Educational institutions face serious challenges when it comes to staffing and retention. Simply put: educators are exhausted, burnt out, and struggling to overcome the challenges posed by a global pandemic, sudden transition to online learning, and ever-increasing responsibilities. Many teachers have left the field entirely — and as absences and resignations pile up, the stress on remaining instructors increases, creating a feedback loop that wreaks havoc on faculty well-being. Teachers and staff members want to regain control of their lives and get back to the communities they serve — and to do so, they’ll need supportive digital infrastructure. 

In this episode of Transformation @ Work we’re looking at the short-staffing crisis in education and nonprofit, and asking the question: Can digital tools help educators achieve some much-needed peace of mind?

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Key Insights

03:10: Key causes of the staffing crisis in the education and nonprofit sectors

04:45: How staffing shortages lead to a damaging loss of institutional knowledge

06:54: How a scant technology investments and a lack of effective backup plans exacerbated the current staffing crisis

07:44: The stressful cycle: how a lack of backup plans adds stress for teachers, which in turn adds to absences and resignations

09:32: How digital tools can be used to ensure staff coverage and put backup plans in place

12:08: Unique challenges in education and nonprofit when it comes to addressing employee burnout

13:34: Leveraging digital tools to identify pain points and stressors for employees to build a more supportive academic environment

16:22: How digital technology can help educators and nonprofits put the focus back on the communities they serve

22:42: How stakeholder feedback helps to build employee satisfaction