Moving from business to schools -- a culture shift

An excellent question comes from a reader in response to a piece a couple of weeks back on how people from the corporate world are transitioning into classroom teaching.

Just what are some of the cultural differences between the two worlds, asks this woman who is interviewing with her local school system.

An insightful answer comes from Sue Gubing, an education consultant in Smithtown. I asked her to share a few of her impressions and in Sue Gubing fashion, she created this whole breakdown on her views of the “Differences Between Working for Private Industry and Public Schools.”

PRIVATE INDUSTRY	PUBLIC SCHOOLS
An urgency to be competitive exists.  The corporation must be competitive and strive to be better than the other corporate product or service.  ·         Thus, there are more deadlines to be met. ·         Ability to work overtime is a must.	There is not a compelling urgency to be competitive amongst schools.  Yes, SAT and AP scores are used for comparison, but deadlines for tasks and programs seem to be more monthly, semester or yearly.  ·         Deadlines do exist but they do not create anxiety. ·         Very little request to work overtime.
Success for the corporation is making a profit.  The goal for each employee is to focus on how he will contribute to making a profit. Goals tend to be black and white.	Success for a school is evidence of student achievement.  The end goal for staff is blurred – not so clear cut.  Hard to measure except with student tests which all educators complain about. Goals are warm and fuzzy.
Profits mean raises.	Raises come automatically based upon union contracts.
Personnel move around within the corporation constantly.  Staff is being trained during working hours for new responsibilities.  Opportunities to address job boredom and burnout can be addressed.  There may not be clear-cut lines as to movement and promotion.	Personnel are slotted into roles based upon teacher certification and civil services titles.  Boredom and burnout may result if a person is slotted to teach middle school social studies for 35 years.
The customer is king.  In many businesses a phone call never goes unanswered.	The students/parents are the customers, but some staff may not rigorously embrace this concept.
Job security is non-existent.   If the employee does not keep up with the latest skills and knowledge, he/she can easily be replaced.	Job security is prominent.   Loss of job occurs when the student population declines.
Proactive to new opportunities and new ideas.  Most companies have suggestion boxes for new ideas.	Reactive to new programs and ideas.  Major new ideas mostly come from a higher authority greatly removed from the ground troops.
Rewards for outstanding service can include money, trips, gifts, time off, etc.   Supervisors can modify rewards for each staff member.	Rewards for outstanding service might include plaques and pictures in local newspapers, with satisfaction coming from knowing you’ve done a good job.