Overcoming The Top 9 Challenges of Online Teacher Management

One of the biggest challenges for online education businesses is standing out in a highly competitive market. According to a report by Research and Markets, the online education market is expected to grow from USD 269.87 billion in 2021 to USD 585.48 billion by 2027.

With such a significant increase, it is essential for businesses to stay ahead of the competition by having a unique selling proposition, offering innovative and high-quality courses that meet the needs of their students, while providing a favorable environment for their teachers. Furthermore, businesses must have an effective marketing strategy that targets their ideal audience, enabling them to attract and retain great teachers. An online teacher management service can assist in creating a unique and competitive environment apart from managing the teacher's workload and ensuring their engagement and motivation.

Running an online education business requires significant capital investment and management costs. Businesses need to have a solid system that powers their online platform and runs smoothly 24/7.

But the real cogs in the online teaching machine, which needs the most resources, expertise knowledge and capital investment, is quality teacher acquisition, management, training and development. Additionally, the development of engaging content, customer service, marketing, student and teacher acquisition, and training and development all require a considerable amount of investment

Many successful online teaching businesses have come to realise that ustilising the services of Teacher Management as a Service partner is a much more efficient way to develop and grow their businesses. They can focus on their student acquisition, servicing and content, whilst allowing an expert Teacher Management Company to take care of the rest.

Paying teachers across the globe can become a logistical nightmare. The complexity of global systems, banks, and tax laws make it difficult for businesses to pay their teachers accurately and on time, and this can have a severe impact on their business. A study by Statista found that 24% of employees quit their jobs because of payroll issues. This highlights the importance of having an effective payroll system that ensures timely payments for all teachers and staff.

Great teachers are the backbone of any online education business. One of the most significant challenges facing e-learning businesses, is finding and retaining quality teachers who can deliver a good learning experience to students. They need to provide personalized support to students and deliver engaging and inspiring lessons that keeps them coming back for more.

More than that, it is crucial to provide teachers with a healthy, motivated, and driven environment that encourages growth, learning, and development. Online education companies need to provide ongoing professional development opportunities to their teachers, such as workshops, training sessions, and conferences, to improve their teaching skills and enhance the quality of the courses they offer.

Going one step further, companies who truly care about their teachers provide opportunities not only for professional development, but personal development as well. Offering initiatives such as social clubs to make them feel more connected and engaged, life coaching opportunities that speak into their overall wellbeing and personal growth, and health and fitness guidance and challenges to keep them physically well. Another important aspect is social responsibility and impact, philanthropic compassion sitting at the heart of all teachers. Do you provide a platform for your teachers to volunteer into causes that make the world a better place?

Lastly, businesses must also invest in the right guidance, tools, platforms, and resources to help their teachers succeed. According to a report by Gallup, 70% of employee engagement depends on the manager. Therefore, businesses must focus on teacher management to retain their best teachers.

Scaling your teacher teams up or down is an essential part of any growing business, but it can be particularly challenging for online education businesses. This is due to the complexity of the industry, seasonality, labor legislation and the costs associated with it. Businesses must also invest in technology and infrastructure that can handle increased traffic and activity on their platforms, that is agile enough to also downscale during low demand periods.

In many instances students come from various regions worldwide and businesses must be agile enough to recruit and onboard qualified teachers from different regions too. This requires these businesses to understand the cultural and linguistic differences, the various pay rates, recruiting channels and related requirements that must be met for each region. This is particularly challenging due to the constantly changing criteria for students, and businesses must have the expertise to navigate these challenges.

Online teacher management requires a specific skill set that businesses may not have in-house, particularly if they haven recently converted from an offline teaching model. The HR and performance management of remote teams and teachers (and understanding the laws and nuances around contracts and managing people) is very specialized. As such, businesses may require an external service provider that can assist and provide the necessary expertise. Many businesses focus heavily on resourcing their sales, customer support and tech teams, but don’t put the same amount of energy into their teacher management. Hiring specialized online teacher managers can help improve your service delivery, freeing you up to focus on core functions of your business while having complete confidence that all aspects of your teacher management is being cared for by professionals.

Ensuring consistent quality across all classes and courses is vital for an online education business. Maintaining quality requires not only hiring the best teachers, using robust systems and processes, but also creating a framework that helps teachers teach, monitoring their performance and suggesting relevant training and upskilling interventions. This can be a challenge as teachers may have different teaching styles and methods. Implementing quality control measures and performance evaluation criteria can be time-consuming and complex but it is necessary to maintain the quality of the classes and courses offered.

The technology used in online education is constantly evolving, and businesses need to keep up with the latest advancements to remain competitive. This can be a challenge as it requires ongoing investments in technology, research and development, and training. Additionally, not all teachers may be comfortable with using new technology, so online education businesses need to provide training and support to ensure that teachers can use the latest tools effectively.

These are some of the most significant challenges that online education businesses face today. However, partnering with a Teacher Management as a Service provider can help alleviate these challenges and ensure that businesses have the right teachers to provide quality education to students.

In summary, online Teacher Management as a Service providers can help your business in various ways, to name a few:

• Global Recruitment & Scalability - Our recruitment team has the capacity to recruit teachers from anywhere in the world at any volume. We work closely with clients to understand your unique needs and those of your students. Together, we develop a best practice framework and teacher profile for class and curriculum goals.
• Teacher Scheduling & Class Management - Our teaching and management teams are located across the globe, which enables us to schedule and manage classes across all time zones 24/7.
• Teacher Performance Management - Performance management is ongoing, applicable to all teachers, begins the moment a new teacher joins us and is aligned to each client’s unique performance metrics. Any issues are dealt with immediately by skilled managers.
• Training & Mentorship - We have a professional development Academy, Inspire, which consistently develops dozens of new modules and courses every month. The academy exists to up-skill, improve performance and inspire all team members. New team members are also assigned a team leader to be their direct line of support, who connects with them daily to ensure their success.
• Personal Development – Happy, connected teachers = happy, connected students. We encourage all our teams to get involved in our personal development program, where we focus on aspects of the human experience outside of career specific performance and duties.
• Social Responsibility – We recognize that doing good is also a fundamental part of the human experience and all team members are encouraged to volunteer their time and be involved in relevant socio-economic and environmental causes. Impact is the vehicle that we use to deliver on these commitments outside of our classrooms.
• IT, Tech Support & Business Intelligence - Our tech systems, business intelligence and operating processes empower us to deliver efficient services in any global location. A dedicated support team ensures class connectivity and uptime is at its maximum performance, 24/7.

The online education industry has experienced a significant surge in growth, but it comes with its own set of challenges. From standing out amongst fierce competition to managing global teams and handling complex payroll requirements, the challenges are diverse. However, with the right partner, businesses can overcome these challenges and continue to provide quality education to students. By partnering with an online teacher management service provider, businesses can focus on their core competencies and leave the teacher management function to experts in the field.