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    Elephant in the Boardroom:  Developing a Staff Retention Plan

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    Because all staff transitions are costly, the first priority for a church that has a high-quality, high-performing staff is a staff retention plan. This is especially important given the current shortage of leadership in the church (and in society at large). Like other organizations, churches are in a highly competitive environment for talent. Keeping the good leadership you have is the first priority of a strategic plan encompassing staffing. There are seven components to a good staff retention plan:

    1. A set of clear expectations defining what it means for the staff member to be successful.
    Without this clarity, staff members do not know if and when they hit a home run.

    2. A candid discussion regarding the staff member's career goals and needs in a working environment. A good evaluation process evaluates not only the employee but also the way the system is enhancing or hindering performance.

    3. A reliable, functionally appropriate, and discriminating evaluation instrument. Some version of a 360-degree evaluation instrument, which collects data from direct reports, supervisors, and cohorts, requires a significant time investment but can be effective in giving the staff member a good multidimensional measure of his or her performance.

    4. A quality coaching and training program. The staff member should have an opportunity to specify what is needed to be successful, and the wise church will offer task-appropriate training and coaching that meets mutually agreed specifications.

    5. A competitive compensation package. The package should be benchmarked against regional standards for the position and reflect the performance quality of the individual.

    6. A clear commitment from the church regarding the staff position. In a pastoral transition, what will the board do? Will the trustees ask for letters of resignation from every member to be handed to the new pastors (to be activated or destroyed)? Will the board members guarantee several years of tenure? Will they provide a severance package?

    7. A willingness to re-recruit high-quality staff members at a critical juncture.
    (The cost of recruiting new staff members is substantial.)

    Since staff transitions are inevitable at all levels, the church needs a good transition plan at all levels as well. Obviously the most critical transition need is a success plan delineating a transition in the pastoral position. Generating the motivation to address these issues often requires a dry-eyed local assessment of the costs of a poorly planned and therefore poorly implemented transition process.

    FOR DISCUSSION:  Does your church have a staff-retention plan?  How many of the seven things are you doing now?  Do you feel this type of plan is important for your local church?  If you're a church staff member, would such a plan make you feel more confident in your position?  I'd love to hear your input!

    We’ve be using the new book titled "The Elephant in the Boardroom—Speaking the Unspoken about Pastoral Transitions" by Carolyn Weese and J. Russell Crabtree for some great discussions on how healthy pastoral transitions should look.. Today, we’ll continue with a short plan for retaining staff members. Carolyn and Russell write…

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    1. Wayne Cook on Tue, March 01, 2005

      Such wonderful recommendations.


      Our church does not have a staff retention program as such, but we do practice most of your procedural recommendations.


      I think it is important that pastors in particular should know more about Human Resource/Personnel procedures and practices than we are trained to do.  I have the benefit of having worked in an environment where these issues were practiced in the corporate world.


      If we know the elements of what the book presents, we can call it what we like, or what we think the church/board will accept and endorse, but the practical elements should definitely be present.


      Again, it may take years of preparing for the future to have the long range plan together and once again, we must look beyond the immediate future to where the church will be long after we are gone.

      Thanks for the helpful reminders.

       

    2. Harry Miller on Tue, March 01, 2005

      For me the model is Jesus.  Jesus did not model after the world and use a secular human resource department to govern the pastor.  Jesus got His Word from the Father (John 6).  “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”  Ephesians 4:11-16 Notice the order apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers.  Now if you read the Holy Scriptures the apostles and prophets were beaten and put in jail and looked up to because in all four Gospels Jesus leads us to the cross.  Remember we are to be following Him.  Next elders were retired pastors (over fifty)with integrity that went to the congregation to pray daily and the needy were brought to them (James 5).

    3. Dr. Jim Dyke on Wed, March 02, 2005

      In the words of Howard Hendricks, these points are “a beautiful theory murdered by a gang of brutal facts.”  The reality in most churches is that board members are ill-equipped for any functions of effective staffing: identifying, screening, interviewing, hiring, evaluating, coaching, or terminating.  It doesn’t help that most senior pastors are equally inept.  Reading this book might be a start, but I doubt it - there are so many nuances to effective staffing that have to do with other subtle, but extremely determinative realities: staffing experience (or lack of it) among board members and senior pastors; the emotional dysfunctions and deficits of the board members and staff; the nature of the role of a “founding pastor” and the subsequent concentration of power that results; the loyalty to a long-time, but incompetent staff member (sometimes this is the senior pastor!); the inability of a senior pastor to grow in his leadership role as the church grows (e.g. from entrepreneurial leader to manager/organizational leader); etc. etc. etc.  Staffing is the “royal” executive skill for the same reason that marital success is a bigger challenge than success in “work” - it requires so much personal health AND specific skills that most people haven’t acquired because they don’t have any exposure to them in their developing years (e.g. parents or mentors).  The answer to real staff retention is much more complex than the simple list presented here.  I don’t know if the authors cover the reality in their book (I haven’t read it yet) but I have a feeling that they haven’t addressed these other issues - it’s a much “messier” group to deal with.

    4. Bernie Dehler on Wed, March 02, 2005

      A counter-point to Dr. Jim Dyke’s post is that we should remember “acknowledging a problem is the first step of recovery.”  On any issue, “seek and you shall find.”  No one’s perfect, but when we acknowledge our weakness and seek help, the result is bound to be much better than if we didn’t.


      ...Bernie


      http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/247

    5. Wayne Cook on Thu, March 03, 2005

      I do not mean to advocate forsaking the example of Jesus, but if we examine the human resource/personnel procedures, they are easily followed by those who follow biblical procedures in human relationships.


      I agree wholeheartedly with Jim Dyke’s assessment.


      We must remember that we are responsible as spiritual leaders to learn and train in areas dealing with staffing.  If we are dealing with human relationships, we must go to the scriptures and follow those teachings that deal with employers and employees first in a biblical manner, then follow up in a legal matter (Caeaser’s territory).


      The biggest problem is leading both ourselves and the “sheep” to the greenest pasture regarding such matters as staff or pastor/congregation relationships.

    6. bernie dehler on Thu, March 03, 2005

      Wayne said:


      “The biggest problem is leading both ourselves and the “sheep” to the greenest pasture regarding such matters as staff or pastor/congregation relationships.”


      For example…?  An illustration would help me to understand your point…

      ...Bernie


      http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/247

       

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