Net promoter score for employee satisfaction

A net promoter score for employee satisfaction gives you a benchmark for how positive your people are about you as a school. It's a great place to start—and to revisit regularly—to check how your people are going at a macro level.

Check out our Christian schools employee wellbeing survey.

2. Invest in your staff's physical and mental health, they'll appreciate it

This sounds obvious, but lots of Christian schools don't see themselves as having a part to play in their people's physical and mental health.

Find out how your people are going with their physical and mental health at the moment and then see what you can do to invest in this area. Is there a local gym (or an online gym) you can partner with to give subsidised access to your people? Are their diet or sleep apps you could invest in for your people?

Think outside the box and do what you can—your people will be surprised and incredibly thankful.

3. Review role descriptions and change anything you need to change

You don't have time to do massive 360 reviews of role descriptions in a crisis. But leaders can do quick check-ins with staff to see how role descriptions are going. Then, if someone comes across a role that has drastically changed or grown for some reason, flag it and invest time and money into these people.

It's likely these people are the ones who will struggle during a time of crisis or will end up burning out and quitting in the near future.

4. Ask your people how they're going

When is the last time you got on the phone or flicked a quick message to your team to ask how they're going? No work talk, just 'how are ya?' Do that with your team more regularly than ever and ask your team to do it with their team and so forth.

5. Overcommunicate, overcommunicate, overcommunicate

Are you overcommunicating?

"No" - then communicate more.

"Yes" - nah, your probably not overcommunicating, take it to another level.

When's the last time you heard someone say, "That was such a terrible place to work because of constant communication, there was just way too much communication with me, grrr!"

6. Invest in additional support for your people

You need to stay viable as a business, yes. But wherever you can, invest in additional support for your people. Tighten the purse strings where you can but beware getting rid of support—or not investing in additional support—just to be cheap.

Every bit of support you invest in now to help you and your people get through this will be paid back a hundred fold by thankful staff on the other side of this season.

7. Be the Church for your people

Your people are hopefully part of local churches, but at the same time, we are all The Church. You as a school are The Church for your people as well as their local church. So, be the Church!

As leaders, we need to disciple our people. Invest in them spiritually by getting together around the word and in worship when you can. If it helps, take your leader hat off and put a pastor hat on and see how you view your people. Once again, every moment you spend investing in them spiritually and pastorally will mean the world to your people and will be paid back a hundred fold in the future.