I am 56 and currently not looking to conclude my current headship - although the board or school community may have other plans.
Either way, though, succession planning is something we have looked at for many years now. After all, every school leader eventually steps down, and so being prepared for this reality is sensible.
Furthermore, having been a school leader for over 20 years, I have heard on numerous occasions from new heads or school boards about how the change of leader has proven jarring for the school community.
It’s wasn’t that the outgoing head and the new incumbent were poles apart or that the new leader had brought in significant changes that had understandably upset those involved.
Myself, the chair of our board and our HR manager have continually considered the process by which I may be replaced to remove as many uncertainties as we can and ensure that the transition will be as smooth as possible - whenever the day arrives.
Ensuring a smooth headteacher handover
Here are the key issues we have looked at so far.
1. Deciding how to recruit the right candidate
The importance of recruiting the right leader cannot be underestimated - getting it wrong can have damaging effects upon staff morale, retention and, ultimately, the educational provision offered to the students.
As most school boards are voluntary and the majority of members are not from an educational background, bringing in the right experts to support the process is vital.
As such, we have identified three reputable education executive search companies that we will engage with when the time comes. Doing this in advance does not set anything in stone, but it does give a great starting point that will save considerable time during a more pressured period.
2. Identifying key requirements
Every school is unique and so it is therefore crucial that work goes into identifying what type of person and the personality traits the school wants to follow the current head - it may be a continuation or it may be a new type of leader entirely.
This will likely depend on understanding the direction the school is going in and the challenges it is likely to face in the coming years.
For example, if the school has a large building project on the horizon or a staffing restructure, it may be useful to consider someone with this experience. This can be decided nearer the time, but there may be traits or aspects that are needed regardless of what is on the horizon.
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Certain experience may be a non-negotiable - perhaps someone with headship experience or with knowledge of a certain region. Conversely, it may be that the time is right to hire someone less experienced who can grow with the school.
Whatever the focus, it is important that the chair or a small portion of the board are not left to decide this alone. There can be a danger that they only see one part of the picture and are unaware of the views of other stakeholders, who will offer useful insights on other areas that the new leader will manage.
3. Setting remuneration
If getting the right headteacher is the first job of the board, the second is retaining them. The last thing a school needs is a head who becomes distracted because they do not feel valued or their remuneration is lower than market value.
Obviously, remuneration levels must be within budget, but they need to be attractive to recruit the right calibre of person - and competitive enough to retain them.
This is something we have worked on using benchmarking data and external support to help gauge where this level may be.
This will need to be reviewed again when the time comes, but having a sense of a remuneration package agreed beforehand goes a long way and buys considerable time when entering the recruitment market.
4. Proactively looking
Finally, as part of this work, I have been looking at other leaders both in the school and elsewhere who may be strong candidates in the future.
This may be those not quite ready yet or it may be people who end up taking a job elsewhere before the time comes. The idea is not to find a specific person but to informally assess who may or may not be a future candidate and the sort of backgrounds they have in order to help shape thinking.
We do this through platforms such as LinkedIn, by talking to stakeholders in other schools and generally keeping our ears to the ground.
To conclude (and re-emphasise), I am not looking to leave my school - indeed, the process of considering broader succession planning has helped me to focus even more on what I still want to achieve in my role.
The reality is, though, that all leaders eventually step down, so being prepared is the sensible thing to do for your school and the community - something that should always come first.
Mark Leppard MBE is headmaster of The British School Al Khubairat in the United Arab Emirates and a member of the Tes Global Advisory Board
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