Why Recruitment and Retention Start With How People Experience Leadership

Recruitment and retention are rarely talked about in the same breath as leadership behaviour. We tend to focus on processes instead: job adverts, interview questions, pay scales, onboarding plans. All important, of course. But they are rarely the deciding factor in whether people stay.
What keeps people in education organisations,, particularly in challenging times, is much simpler and much harder to get right.
It’s how they experience leadership day to day.

Across the sector, organisations are feeling the strain. Roles are harder to fill, teams are stretched, and leaders are being asked to do more with less. In that context, it’s tempting to see recruitment and retention as an external problem, something driven by market forces, funding pressures or sector-wide trends.
But when you look closely at where people stay, where they leave, and why, a different pattern often emerges.

People Don’t Just Leave Jobs, They Leave Experiences

When staff talk about why they leave, they rarely lead with salary or workload alone. More often, they talk about feeling unsupported, unheard, or constantly under pressure with no space to recover. They describe unclear expectations, inconsistent communication, or a lack of trust. Equally, when people choose to stay, even in demanding environments, they talk about being valued, supported and treated with respect. They talk about managers who communicate clearly, hold boundaries fairly, and notice effort as well as outcomes. This is where recruitment and retention quietly overlap with leadership.

The People-First Reality of Modern Leadership

For operational and support leaders in particular, this can feel like an uncomfortable truth. Many are managing teams behind the scenes, keeping systems running, responding to issues as they arise, and absorbing pressure from multiple directions. They may not see themselves as influencing recruitment or retention at all. Yet their impact is significant.

How managers delegate, communicate, handle pressure and address issues sets the tone for the team. It shapes whether people feel safe to speak up, confident in what’s expected of them, and supported when things are difficult. In challenging times, people look less for perfection and more for steadiness. They want clarity, fairness and a sense that their contribution matters.

Why Retention Becomes a Leadership Issue

Retention is often framed as a long-term strategy, something to think about once recruitment is “sorted”. In reality, retention is happening every day.
It shows up in whether people feel comfortable raising concerns. In whether workload feels manageable or constantly overwhelming. In whether feedback is timely and constructive or avoided altogether. Leaders who lead with intention create environments where people are more likely to stay, even when the work is demanding. Not because the role is easy, but because the experience feels human. This doesn’t require leaders to have all the answers. It requires them to be consistent, thoughtful and willing to reflect on how their leadership is experienced by others.

Small Shifts Make a Difference

A people-first approach doesn’t mean lowering standards or avoiding difficult conversations. In fact, it often means the opposite. Clear expectations, fair boundaries and honest communication are reassuring in uncertain times. People feel safer when they know where they stand.

Simple shifts can have a disproportionate impact:

• communicating changes early and clearly
• following through on what you say you will do
• addressing issues promptly rather than letting them drift
• recognising effort, not just outcomes

These behaviours don’t sit in a recruitment policy. They sit in day-to-day leadership practice.

From Insight to Action

Many leaders instinctively understand this, but struggle to translate it into action when pressure is high. That’s why recruitment and retention can’t be solved by process alone. They require leaders who feel confident managing people well, even in difficult circumstances. At The Managers Training Company, we see this repeatedly. Organisations that invest in developing people-centred leadership capability are better placed to navigate challenging periods. Not because they avoid difficulty, but because their teams feel supported through it.

A Practical Next Step

If recruitment and retention are live issues for your organisationl, and you want to explore what a genuinely people-first approach looks like in practice, we’ve created a practical guide to support this thinking.

A People First Approach to Recruitment and Retention in Challenging Times explores the leadership behaviours, mindsets and cultural factors that influence whether people join, stay and thrive in education settings. It’s designed to help leaders reflect on what’s within their control and where small changes can make a meaningful difference. Because in challenging times, how people experience leadership matters more than ever.

You can access the guide here.