R is for Return on Time

Deciding what’s actually worth staff time

You’re making decisions right now with limited budget, limited time, and limited capacity. Most of them aren’t ideal choices — they’re more like trade-offs. If something new comes in, something else has to give. If time is spent in one place, it’s taken from another.

That’s why return on time is a useful lens.

Not as a slogan. As a way of sense-checking whether something is genuinely worth asking your staff to give their time to.

Under the new EIF, you’re not expected to be doing everything. What matters is whether you can explain what you’ve chosen to focus on, why those choices make sense for your setting, and what difference they’re starting to make.

What “return on time” means for you

Return on time isn’t about squeezing more out of people. It’s about being confident that the time you’re asking for is justified.

You see it when staff leave a session clearer, not heavier.

When something changes in classrooms, not just in planning documents.

When practice holds a few weeks later because people understood the point of it.

You also see it when you decide not to pursue something — even if it sounds worthwhile — because it doesn’t fit where you are right now.

When time is tight (and it is), clarity becomes one of your strongest leadership tools.

Five questions to help you judge whether something is worth staff time

What do you expect staff to do differently as a result of this?

If the answer stays at “be more aware” or “have a better understanding”, the return on time may be limited.

What are you moving or pausing to make space for it?

If nothing shifts, you’re adding pressure rather than investing time.

Who is this most relevant for right now?

If it only lands for part of your team, that’s useful information — not a failure.

What would you expect to still be visible in six weeks’ time?

If there’s no trace in practice, conversation, or confidence, it’s worth questioning the value.

Would you still choose this if budget tightened again?

This question tends to cut through quickly and bring priorities into focus.

Now these are not inspection questions. They’re decision-making questions. But being able to answer them clearly makes inspection conversations far easier.

Where tailored support starts to matter

Once you start thinking this way, one thing usually becomes obvious: not everyone in your school needs the same support at the same time.

Some staff need depth. Some need confidence-building. Some need very practical guidance they can use tomorrow. A single, uniform CPD offer doesn’t always give you the best return on time — or on budget.

This is where having flexibility helps. Approaches like SkillsBridge CPD Select allow you to shape CPD around your current needs and goals, rather than committing time and money to training that only partially fits. For many schools, that flexibility isn’t about doing more — it’s about using what you have more deliberately.

If you want a simple way to review how your priorities, staff development, and EIF evaluation areas currently line up, the Smart Steps Guide to the New EIF  can help you structure that thinking. And if it’s easier to talk it through, our Training Partnership Managers are always happy to explore what a better return on time could look like for you.

Speak with a Training Partnership Manager