Wellbeing That Improves Retention

Staff wellbeing is often seen as a ‘nice to have’—but in reality, it sits at the heart of operational effectiveness, financial sustainability, and organisational stability.

In this engaging and practical session, Helen Burge reframes wellbeing as a strategic lever for improving recruitment, retention, and performance across schools and trusts. Drawing on evidence, sector insight, and operational excellence principles, this workshop explores how leaders can move beyond reactive wellbeing initiatives to a structured, data-informed approach that drives meaningful change.

Attendees will be supported to think differently about the role of wellbeing in their organisation—connecting culture, workload, leadership and data into a coherent strategy that keeps great people in the system.

In this session we explore

• Why staff wellbeing is both a governance and operational issue, not just a pastoral concern

• The link between wellbeing, workload, and organisational outcomes including absence, turnover and recruitment challenges

• How to use HR and workforce data (recruitment, retention, engagement, workload) to understand what’s really happening in your organisation

• How to apply Operational Excellence (OpEx) principles to wellbeing, including continuous improvement and evidence-based decision making

Take home points

• Practical insight into what data to collect—and how to use it effectively

• Confidence in developing and interpreting meaningful HR KPIs and dashboards

• A simple framework for creating impactful improvement statements linked to measurable outcomes

Helen Burge