8 Best Practice Tips for Church Staff

Managing a church staff is no different than managing employees in other environments and those who manage church employees can benefit from best practices of other organizations.  Employees, regardless of job, job title or industry, desire the same things when going to work.  They want to know what is expected of them, they need to be given the tools and resources to perform their job and they want to be recognized and rewarded for meeting expectations and achieving business objectives.

8 Best Practice Tips for Church Staff

1. Defined Goals

It’s a basic expectation for employees to have a job description that defines expected tasks and responsibilities but employees should also have specific goals that line up with the organizational strategy.  For example, if a church has a goal to improve the volunteer experience, employees should have goals that support that objective.  An example employee goal for that might be to solicit feedback from volunteers and develop an improvement plan based on that feedback.  

2. Set Expectations

Once employee goals are established there should be a conversation with the employee articulating the expectation for the goal and outlining the step-by-step process to complete the goal.  This would allow for a conversation with the employee about any possible barriers to completing the goal, communicating the expected timeline for the goal to be accomplished as well as what the consequences will be if that expectation is not met.  For example, Linda Smith might have a goal to solicit feedback from volunteers by the end of the 2nd quarter, 20XX and have an improvement plan in place by the end of 3rd quarter, 20XX.  If Linda misses these goal targets, it should be communicated that it will be reflected on her annual performance appraisal and will impact the percentage increase she receives at the next raise cycle.

3. Job Descriptions

A detailed job description is important for employees to understand who they report to and what their expected day-to-day tasks are.  This is a basic requirement to help employees know what their responsibilities are.  Job descriptions should be reviewed and updated on an annual basis to reflect changing goals and objectives.

4. Tools to Perform Job Tasks

Whether the employee cleans the restrooms, answers the telephone or oversees the music ministry, all employees need tools to perform their job.  If the custodial person is trying to clean with a broken vacuum cleaner, it causes undue frustration and slows the cleaning process down.  Updating employee tools and equipment should be incorporated into the annual budgeting process.

5. Remove Barriers to Perform Job

Whether we want to admit it or not, those of us who manage people can be the very thing that puts a barrier in the way of employees performing expected job tasks.  Learning to delegate and empower employees to make decisions about how their work is performed can help eliminate roadblocks in the process.  For example, the maintenance supervisor should be empowered to purchase needed equipment and supplies up to a certain dollar amount.  This allows the department to respond quickly to changing departmental needs and address issues as they arise without going through bureaucratic layers.

6.  Mentoring and Coaching

Employees need the benefit of ongoing mentoring and coaching.  As church staff develop and grow in their jobs, it is important to help them develop skills and learn leadership principles through on-going coaching and mentoring of their day-to-day job tasks.

6. Fair Compensation

Employees don’t go to work for a church expecting to make a lot of money but it is important to make sure they are compensated fairly.  This requires creating pay-grades for staff and benchmarking church salaries to ensure there is comparable pay for comparable tasks.  

7. Good Communication

Employees are the engine of the church and good communication processes can help keep them engaged.  The process of communication is important because it sets the expectations for how information is shared.  This process should be structured enough that those receiving the communication can reasonably predict how and when information is received. For example, if the church board is planning a capital campaign for an expansion project, employees should have a good understanding of the plan so they can help answer questions to church members. The communication process is not as important as its consistency and the secret to effective communication is to answer the questions before they are thought of!

8. Reward and Recognition

Church employees work hard and having a structured reward and recognition program can help staff feel appreciated for their efforts.  This should be part of an annual merit increase process as well as other forums for recognizing good performance.  

Employees come to work and want to do a good job but are at the mercy of those who manage them to create an environment that empowers them and supports productivity.  This means organizations need to be creating environments that provide good communication, removes barriers to achieving objectives and is reinforced by recognition and rewarding good performance.  This model of support helps employees stay engaged with the organization while performing at higher levels and achieving greater results.

photo by: domesticat