So... in your last board meeting or leadership team meeting, you discussed how great it would be to hire that new Director of Shiny Things.
You've got the money in the budget.
The timing seems right.
Let's do this thing!
So you quickly ask Johnny to post the job opening on all the major church job boards.
Hold on.
Here's some sound advice from Nathaniel Koloc at Inc. Magazine: going from a vague idea of wanting to hire someone to knowing exactly what the new hire will be expected to do, what qualities a candidate needs to have in order to deliver the results you're looking for, and what you'll do to attract the right people can be the most difficult part of the search.
And many churches skip this step altogether.
The reality is... you should never post your job opening until you've worked out these important things. Koloc thinks you should ask yourself these questions:
1. Why this role?
2. Why now?
3. What is the 'commanders intent'? In other words, what is the fundamental mission of this new role?
4. Who will be on the hiring team? Are we structured internally to find the best candidates and ask the right questions up-front?
5. Nail down the details (don't just guess at them). Ask these questions:
- What are the responsibilities of this position?
- What is the position title?
- What qualifications, background, skills, expertise, and accomplishments does this person need to have?
- What resources will this position have access to?
- Who will this person report to?
- How will we determine his/her success?
- What do we plan to pay?
6. What is our timeline?
7. Should we consider some outside expertise to ensure that we're not missing anything and that we can find the best possible candidates?
8. How will we track incoming applications?
9. How will we communicate this position to our church body?
That sounds a little daunting, huh?
Sometimes it is. BUT you really do need to have the answers to these questionsbefore you ever push 'submit' on any church job board or start a new staff search.
I'll be honest. Churches HATE our onboarding process at Chemistry Staffing.
We ask a LOT of questions (like the ones above).
We push back.
We deep dive.
We make sure that you've thought through this hire, that the time is right, and that you can a good plan for what this new employee will be measured on.
That's what we do.
Not because you can't, but often times because you won't.
It makes all the difference in who you hire (and many times, how long they stay).
Let's start with a 30-minute video consultation to talk through the things above. If we find that we can add value to your search, we'll share ways that we might work together. If not, we'll hopefully be helpful enough to point you in the right direction.