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Is the department honoured with a nice office? Do they receive strong professional development? Do you have plenty of high calibre applicants for the vacant roles in that team? Is HR handled by those who are highly qualified, credentialed experts? If not and the Head of School or the Director or the Principal is handling a lot of the HR workload, you may be missing a cost saving opportunity.

After eighteen years working in HR across international schools, I have seen recruitment change beyond recognition. What was once a manageable, if competitive process has become something genuinely difficult. The global teacher shortage is real, it is worsening, and the pressure it creates inside schools lands hardest on the people responsible for filling vacancies. I know that pressure intimately. I have felt it myself. The temptation when a post sits empty and the school ye

Many international schools have become more intentional about onboarding in recent years, with greater awareness around wellbeing, and transition support. At the same time, some schools still treat it largely as an administrative process focused on paperwork, and compliance rather than supporting families through a major life transition.

Many international schools have become significantly better at onboarding over the last decade, investing more time and energy into helping new hires settle into countries, systems, and communities. That’s a positive shift. But while onboarding has become more professionalised, offboarding is often inconsistent, rushed, or poorly designed.