In Jim Collins book, Good-to-Great, he talks about using councils to help guide the organization.
Many churches use committees to serve this same purpose.
These councils or committees should be made up of a group of the right people to discuss, debate and make decisions about the operation of the organization.
People selected to serve on these committees should be those with 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.
Councils or committees should be chartered and have someone assigned to facilitate the process.
This team facilitator will then identify the right people for the committee, create a team charter, ground rules, and team goals which establishes 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 operation is compliant 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 to:
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 for full-time, part-time, exempt, and nonexempt employment status.
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, etc.
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 make recommendations on leadership development. Maintain an ongoing list of prospective leaders, identify and track leadership development.
Create employee assistance programs. Establish criteria and processes to assist employees in the time 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 outstanding performance for 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 to improve systems and processes, are driven by directives of the organization, and are steered by a team charter.
A team charter statement is “a written document that defines the team’s mission, 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 so they can accomplish what they are charged to do.
A team charter document should include:
Purpose Statement
A team purpose statement explains why a team exists, and how it’s charge lines up with the global goals of the organization.
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 that the team operates within.
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 be able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the team.
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 the committee understands the deadlines and urgency for 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 as well as 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 of people who care 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.
