Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
In Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great, he discusses using councils to help guide the organization.
Many churches use committees to serve this same purpose.
These councils or committees should be composed of the right people to discuss, debate, and make decisions about the organization’s operations.
People selected to serve on these committees should have knowledge, experience, and a passion for the topic.
These knowledge experts are guided by the church board and used to facilitate a decision-making process that benefits the church.
Church Councils or committees should be chartered with someone assigned to facilitate the process.
This team facilitator will then identify the right people for the committee and create a team charter, ground rules, and team goals that establish accountability and a set direction.
Committees should meet regularly and report to the church board.
Church Personnel Committee
A church personnel committee is an example of a guiding council for churches.
The personnel committee helps to ensure policies, procedures, and processes are in place to support church staff and volunteers.
This essential team also ensures that the ministry’s operations comply with state and federal labor laws.
Let’s look at some things this committee might be responsible for.
Church Personnel Committee Job Description
The Personnel Committee is responsible for:
Establish employee pay grades. Develop a compensation strategy and utilize pay grades to manage employee growth within a role.
Establish employee job classifications. Jobs need to be classified as full-time, part-time, exempt, or nonexempt.
Make recommendations and decisions on employee benefits.
Use the compensation strategy to determine an appropriate benefits package that includes health insurance, paid time off, retirement, tuition assistance, and other benefits.
Establish employee policies. Develop policies and procedures that help employees understand expectations for their time at work.
Make recommendations about staff training needs. Establish and monitor gaps in training needs and make recommendations for necessary job training.
Identify prospective leaders and recommend leadership development. Maintain an ongoing list of prospective leaders and identify and track leadership development.
Create employee assistance programs. Establish criteria and processes to assist employees in times of crisis.
Establish a vacation approval process. Create a process for tracking and approving vacation requests.
Develop reward and recognition programs. Develop a program that recognizes the outstanding performance of church employees and volunteers.
Review job applications and recommend job candidates for interviews. Create a process to screen, review, and recommend job candidates for interviews.
Oversee employee performance management process. Establish a process to assess, monitor, and track employee performance.
Team Charter
Guiding councils help improve systems and processes, are driven by the organization’s directives, and are steered by a team charter.
A team charter statement is “a written document that defines the team’s mission, the scope of operation, objectives, time frame, and consequences.”
A Personnel Committee develops a team charter and purpose statement to help ensure there is support and the necessary resources available to achieve team objectives.
This formal document legitimizes the team’s efforts and supports the committee in accomplishing what they are charged to do.
A team charter document should include:
Purpose Statement
A team’s purpose statement explains why the team exists and how its charge aligns with the organization’s global goals.
For example:
“The purpose of the Personnel Committee is to provide direction and decision making for employee policies, compensation and benefits, legal compliance, performance management and staff training for Regional Community Church”
Mission Statement
A mission statement clarifies the team’s responsibility.
For example:
“The mission of the Personnel Committee is to ensure church employees have the training and tools to perform their job, are held accountable for achieving goals, and are compensated appropriately for their efforts.”
Scope-of-Operation
The scope of the operation details the boundaries and parameters within which the team operates.
For example:
“The Personnel Committee will research and make recommendations on hiring, firing, compensation, and benefits for church employees according to best practice benchmarks and compliance with tax and labor laws.”
Team Objectives
The objectives of a team are tied to measurable results. These objectives should demonstrate the team’s effectiveness.
For example:
“The Personnel Committee will ensure an employee satisfaction score of 85%, or higher with an annual employee turnover rate of 15% or less.”
Time-frame
The time frame for any team project should be clearly defined so that the committee understands the deadlines and the urgency of completing their commission.
For example:
“The Personnel Committee will ensure employee compensation, performance and policies will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis.”
Consequences
Guiding councils use ministry resources and should be held accountable for producing the results outlined in the team charter.
There should be very specific accountability outlined in the document so members understand the importance of the committee achieving objectives.
Newly chartered committees need to understand why the group exists, what they are charged to do, the time frame by which they need to accomplish the tasks, and the defined expectations for meeting team objectives.
This very clear communication process on the front end of a team launch can help prevent miscommunication issues down the road.
The church board should hold all committees accountable for achieving their team charter and objectives, and regularly rotate committee members.
A church personnel committee is a valuable team that cares about the employee experience.
Select committee members who have a passion for this area of ministry and help them fulfill their duties by providing them with a job description that articulates church expectations for the team.
SCM members can access an example personnel job description here.
If you are not a member of the SCM community and would like to become one, you can explore our membership options here.
