Tag Archive - recruit

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How to Draft the Best Players for your Church Staff Team

Sunday, April 30, 2017

I love football (if you know much about me you know that I have an unhealthy obsession with Florida Gator Football) and I love watching the draft. I actually DVR’d the first 3 rounds…and watched them. I caught the highlights of the other 4 rounds on social media. It’s fun to root for kids you’ve seen play college ball, it’s fun to cheer on the home NFL team, and it’s fun to try and figure out the strategy of it all.

Selecting new players for your team can make your break your team. Get the right people and there is an infusion of new talent, new ideas, fresh eyes, and a new well of experiences to go to. One new hire can literally improve the performance of the entire team. But hire the wrong people…well that can literally set the ministry at your church back years. The good news is that people will tell you who they are during the process…you just need to listen to them and believe them. Stop hoping for them and seeing all of the potential in them and look for reality. Here’s a couple of tips that will help you along the way.

1. Turn on the Tape

Great teams turn on the tape. They don’t draft for potential they draft for production. What have they actually done? What results have they produced?

2. Interviews

Don’t do interviews alone, do them together as a team so everyone hears the same things and then debrief it later together without the candidate in the room. Ask them about past real life situations and see why they acted they way they did and what the results were. Then give them some hypotheticals that they may encounter in the role you’re looking at them for.

3. Dig Deep

Do your due diligence. Don’t just settle for the references they give you. No candidate is going to give you references that speak poorly of them. Dig. Talk to at least 2 past or current supervisors, 2 peers and 2 subordinates. And then ask them who else you should be talking to about the candidate. And don’t forget background and credit checks!

4. Fit the Scheme

You’ll notice that a lot of talent was passed up in the recent NFL Draft. While there are a lot of reasons a team may pass on a talented player, one of them is fit. Do they fit the team, the culture, the role, your approach, and where you’re going?

5. Improve the Locker Room

What will their impact be like on the team? You want to bring people in that are going to positively impact the whole team not just play their position well.

6. Best Available Player

Are they the best available player? Sometimes teams pass up great talent that would be a fantastic fit on their team because they’re waiting on the perfect candidate who isn’t available.

Want more help figuring out how to build a great hiring process and hire the right people at your church? Check out these 10 Articles that will Help your Church Make Better Hires!

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

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5 Things That Make Good Church Staff Members Leave your Church

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Good Church Staff Members leave churches for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes it’s because God has called them to something different. But more often than not it’s because of something very different.

1. You Stop Listening to Them

When you don’t listen to people they stop talking. And when you stop listening to good staff members they’ll go somewhere else where they feel heard.

2. They Don’t Feel Empowered

Nothing is worse than having responsibility for something with no authority to do anything about it. When you don’t empower staff members to make real decisions they’ll go somewhere they can.

3. An Unhealthy Staff Culture

Good team members don’t stay around on unhealthy teams very long. One of the best ways to attract and keep great team members is to build a health staff culture.

4. Lack of Vision

If you can’t provide clarity to your team about where you’re going next they’ll eventually grow frustrated, leave, and find that clarity somewhere else. And the irony is that those who have the greatest propensity to lead into the future will leave first.

5. Poor Strategy

If your team has a tendency to talk about ideas but has a difficult time executing them you probably don’t have a actionable strategy in place to move you toward a clear vision. Good Church Staff members don’t just want to talk about ideas, they want to execute them. If you can’t help them do that they’ll go somewhere else they can.

What are some other reasons you’ve see good Church Staff Members leave a church? Leave a comment.

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

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8 Ministry Staff Recruiting Red Flags

Sunday, March 19, 2017

As staff recruiting in ministry world continues to evolve and become more competitive and sophisticated in recent years, churches and recruiting firms have developed a keen sense of red flags during the recruiting process that relate to whether a candidate is a good fit for your church or not. Those red flags may be a bit different from church to church but there are many red flags that are fairly consistent across the board.

Now a red flag doesn’t necessarily mean that a church should stop recruiting a candidate, even though that’s very possible, but it is a cause for concern and gives reason to hit the breaks on the speed of the process and dig deeper with the candidate.

So after being on both sides of recruiting, both being recruited and recruiting a number of hires, here are some of the biggest church staff recruiting red flags.

Candidates that are Overly Concerned with the Opportunity to Teach

If teaching is really important to the candidate and you’re not hiring them to a teaching role then don’t hire them. Let them go plant or pastor their own church.

Candidates that are Indecisive

If they need to go date other churches then let them. Just don’t marry them.

Candidates that Freely Speak Negatively of their Current Church

If they talk bad about their current church they may have a difficult time taking personal ownership and as a result have a low E.Q. And by the way, if they talk bad about others, they’ll probably talk bad about you. 

Candidates that don’t Ask Good Questions

If they don’t ask good questions they’re not going to be a very critical thinker or strategic and will have a hard time moving the ministry forward at your church.

Candidates that Treat People they have Nothing to Gain From Poorly

If they only treat people with perceived power and influence well (those they seem to gain something from) and overlook others, or even worse treat them poorly then they have a serious character defect that will hurt your team.

Candidates that are Too Eager

If they are too eager to jump ship and join your team then they’re probably running from something or chasing something, either way they’ll have a hard time leading in the here and now if they join your team.

Candidates with an Overbearing Spouses

I know you’re not hiring their spouse you’re hiring them, but sharp people typically marry sharp people. If their spouse is overbearing you’re probably going to want to pass.

Candidates that Change Jobs Too Often

If they have a track record of changing jobs every few years chances are they’ll leave you soon too.

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

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Everything is an Interview

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Everything is an interview. Everything. College football players get this concept drilled into them by their coaches. They’re challenged to be proud of what they put on tape. Every Saturday they play a game and those game tapes essentially become their resume for a job interview to get to the NFL.

But life is bigger than football; even for those of us who are a little obsessed by it. And in every interaction you have in life and in your work place, everything is an interview. And if you don’t view it that way, you may miss your next opportunity.

Scouts are Always Scouting

Talent scouts are always looking for talent. Great churches are always looking for great talent. At conferences, meals, passing conversations, simple introductions, or any opportunity to network scouts are always scouting. If you’re good at your job then people are always going to want you to come do that job with them. It never bothers me when other churches are looking at staff members on my team. They should be, they’re talented people. It bothers me when that doesn’t happen. That’s when I get nervous.

Eroding or Building your Brand

Everything you do either builds or erodes your “brand.” Every social media post you make. Every project you deliver on time, on budget, past time or over budget. If you’re a youth pastor and you get back from camp on time, or late. If you do what you say you’re going to do, or not. In every interaction you’re building a brand that certain people are attracted to and others are repelled by. Now don’t hear what I’m not saying. By no means would I endorse image management, rather I’m talking about agreeing with Jesus about who He has wired you up to be and living as the best version of your self at all times, in all settings.

Moving Up, Out, or Staying Put

With every action you take in your current job you’re either building trust with your supervisor or losing it. You’re either demonstrating that you can be given more responsibility, less responsibility, or you can handle the scope of work you’re currently at right now. The great news is you get to choose your attitude, the manner with which you approach your work, other team members, and to a great deal the results of your work.

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

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Why Teams don’t Play up to their Potential

Sunday, November 6, 2016

This past weekend my wife and I went to Arkansas to see the Florida Gators play the Razorbacks. That makes 4 SEC stadiums and counting now (it’s a bucket list thing). The Gators were favored by more than a field goal. They had the talent to win. They had the defense to win. They should have won. But they didn’t. Instead, they lost 31-10. I’m not bitter about it though…but I do need to confess that it usually takes me a couple of days to get over a loss. Especially one like this.

We had a great experience going to the game. It was a great game day atmosphere, we were there with some good friends, we had good seats, ate good food, and the Arkansas fans were more than hospitable. The outcome was just disappointing. It was like the Gators were trying to phone this one in. They didn’t look like themselves. It’s like they didn’t even get off the bus! I don’t mind losing if they leave it all on the field but they just didn’t play up to their potential.

Ever been a part of a team like that? A team that doesn’t play up to their potential? It happens for all kinds of reasons:

Poor Preparation

Sometimes teams just aren’t prepared to play the game. They haven’t had enough practice and game-like repetitions. Sometimes they don’t have a clear strategy that tells everyone what to do next. Sometimes they’re not emotionally or mentally prepared. When the whistle blows and the ball is kicked it’s too late to prepare. It’s the responsibility of the Coach to get their players prepared to play.

Not Playing to the Strengths of the Players

Sometimes coaches don’t play to the strengths of the players they have. You can’t just go out and clear your roster and get new players. You have to play the game with the players you have. It’s the responsibility of the Coach to be willing to make adjustments to their preferences and play to the strengths of their team.

Recruit based on Potential

Some of the worst recruiting is based on potential. When you add a team member hoping they’re going to develop into a superstar your making a dangerous wager. Potential is a 4-letter-word. Recruit based on what players have already produced, not on what you hope they’ll produce. It’s the responsibility of the Coach to recruit players who have already demonstrated competency.

Individual Superstars

You can’t win games when individual superstars aren’t willing to play their part on the team so the team can succeed. If you have players that don’t’ understand when the team wins they win, then they’ll never win. It’s the responsibility of the Coach to get their individual contributors to play as a team. If they can’t, then the Coach has to get them off the team. 

What are some other reasons you’ve seen teams not play up to their potential? Leave a comment!

*Photo Credit: my iPhone

Posted in Leadership, Staffing
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