"If only schools were run like businesses." As someone who has been a public school employee for more than 20 years, I would be rich if I got a nickel every time I heard that phrase from a noneducator. I'd be doubly rich if I got a nickel every time I heard an objection from a colleague like, "Dentists aren't held accountable for the number of cavities their patients have." What if everyone is right and wrong? The problem isn't that business theories have no place in education: it's that we don't define the elements of those theories correctly.
For example, customer service theory is rooted in the pursuit of customer satisfaction. But although we do want our students and their families to be satisfied with their school and feel like it is a great choice, it is inaccurate to operationally define our students as our customers because that assumes education is something done to or for students while they simply consume it. Prior to high-stakes testing and accountability programs, this definition was valid. We just needed students to stay satisfied enough with school to earn their diplomas. Back then, schools were indeed like dentists—dentists can have their patients' best interests at heart and provide education about oral care, but they stay in business if patients are satisfied enough to keep coming back.
For public schools, that reality no longer exists. In today's schools, students are more like employees than customers. They are expected to perform, and schools are held accountable to the results they produce. Instead of looking for ways to make students happy consumers, we need to find the factors that motivate employees. This shift in perspective calls for
- School leaders who understand current research on employee motivational theories and how they apply to education settings. When applying business theories or models to education, we need to make sure that we are operationally defining elements accurately and relative to our environment.
- Teachers need to engage in leadership development. Businesses provide their frontline supervisors with leadership training. Most of the training teachers receive is in pedagogy, but they would also benefit from learning to lead. After all, "leading in the classroom" is part of most teacher evaluation rubrics.
- Educators to realize that what motivates this generation of workers is not what motivated past generations. When looking at business models of employee motivation, we need to seek those that are successful with younger employees. Our current generation of students (Generation Z) is entrepreneurial, competitive, and hard working. They want to know what they do matters, but they are realistic when it comes to changing the world. Businesses are <LINK URL="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-generation-z-workforce-0402-biz-20170331-story.html" LINKTARGET="_blank">already preparing</LINK> for the oldest members of this generation to enter the workplace. In "<LINK URL="https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/03/29/10-ways-to-prepare-for-gen-z-in-the-workplace/#12e5bbdb29ee" LINKTARGET="_blank">10 Ways to Prepare for Gen Z in the Workplace</LINK>," Deep Patel suggests that members of this generation A. Crave independence and want to take ownership of their work, but they also want formative feedback and social interaction. B. Are the first true digital natives but will need help limiting distractions. C. Need to understand the meaning of their work—Generation Z employees might be hard workers, but they are not there to just do a job.
- Education and business researchers to join forces. There is a lot of employee motivation research from the business sector and a lot of student motivation research from the education sector. Wouldn't it be great if researchers could apply the business theory in the classroom? What would we learn if we considered how to motivate and sustain the students working to make our schools great?
Just like businesses and their employees, schools are held accountable for the work students do. As educators in this new learning landscape, we need to consider every avenue to help our students achieve success. If applied correctly, theories in the business world have a lot to offer the education world. It's all in the interpretation.