Job Discussion Forums

[Wolf]

Over on the China forum, we'ver recently had a Chinese recruiter pay us a visit. And we strongly suspect (okay, I strongly suspect) that another poster was actually the foreign manager of one of the EFL schools over here with a less than perfect reputation.

They're watching us.

So here's our chance!

Some managers, recruiters, and other people who we (okay I ) whinge about on a regular basis come here and read what we say. Check out the recent En Lai thread in the China forum, and the "defences" of NOVA in the Japan archives.

Apparently, we are doing them an enourmous disservice by whinging. By telling the world about what happened to us at Unnecessarily Blissful English or wherever, listing documented evidence, corraborating stories, etc, makes some of them unhappy enough to post here.

How could we be so inconsiderate.

I have here some friendly advice for any school managers who might be reading. Anyone care to add to it?

Sigh, how about introducing wild revolutionary reforms like:

Paying us on time.

Stop blaming us for "transgressions" we don't commit. (My personal pet peeve.)

Give us what you promise in a written, legal contract.

By the way, don't include illegal clauses in contracts.

Not artificially inflate the dress code. (What's up with that? I know a woman who got in trouble wearing an outfit she used to wear on the FTSE, or London stock exhange. While working for some langauge school.)

Make the connection that skin colour is NOT RELATED to teaching ability. I mean, people only believe that stuff because of a media bliz caused, primarily, by YOU.

Don't threaten us with violence, or take away our passports, or rob us, or lie to us. This will get posted on the net.

Do not AIM FOR a 100% turnover every year. How many Fortune 500 companies ADMIT to having such a policy, they way more than one of my previous employers has?

Treat your local staff nice. Do not purposely treat them like crap, then pay them considerably less than us in an effort to create animosity so that we do not communicate. They have information we need, and we have information they need. Do you have ANY IDEA how disruptive animostiy in the workplace is? How much MONEY it is costing YOU in lost (wo)man - hour time?

This above all else, to thine own clients be true. Don't lie to them. Don't give them unrealistic hopes. Don't tell them that your teachers are all EFL rocket scientists if they're not. Don't sell them 600 lesson tickets on a 3 year free booking contract system, knowing dam well that they couldn't possibly use them all (that's like one lesson every other day constantly for 3 years - who's going to do that?) That's taking money from some one - a lot of money hand over fist - and giving them NOTHING. You can run a sucessful, MONEY MAKING EFL school by actually selling LESSONS instead of NOTHING. Especially in China.

I left myself open to coments / flames up there. Did it on purpose, Anyone care to add/ammend/comment.

To misquote one of my favorite authors:

Do I oversimplify the matter? Very well, I oversimplify the matter. I'm an a$$, it's not like I contain multitudes or anything. - Walt Whitman's Evil Twin.

PS Yeah, I know what a pointless thread - but I'm trying to be more origional than "I have an elemetry school education and a deep desire to backpack. Can I go to the middle east and just walk into a job?"

[Joe C.]

[Wolf]

[Joe C.]

[Wolf]

[Joe C.]

I agree that they get treated worse than imported staff.

Is it done on purpose? I'd vote yes. To create anomosity? I'd
have to say a qualified maybe. Other alternatives are that they are
not treated worse. We are just treated better. The reason, perhaps, is that we are seen as ...

a. More of a financial asset; and / or
b. A novelty item.

[bobo the clown]

Wolf I am a manager at an ESL school here in China and I understand your complaints. I have been in China for many years now and have worked for 3 different ESL institutions and have seen and experienced many of the same things you commented on. The problem, though, with bashing any ESL schools is that the turnover of Management is just as high as the turnover for new teachers so things generally change(sometimes for he better).

The school I manage now is completely different from when I first started. New teachers, different local staff, different management, the only thing that has remained the same are the owners. You may have had a bad experience at one school but who's to say those problems persist 2-3-4 years later.

Thank for hearing me out and I appreciate all you comments and suggestions.

BTC

[Wolf]

[Stephen]

Wolf

I agree with a lot of what you say, but I think you missed these which are really quite important.

1 REWARD SUCCESS Do not give teachers $hit for doing a good job.

2 Accept that academic matters should be handled by qualified people, that is by those with the qualifications and experience to do the job This point is particularly pertinent when the school is run by local management.

3 Accept the fact that your teachers know a great deal about your students' needs This probably means they know more than you (they are teaching them afterall), so avoid attempting to miromanage, especially those better qualified and more experienced than you. Also, listen to your teachers!

4 If you can't observe a class and offer constructive feedback, you have no business doing observations (It was fine, or very good do not count as proper feedback!)

5 Cheapest does NOT mean best

6 Remember who makes the money for the school Teachers who keep their students make more money for the school than teachers who do not, so keep your teachers happy.

7 PAY ON TIME

8 A good teacher can easily move to a different school, so treat them well

9 PAY ON TIME

10 If you are NOT a native speaker, then do NOT try and tell your native speaker teachers how to speak their own language

11 PAY ON TIME

12 Take the time and trouble to make sure you understand what is going on in the classroom, and make sure your front line staff who sell your courses understand what is happening and accurately report this to potential students

13 PAY ON TIME

I am sure this list is far from definitive, but I thought they were points worth mentioning.
Cheers
Stephen

PS. Wolf, I know you mentioned paying on time, but I thought it such an important point that it bore repeating several times.

[Wolf]

[rogan]

Well the managers are certainly reviewing eslcafe.com.

I received the following in my private e-mail (which is available on my profile details