Church staff often wear many hats and juggle countless responsibilities.
Create job descriptions to help keep church employees focused on the most important tasks that support ministry goals and objectives.
Working for a church is very different than working for a business in that much of what gets done in church is tied to helping other people in times of need.
This creates a unique dynamic not seen in many other organizations.
For this reason, the responsibilities of a church employee may change often, depending on what the church is involved with at any particular moment in time.
Creating a church employee job description should not be overly complicated but should clearly define what is expected of the employee and help the employee understand what the priorities are and how those responsibilities support the mission of the church.
Job descriptions and employee goals should be used to communicate job expectations to employees but should also be incorporated into the annual performance appraisal process.
An important step in developing an employee job description is identifying which strategic goals or objectives need to be accomplished.
Then ask the questions – what type of person is needed to fulfill these tasks and who should this responsibility be given to.
Every job description should be written to support goals that help fulfill the church mission.
For example, if there is an organizational goal to improve the volunteer experience, one step might be to create a volunteer program to support approval and placement of volunteers.
That goal can be used to identify specific job responsibilities.
A job description document should describe the purpose of the position, reporting relationship and job responsibilities.
This helps the employee understand who their supervisor is and what their job responsibilities are.
Take the time to update this document as job responsibilities change so the employee spends their time doing those things that support the mission.
4 Common Mistakes Churches Make With Job Description
1. Not Aligning Job Description With Church Goals
Employees should have a good understanding of how what they do supports the church mission.
Church job descriptions should include employee goals that are tied to strategy. These goals should be written in the job description and measured in the performance appraisal.
Spend time reviewing church goals and writing measurable goals for employees to help ensure targets are met.
2. Manager’s Not Know What Employees Do
I’m always amazed when I speak to managers about employees and learn that when asked, they have very little understanding of what the employee does on a day-to-day basis.
It is the manager’s responsibility to know exactly what employees do while they are at work and to make sure all required job tasks are documented in a job description.
Spend time observing employees and simply asking the question. You might learn that employees are doing things that take time and add no value.
3. Not Holding Employees Accountable
Managers are in their jobs to support employee efforts.
Part of this oversight is ensuring that employees understand what is expected of them, how what they do supports mission and hold them accountable for job responsibilities.
This is done by creating a structured process for managing employee performance and having an ongoing conversation about meeting expectations.
Employees know when accountability is an option. Make sure your employees understand it is required.
4. Not Updating Job Descriptions
Job descriptions serve as a tool and guide to help employees prioritize time at work.
Just as strategy and goals change, a job description should change as strategy and church goals change.
Too often employees perform tasks that may have been important at some point but no longer add value.
Job descriptions should be updated once a year and should be part of the performance appraisal process.
Take the time to review job descriptions (at least once a year) with employees to make sure that what employees spend their time on truly helps move the organization forward.
Well written job descriptions help ensure employees understand what is expected of them and gives them an understanding of how what they do supports the church mission.
But more importantly, well defined job descriptions are an important tool that can help churches achieve goals, strategic plans and ultimately their mission.
