Building Bridges e ie ing the staffi ng

BUILDING BRIDGES

REVIEWING THE STAFFING OF MARKETING AND ADMISSIONS

Kathy Campbell describes her innovative approach to revie ing the sta ng structures of marketing and admissions teams in independent schools of all sizes.

As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, staffing re ie s ha e been one of the most popular re uests ha e recei ed he brief is usually quite generic, but in almost all cases one of the follo ing phrases ill be used he ead of dmissions is telling me that they don t ha e enough people to do the ob but en uiries ha e gone do n here are lots of staff in the department, can t understand hy e need more arely, do hear, he team are doing a tremendous job and we want to be absolutely sure that the job descriptions of the staff are fit for purpose and fair in terms of orkload and remuneration

Probing questions

he first fe hours of a re ie in ol e a Q&A, with me asking a lot of probing questions; coffee and biscuits certainly help! he ans ers to these uestions pro ide me with an in-depth understanding of the specific challenges faced by a school and the allocation of tasks and responsibilities ithin a department he ans ers ary from school to school ome teams are facing a relentless and o er helming number of enquiries, whilst some are stri ing against all odds to generate enough en uiries for their school to stay a oat n total, think ha e explored the staffing structures of at least 45 independent schools of all shapes and sizes so, as you can imagine, the admissions and marketing departments ha e met ha e faced ery different challenges i en that the recruitment targets of one of the schools can equal the total number of pupils in another, you can perhaps begin to see why there is no one si e fits all template for the structure of a department

Following the initial Q&A with the schools isit, need, firstly, to determine hich marketing and admissions bridge am dealing ith and, secondly, to ensure that the prospecti e families crossing the bridge do not fall into the abyss et me explain

If you are good at building bridges, you will never fall into the

abyss! Mehmet Murat ildan

The bridges

Tower Bridge, London he first example is o er ridge eryone thinks they kno here it is but fe ha e actually crossed o er it ome ha e made the effort to isit, only to find that the road has been raised to allo someone else a boat to pass by and it is therefore impossible to cross his bridge has stood in the same place for many, many years and ery little about its form and function has changed since it as first built he o ners of the bridge ha e ne er thought to ask themsel es or their customers if there is anything they could be doing better hey had no idea ho many people cross their bridge or if those ho did en oyed the experience hey make enough money to enable them to keep doing the same things year after year so there s surely no need to uestions hat they do

Kokoda Trail Bridge, Papua New Guinea nd then there is the cane bridge on the okoda rail e ha e no idea hat might be in the ri er beneath but e certainly don t ant to fall he bridge is held together ith ine lea es, but our guide cheerfully sprints across to greet us and encourage us to cross e confidently reassures us that e ill be fine and his friends cheer us as e tentati ely take the first steps across the bridge e reach the other side relie ed and in one piece it as a memorable experience the people ere onderful and e ill tell our friends about it, but e are not sure e ould ant to do it again

Lucky Knot, Changsha, China This bridge comprises se eral intert ined paths all leading to the same destination, all part of the same bridge hich path is the one for our family hould e split up and take a path each or should e tra el together o do e decide and ill each experience be different ill one path be better than another

Storseisundet, Norway rom our starting point, this bridge disappears in mid-air it seems to end before it reaches the destination e ha e made a fe en uiries about the destination but e can t find anything out, e only seem to get information about the first part of the bridge here is a oid of information making us ner ous about crossing this bridge

Millau Viaduct, Southern France This penultimate bridge has on design a ards t is magnificent, people tra el miles ust to see the bridge but they don t necessarily ant to cross it erything about it looks expensi e and the toll fee re ects the fact that the construction bill as indeed enormous s it o er-engineered for its function o people opt for an alternati e bridge because they percei e the toll fee to be too high his is a road bridge, so you can only cross it if you ha e a car ut ith rising petrol prices, more people are using bicycles

PaperBridge, Grisedale Valley, Cumbria his final small red bridge is arguably hat e should all aspire to build t is site-specific built for that exact spot by artist te e essan to become an integral part of the landscape t is self-supporting and straddles the stream beautifully he start and end points are clear and the construction is ingenious t is built from paper manufactured in the area and plentiful rain makes the fibres in the paper s ell, hich in turn makes the bridge stronger f you think that your admissions and marketing department resembles any of these bridges, then may suggest you spend some time re ie ing hat you do, ho you do it and ho does hat

Reviewing

Marketing and Admissions

• Audit your department his is the first step to ensuring that the structure is aligned to deliver the strategic aims of the department f the strategic aims themselves are not clearly defined, this e ercise ill provide the perfect opportunity to address this too • Reduce complexity hilst e are o liged to consider part time or ing re uests and to accommodate o shares, e mindful of the impact on the customer the prospective family ome tas s can e shared ut others simply can t dentify the core activity of the department and ma e sure that those responsi le have the re uisite s ills

• Validate every job

description his ill highlight areas of duplication ithin the department f you can ring clarity to people s roles, responsi ilities and hat they ill e held accounta le for, they are far more li ely to achieve the performance levels you set ontinuity in a role is also important, so avoid the temptation to change things at the first sign of trou le

• Create feasible roles

uring the pandemic, many prospective families, especially those ho live overseas, needed a far greater level of care oes your admissions and mar eting team have the resources availa le to support any increase in responsi ility and activity

Individual skills

Reviewing the structure of your admissions and marketing department is a ital process t ill maximise effi ciency, reduce duplication of effort, impro e the customer journey and lead to better staff morale in the department. But be cautious. Throughout the process, be mindful of the importance of maintaining all the touch points crucial to good customer service. nce you ha e defi ned your ideal structure based upon the activity required to meet your strategic aims, be mindful of the individual skills of your team members. The job should, fi rst and foremost, be defi ned by the business activity – a solid business structure shouldn’t be built around personality. o e er, if you ha e a alued, respected and experienced team member who meets the criteria for a role in all areas except one, see if that one particular task could sensibly be attached to another role. Deliver excellence bo e all, exceptional customer ser ice is key when aspiring to deliver excellence

throughout your admissions process. In the same way that you review your academic provision to ensure that it delivers the very best educational experience to your pupils, ask yourself if there is something more that can be done to make the admissions experience the best it can be for your prospective families. Above all, If you are responsible for carrying out a review exceptional of the structure of your admissions and marketing customer department, take great care to ensure that the service is review is delivered in a timely and sensitive manner and implement key any changes with clarity. nd fi nally, let s go back to job descriptions. When I read the job descriptions of admissions team members, phrases like ust ha e a good eye for detail , ust ha e strong skills , ust be able to ork under pressure’ are always plentiful. But often the skills that I identify in a team when I talk to them – and which make the members so truly impressive – do not appear on any of their job descriptions. atience, attenti eness, strong emotional intelligence, creati ity, resourcefulness, persuasion skills, the ability to use positive language to describe a potentially negati e situation, acting skills, the ability to handle surprises, tenacity, empathy rarely read about these qualities. I think you get the message! ore often than not, the admissions and marketing functions of the schools I visit display all the requisite skills to deliver excellence in student recruitment. ometimes the bridges encounter need a bit of straightforward strengthening in just a few areas where they have been tarnished by constant wear and tear over the years. But once this work is completed, these bridges ill not only be fi t for purpose but, am certain, ill almost always exceed the expectations of all who cross them! ●

KATHY CAMPBELL

founded Pair Education in 2016, having worked in the publishing and design industry before moving into school marketing and admissions.

paireducation.co.uk