According to SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management), the HR expert organization, the cost of a bad hire could be up to $250,000! Say what?!? How can that be? Well, when you consider the salary, the promotion, the time of employees that have to cover the vacant base and the time to hire a new employee – it is very, very costly. There’s also a hidden cost to team culture, morale and health. Juxtapose that cost with the ground gained when there is a great hire. Staff are encouraged, excited and typically their workload is lessened. As a Godly Leader, you also have to consider the faith value that may or may not be a requirement for your role. I realize that business leaders typically aren’t allowed to consider faith in the hire, but, as you’ll see below, I do believe it is Essential that faith can and should be a part of the equation for the Godly Leader.
As an Executive Pastor, I realize that the number one resource that I have to manage is human resources. That is the case for all managers, however. How you manage the humans in your business, organization or church will determine its success. Typically at least half of our church budgets go toward staffing – that’s a big commitment and a big responsibility. Stewarding the lives and the budget properly is critical for success in ministry, relationships, culture and performance. That stewardship starts with a successful hiring process. That hiring process starts with key core hiring and evaluation values.
I believe there are at least 8 core key hiring and evaluation values. Over the last twenty years, I have used these values with great success. You will sometimes hear about the 3 C’s of hiring, but I believe you need at least 8 C’s and here they are:
#1 – CHRISTLIKENESS
Many churches will make hires because someone will do a great job in the execution of a job but miss really understanding if and how deep the person’s walk is with Jesus. During the hiring process, as a Godly Leader, it is Essential that you know and understand the person’s faith story and their current walk with and love for Christ within a church or Christian organization. In a secular organization or business, this most likely isn’t a key value, but for you as a Godly Leader, I would encourage you to at least remark on your faith and Christian walk in the hiring process to ensure that there isn’t going to be an issue regarding your faith with your prospective employee and let the candidate know how important faith is to you.
#2 – CHARACTER
When you’re working in a ministry, after Christlikeness, Character is the second most important value for an employee. You need to trust your employees with life stories, potentially donor information, financial information and, most importantly, your employees represent your church or organization. If you want your church or organization to have a stellar reputation for character, then it is Essential that it starts with your staff. The same is true for secular organizations and businesses. Digging into character is Essential for the Godly Leader if you want a reputation and culture of Character. This is done through interviews with pointed questions, situational questions and pointed reference questions.
#3 – COMPETENCY
The person can love Jesus and have great character but they also have to be able to do their job well. Finding the right skill set for the right role is vital. There are times that people can evolve / develop into a role’s needed competency if they have the right foundation and teachability. But without competency, there will not be success.
#4 – CULTIVATOR
Working in a church is different from any secular job. According to Ephesians 4:11-13, those of us that work in the church have a #1 job of equipping the saints, the volunteers, for the work of the ministry. Comparisons are made to being immature and that what you are doing is not good (Exodus 20) if we don’t cultivate volunteers and volunteer teams. We need to ensure in the hiring process that someone either has the experience of cultivating volunteers and volunteer teams or has shown that they have the real potential of doing so. In non-profit organizations building volunteer teams is critical as well. In for profit businesses, it’s Essential that Godly Leaders determine the types of track record at Cultivating teams that the candidate has shown over time.
#5 – CALLING
I often ask candidates why they want to work at a church? When I get the answer of “I’m not really sure”, it certainly gives me pause. Granted these types of answers come typically from support roles, but the need for calling, even in those position,s is important. Working at a church is unique – it’s typically less money, it’s typically where you go to church and it’s a place with a primary goal of changing lives not making dollars. Making sure someone is called to ministry in any role is important and then a calling to your particular church is a key as well. In the secular world, you also want a sense that someone loves what they’re going to be doing and are called to your role, not just climbing the ladder of success.
#6 – CULTURE
You probably have heard the phrase, Culture eats Competency for breakfast. It’s true. Often Chemistry is one of three C’s in a staff eval, but I believe Culture needs to be its own value. Your potential hire needs to fit your church, organization, or business culture. How you go about the hiring process will help you make that determination. Bottom line – if someone is not a good cultural fit, don’t hire them. You’ll pay for it later.
#7 – CHEMISTRY
If you don’t like and don’t connect well with who you’ll be working with, then you really shouldn’t hire them. That’s the rule of Chemistry. In this day of Zoom, I have found that this value can only truly be determined in an in-person meeting. Zoom initial stage interviews are great, but there’s nothing like the real thing, baby, as the song rings in the head. Godly Leaders understand that it is Essential for there to be good chemistry with the employee that they are hiring.
#8 – CAPACITY
The need for capacity in a person needs to match the role. For some roles, balancing many plates, tasks and people is important. For other roles, doing one thing well, or connecting with people well is the predominant responsibility and there isn’t a need for great multitasking. Determine the need before you start your search so that it is something that plays a big factor in your hiring process.
As a Godly Leader, it is Essential that key Godly values are implemented to keep the right focus on the hiring process and to guide you along that process. I believe that using these 8 key values will help you do just that.
We could talk a lot more on this topic, but we’ll leave it there for now. What are your thoughts or questions? Leave them in the comments.
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Love being on this Essential Godly Leadership journey with you!
Essential Godly Leadership: “Leading your life, your family, your work, your relationships, and your world in a way that is seeking wisdom from, and pleasing to, the Lord Jesus.”