EXAMINING EMPLOYEE

TURNOVER

June 26,
2018 A closer look at why employees are leaving

Fauquier County Public Schools School Year 2017-2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

A closer look at why people are leaving ...........................................................................3

Certified Staff
What types of employees are leaving Fauquier County Public Schools? ............................3
Why are they leaving? ...................................................................................................4
How long were they here? ..............................................................................................6
Who are their next employers? ......................................Error! Bookmark not defined.7
How do employees feel about working for Fauquier County Public Schools? .....................8
How do employees feel about administration? .................................................................9
How do employees feel about the school environment? ....................................................9
How are our benefits viewed? ........................................................................................9
Classified Staff
What types of employees are leaving Fauquier County Public Schools? ............................9
Why are they leaving? .................................................................................................10
How long were they here? ............................................................................................ 11
Who are their next employers? .................................................................................... 11
How do employees feel about working for Fauquier County Public Schools? ................... 11
How do employees feel about administration? ...............................................................12
How do employees feel about the school environment? ..................................................12
How are our benefits viewed? ......................................................................................12
Final Thoughts ........................................................................................................... 13

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A CLOSER LOOK AT WHY PEOPLE ARE LEAVING
During the 2017-2018 school year, Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) had 250 employment
separations, including retirees; 129 certified employees and 121 classified employees. There were 60
retirees; 27 certified and 33 classified. When retirements are factored out, turnover equaled 10%. Of the
189 non-retiring employees leaving the school division, 102 are certified and 87 are classified. The total
number of employees, including retirees, was 250. This is an increase from the previous year by 90
employees.

Turnover Percent
School Year Certified Classified Total Employees
(excluding retirees)

2017-2018 129 121 250 10.0%

2016-2017 86 74 160 5.0%

2015-2016 95 86 181 6.8%

2014-2015 113 95 208 8.3%

2013-2014 91 102 193 7.8%

Fauquier County Public Schools has two main classifications of employees; certified and classified. To
determine where the majority of turnover has occurred, the separations have been broken out by
classification.
Certified Staff Turnover
Certified staff includes Teachers, Guidance Counselors, School Psychologists, Speech Pathologists,
Social Workers and School Administration.

CERTIFIED TURNOVER THROUGH THE YEARS

The graph below illustrates the Certified staff turnover since School Year 2003-2004.

Number of Certified Separations

129

110 113 113

98 102
96 93 95
87 91
86
76 79

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03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18

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WHAT TYPES OF CERTIFIED EMPLOYEES ARE LEAVING FAUQUIER
COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
The chart below illustrates the different positions and their respective turnover percentage. The data
represented the chart below does not include retirements.

Of note, School Psychologist turnover has a decrease this year since we began giving retention and
recruitment bonuses.

SY 16-17
Exiting SY 17-18 Turnover Percent
Position Turnover
Employees Percent Change
Percent***
Administrators/Directors 0 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Guidance Counselor 2 5.9% 3.0% -2.9%
Instructional Supervisors 0 0.0% 8.3% 8.3%
Librarians 1 4.5% 0.0% -4.5%
OT/PT 0 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Principals/AP’s /A D’s 1 2.0% 2.1% 0.1%
School Psychologist 2 22.2% 14.3% -7.9%
School Social Worker 2 25.0% 0.0% -25.0%
Speech Pathologist 2 14.3% 0.0% -14.3%
Teachers 95 9.9% 4.2% -5.7%
Total Positions 105 8.4% 3.2% -5.2%

WHY ARE THEY LEAVING?

Retirement: 27 employees
Resignation: 94 employees
Released: 7 employees

Why Employees Left FCPS

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Retirement Resignation 4 Released/Non Renewal Deceased
Eight-four certified employees completed the exit survey. The top three reasons given were Retirement,
Family Circumstances and Compensation.

Reasons for Separating from FCPS

30

25

20

15

10

0
Career Compensation Family Relocation Retirement Work Conditions
Advancement Circumstances

2017-2018 2017-2018 2016-17 2014-15

Certified Only* Total Total Total
Work Conditions 4 5 6 4
Career Advancement 4 11 8 10
Quality of Supervision 4 5 4 0
Interpersonal Conflicts 1 3 0 0
Compensation 16 18 12 8
Retirement 25 40 25 38
Family Circumstances 17 19 13 16
Commute 1 1 2 5
Relocation 12 15 6 18
Other 8 10 4 3
*This year is broken out showing certified staff only. The previous year’s show the totals of both certified
and classified staff.

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 HOW LONG WERE THEY HERE?
The breakdown below clearly indicates that the large majority of people leaving, do so in the first three
years of service.

Years of Service
60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0-3 years 4-6 years 7-10 years 11-14 years 15-24 years 25+ years

Further analysis of “Years of Service” data is represented in the table below. The table breaks the data
into years of service and reason for leaving this year as compared to last school year (16-17).

Certified

17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-18 17-16 17-18 16-17
0-3 0-3 4-6 4-6 7-10 7-10 11-14 11-14 15-24 15-24 25+ 25+
years years years years years years years years years years years years
Resignation 47 32 17 3 15 3 10 4 5 0 0 0

Retirement 1 0 4 1 3 0 3 6 7 5 9 10

Released/Nonrenewal 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Deceased 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Certified
17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-1
0-3 0-3 4-6 4-6 7-10 7-10 11-14 11-14 15-2
years years years years years years years years yea
Resignation 47 32 17 3 15 3 10 4 5
Retirement 1 0 4 1 3 0 3 6 7
Released/Nonrenewal 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Deceased 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Certified
17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-1

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 0-3 0-3 4-6 4-6 7-10 7-10 11-14 11-14 15-2
years years years years years years years years yea
Resignation 47 32 17 3 15 3 10 4 5
Retirement 1 0 4 1 3 0 3 6 7
Released/Nonrenewal 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Deceased 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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WHO ARE THEIR NEXT EMPLOYERS?
Forty-three individuals provided an answer to the question asking about their next employers. The
remaining employees stated that they were still looking, not working in the future or simply left the
answer blank. The chart on the following page shows the various categories of responses.

Next Employer
30

25

20

15

10

0
Public School Division Other Industry Non-Public School Self-Employed

Private School
Culpeper

Frederick

Loudoun County
Prince William

Madison
Out of State

HOW DO EMPLOYEES FEEL ABOUT WORKING FOR FAUQUIER

COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
Separating employees were asked if they would recommend FCPS as a good place to work. Of those that
answered the question, fifty-six of employees said that they would most definitely recommend Fauquier
County Public Schools. Twenty-three responded that they would recommend with reservations, and
three said they would not recommend FCPS. The employees that indicated that they would recommend
FCPS with reservations, compensation was the reason stated for their reservations.

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HOW DO EMPLOYEES FEEL ABOUT ADMINISTRATION?
There were seven questions on the exit survey that allowed employees to provide feedback on their direct
supervisor or administer.

Almost Always Usually Sometimes Never

Followed Policy 58 15 8 1
Open Communication 53 10 13 6
Consistently Fair 41 24 12 5
Sensitive to Needs 45 15 16 6
Provided Feedback 40 21 13 8
Provided Recognition 31 8 15 8
Resolved Complaints 30 26 17 7

HOW DO EMPLOYEES FEEL ABOUT THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT?

Exiting employees were asked to respond to questions that addressed overall school environment.

Excellent Good Fair Poor

Cooperation within School 28 45 8 1
Cooperation with other Schools/Departments 16 43 19 2
Respect from Co-Workers 52 25 6 0
Job Training 16 44 20 2
Equipment 9 37 30 6
Performance Review System 12 43 20 7
New Hire Orientation 21 42 10 5
Rate of Pay 4 21 15 33
Career Development/Advancement Opportunities 6 42 21 9
Physical Work Conditions 21 41 14 7

HOW ARE OUR BENEFITS VIEWED?

Responses to the exit interview regarding benefits were analyzed. Overall, employees are extremely
satisfied with the benefits that are offered and how they work for their family.

Classified Staff Turnover

Classified staff includes Administrative staff, Instructional Assistants, Bus Drivers and Bus Aides, School
Nutrition, Custodians and School Nurses.

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WHAT TYPES OF CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES ARE LEAVING FAUQUIER
COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
The chart on the following page illustrates the different positions and their respective turnover percentage.
The data does not include retirements.

Of note, sixteen of the twenty-five employees listed under Bus Drivers/Aides separated prior to the hourly
rate increase in January. In addition, in the School Nurse positions, we were able to fill the vacant
positions we had at the beginning of the year after increasing the pay in September.
SY 16-17
Exiting SY 17-18 Turnover Percent
Position Turnover
Employees Percent Change
Percent***
Administrative Staff 5 4.6% 0.9% -3.7%
Bus Drivers/Aides* 25 12.9% 12.2% -0.7%
Computer Services 1 6.7% 12.5% 5.8%
Custodians 15 14.0% 6.4% -7.6%
Instructional Assistant 16 7.8% 5.1% -2.7%
School Health Nurse 6 31.6% 11.1% -20.5%
School Nutrition Worker 20 16.3% 5.1% -11.2%
Total Positions 88 10.0% 7.6% -2.4%
*Sixteen of the twenty-five employees separated prior to the pay increase in January.
**Two of the five employees separated prior to the pay increase in September.
***SY16-17 data does not include any end of year separations received after June of 2017.

WHY ARE THEY LEAVING?

Retirement: 33
Resignation: 73
Released: 15

Why Employees Left FCPS

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Retirement Resignation Released/Non Renewal

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Twenty-nine classified employees completed the exit survey. The top two reasons given were Retirement
and Career Advancement.

Resons for Separating from FCPS

16

14

12

10

0
Career Compensation Family Relocation Retirement Work Conditions
Advancement Circumstances

2017-2018 2017-2018 2016-17 2014-15

Classified Only Total Total Total
Work Conditions 1 5 6 4
Career Advancement 5 11 8 10
Quality of Supervision 0 5 4 0
Interpersonal Conflicts 0 3 0 0
Commute 0 1 2 5
Retirement 15 40 25 38
Family Circumstances 2 19 13 16
Compensation 2 18 12 8
Relocation 2 15 6 18
Other 2 10 4 3
*This year is broken out showing classified staff only. The previous year’s show the totals of both
certified and classified staff.

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 HOW LONG WERE THEY HERE?
The breakdown below clearly indicates that the large majority of people leaving do so in the first three
years of service.

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0-3 years 4-6 years 7-10 years 11-14 years 15-24 years 25+ years

Further analysis of “Years of Service” data is represented in the table below. The table breaks the data
into years of service and reason for leaving.

Classified
17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17 17-18 16-17
0-3 0-3 4-6 4-6 7-10 7-10 11-14 11-14 15-24 15-24 25+ 25+
years years years years years years years years years years years years
Resignation 45 33 12 26 8 2 7 2 1 1 0 0
Retirement 0 1 1 2 7 7 6 2 8 1 11 6
Released/Nonrenewal 13 0 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 3 0 0
Deceased 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

WHO ARE THEIR NEXT EMPLOYERS?

Nine individuals provided an answer to the question asking about their next employer. The remaining
stated they were still looking or simply left the answer blank. One staff member accepted a position with
another public school division. Additionally, six classified employees indicated they had accepted a
position within an industry other than an educational environment.

HOW DO EMPLOYEES FEEL ABOUT WORKING FOR FAUQUIER

COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
Separating employees were asked if they would recommend FCPS as a good place to work. Of those that
answered the question, seventeen employees said that they would most definitely recommend Fauquier
County Public Schools. Twelve responded that they would recommend with reservations. No employee
said they would not recommend FCPS. The employees that indicated that they would recommend FCPS
with reservations compensation was the reason stated for their reservations.

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HOW DO EMPLOYEES FEEL ABOUT ADMINISTRATION?
There were seven questions on the exit survey that allowed employees to provide feedback on their direct
supervisor or administer.

Almost Always Usually Sometimes Never

Followed Policy 18 7 0 2
Open Communication 20 5 2 0
Consistently Fair 16 5 5 1
Sensitive to Needs 13 6 4 2
Provided Feedback 13 10 2 1
Provided Recognition 14 7 2 3
Resolved Complaints 10 4 7 3

HOW DO EMPLOYEES FEEL ABOUT THE SCHOOL

ENVIRONMENT?
Exiting employees were asked to respond to questions that addressed overall school environment.

Excellent Good Fair Poor

Cooperation within School 12 11 6 0
Cooperation with other Schools/Departments 8 15 4 0
Respect from Co-Workers 13 10 4 2
Job Training 5 14 5 4
Equipment 9 11 5 4
Performance Review System 5 16 5 3
New Hire Orientation 7 11 3 1
Rate of Pay 0 6 6 17
Career Development/Advancement Opportunities 4 4 10 8
Physical Work Conditions 4 17 3 3

HOW ARE OUR BENEFITS VIEWED?

Responses to the exit interview regarding benefits were analyzed. Overall, employees are extremely
satisfied with the benefits that are offered and how they work for their family

FINAL THOUGHTS
When all exiting employees, certified and classified, had the opportunity to share their thoughts on how
working in Fauquier County Public Schools could be improved. Their suggestion better pay. Fifty-one
people responded that compensation needs to be improved. Employees would like to live and work in
Fauquier, however, the salaries and cost of living does not work for their personal situations.

The overall turnover rate increased this year by 5.0%. Seventy-three percent of employees separating
from the Division had 0-10 years of experience with forty-six percent of those with just 0-3 years of
service. As the market for teachers and other certified staff declines it is more imperative now than ever

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that we focus on retaining top talent. While compensation and benefits are strong drivers for recruitment
and retention, career advancement, leadership and working environmental also are key factors when it
comes to employees choosing to stay with our organization. We must provide meaningful and guided
feedback and give access to mentoring programs that align with the unique needs of each of our
employees just as we do with students. Investing in and developing our current staff for their future is
vital in this competitive job market.

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