Matt Steen of Chemistry Staffing has created a wonderful FREE resource to help you hire church staff more effectively. You can click HERE or on the image provided to download your resource now. To help whet your appetite, read his brilliant thoughts below. And if you are looking to hire staff or for a new position yourself, click HERE and start a conversation. These guys are great!
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The best interview I ever had for a church staff position was for a job I didn’t get.
Yeah, you read that right.
The interview lasted all of thirty minutes when one of the two people conducting the interview looked at me and said “I just don’t think that you are the best fit for this position.” No one likes to hear that phrase, especially thirty minutes into the conversation, but as they explained a little bit about their rationale behind why they didn’t see me being a good fit it made total sense to me.
In fact, they made the right decision… for the right reasons… and they made it quickly.
I am convinced that if more churches conducted their hiring process like this church, that the high turnover rates that we see in the ministry world would be a thing of the past. So what made this church so different? They had three things working for them from the very beginning:
- A Well Articulated Philosophy of Ministry. This church knew what it was about. They could clearly express who they were, what they are trying to do, and how they were doing it within one ninety-second conversation. There was no ambiguity among their staff team or their leadership about what drives them. This allowed them to clearly define the roles needed within their organization and allowed them to hire accordingly. This also allowed them to know what each role needs in order to successfully operate within their organizational culture.
- A Clear Understanding of the Needed Skills. A well articulated philosophy of ministry allowed this church to know exactly what skills would be necessary… they even had a common language that allowed them to describe very clearly what they were looking for. This church used the Prophet, Priest, and King framework. This church needed someone with the priestly gifts for the position that they were hiring, I tend to fall more into the kingly gift set. Knowing what they needed prevented them from being frustrated with me, and me with them, six months into a bad hire.
- An Unwillingness to Compromise. I am good at what I do. My gifts, abilities, and wiring have allowed me to do some incredible things through the years, and have served a few churches quite well. I would be “quite the hire” for any church. What this church knew is that regardless of how talented I am, I was not the right fit for this position… and any attempt to force me into the position would result in less than optimal results at best, and frustration on both sides at worst. Far too many churches hire people simply because their resumes look good, or because they are talented. Churches that excel are able to say no to phenomenally talented candidates in order to go with the best fitting pastor.
How does YOUR church approach the hiring process?
At Chemistry Staffing, we help churches come to clarity on what a great long-term fit looks like for their next ministry hire. If you are thinking about making a staff hire in the near future, we’d love to share a tool that we’ve developed with you called 20 Things You Should Know About Your Candidates BEFORE You Interview Them. It’s a long title, but it will help you and your team develop clarity on who you are and what you are looking for… before you get too far along in the process. These questions will help you better understand what you are looking for in your next hire, and help you determine who to interview, and who to pass on. I hope you find it helpful.