5 top ways to enhance your team’s motivation and Mental Health in school.

Working with schools across the UK, we see across the board how the pressures of the educational system can affect both staff and pupils. As Behaviour and Learning specialists, we are leading change to advance Mental Health and enhance how leadership in education functions and performs in relation to both its staff and pupils.

With the ‘to do’ list of a teacher seeming never-ending, here are our 5 top tips for leaders to protect and cultivate a motivated and mentally healthy team in your school.

1. Spontaneous praise

Research shows that when we get spontaneous (and genuine) praise, then that behaviour is positively reinforced so that person will want to repeat it. This is a fantastic and simple tool to motivate your team particularly if you use it to highlight the usually ‘unseen’ actions of you staff.

“I’ve done so much overtime, going above and beyond but SLT don’t care or notice. I don’t know how much longer I can stick this out”

This is just one example of what we have heard being said in schools so it is paramount that leadership take the time to acknowledge the staff going the extra mile as this will transform your team’s dynamic in unimaginable ways.

2. Gratitude emails

This may seem simple but we have seen the power of transformation that ‘book-ending’ the week with gratitude first thing on a Monday and last thing on a Friday can do to the whole school environment. Many of you probably already do this in some form, but transforming your emails to celebrate not just the whole team but the individual, will build a deeper connection. Blanket emails of ‘well done everyone’ does not allow the team to be seen and recognised for their unique offerings. If you have anyone in your team with anxiety or high stress levels, a blanket ‘well done’ will not land, they will automatically presume you do not mean them and the praise has been lost. Taking the time to give personalised and specific feedback will send your staff off into a new week and the weekend feeling great. This gratitude ignites the individuals Mental Health so they want to come back after a weekend, all because of the positive communication loop you have created.

3. Celebrate the mistakes

Celebrating openly to the staff community (and at appropriate times, the pupils and parents) when something hasn’t gone to plan is a game changer. Many leaders in the corporate world send their team flowers or gifts when they ‘mess up’. The reason for this is that it creates a mindset across the culture that important lessons come from when things that go wrong. Mistakes are a necessary component of change and learning. As a leader, how you manage and model making a mistake can teach your team to continue to thrive through uncertainty and throughout their ever-evolving teaching role.

4. Validate emotions

One of the most common types of feedback we get from teachers and support staff as we coach and support them, is the denial that their struggle is a problem. Statements such as; “There’s no need to feel stressed” and “Everyone is in the same boat” doesn’t acknowledge that individuals feelings and stresses are real which creates a distance between leadership and the team. Taking the time to hear and honour the concern will lead to a deeper connection and support plan. You can get our toolkit with further leadership tips to support you leading that type of conversation by clicking HERE.

5. What if there is no right or wrong?

None of us can deny the great feeling when we are told we are right, however the detrimental effect on people’s Mental Health, motivation and performance when they are told they are wrong is catastrophic. Building a team on agreement and being right, crafts a culture of staff feeling ‘good’ or ‘bad’, ‘passing’ or ‘failing’, ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Special Measures’… By leading from a place of insight for every conversation, training and experience in your school this models the concept of personal and professional development. An ethos that encourages experimenting, creating, refining and uniting practice and performance. This subtle shift will particularly affect anyone in your team that by nature has high level of stress, suffers with depression or Mental Health issues in anyway as it breaks any unintentional reinforcing of how ‘weak’ and ‘unworthy’ they think they are.

Ultimately each of these transformative tools reduce the ‘us and them’ culture that can accidentally breed in the workplace and instead, create a community. It nurtures and inspires a team where everyone feels valued and everyone is prepared to listen, respect and motivate one another. This will heighten not only the Mental Health in your school but also the performance and fulfilment across the climate and culture of your school environment.

Let us know what tips you are going to take forward and if you have questions, drop us a message and we will be happy to support you.

Megs and Bry x

P.S Save The Date… Friday 23rd June 2023 | 9.30am- 3.30pm

Join us for the Inspired Leaders in Education Conference 2023 with the pure objective that it will be like no other conference you have ever stepped into! We’re meeting in the beautiful location of the Assembly House in Norwich to bring together Heads, Teaching staff and aspiring Leaders who are hungry to bring change, build new mindsets and approaches that heighten staff and pupils intrinsic motivation, mental health and learning, whilst ensuring you are equipped to keep you and your staff in the industry! See you there.