A Healthy Hiring Process for Your Church

A Healthy Hiring Process: Seven steps to finding the best employees

Selecting new employees for the church workplace can go smoothly if you pray for God's guidance and follow some simple procedures:

1. Try the team approach.

One person can handle the hiring process, but more are better, especially for positions such as education director, receptionist, or other high-profile jobs in which people are more like family than employees.

2. Identify your needs.

Update the job description for the position you're filling. Unless your goals are clearly define, you may become sidetracked by candidates who do not meet your needs.

3. Review resumes.

Screen out the weakest applicants for the position, keeping your standards high. Things to note:

¨ job experience with dates of employment

¨ years of education

¨ job sought

¨ pay and benefits expectations,

¨ reasons for leaving jobs

¨ former supervisors' names and telephone numbers

Possible red flags:

¨ unexplained gaps in employment

¨ job hopping

¨ overqualification

¨ hard-to-contact references

4. Prepare for interviews.

Make a list of questions for each prospect regarding experience, proficiency with computer software, and performance in previous jobs. You might ask what challenges the person faced with former coworkers, what are his/her greatest strengths and weaknesses, and how he/she would suggest handling dissatisfied customers. You could also ask the person to describe his/her relationship with former supervisors. Dwight Thompson, manager of personnel service for Bell South, says such behavioral questions are becoming more critical as former employers provider less information.

5. Get acquainted.

An interview is an information-gathering session to help assess a candidate's ability to fill a position. It helps a candidate and employer learn more about each other. It is not a commitment to hire.

Allow 45-60 minutes to interview candidates for staff positions, such as custodian, receptionist, and childcare worker, and a half day or longer for directors or ministers.

Begin the conversation with general information, such as a brief history of your church, then discuss the position to be filled. Give the candidate a written job description and answer questions about it. Then ask the questions you prepared earlier.

Do not ask questions that violate employment and discrimination laws, such as What is your marital status? How old are your children? Do you have aging parents? What is your health status? What is your age?

6. Check references.

Narrow the field to a few finalists, then call the people listed as references. Try former employers as well (with applicant's permission), recognizing the limits of such sources. Liability issues are forcing many companies to release limited information about a past employee. A smaller organization may be more generous with details. Look for consistency between the resume, interview, and references. Credit and crime checks can also be done, especially for any child-related positions.

7. Try them out.

Working interviews offer a performance-based look at applicants. Candidates for pastor could preach a sermon or participate in a congregational meeting. Applicants for youth pastor or education director could teach a Sunday school class.

Selection tests, which are legal as long as they're standardized for all applicants, might include

¨ Personality tests, such as the Myer-Briggs profile

¨ Drug screening. This is legal if used according to a written drug policy.

¨ Skills tests, such as a computer test or lifting tests.

¨ Bonding, especially for people handling cash.

Note: Preemployment physicals are no longer legal due the Americans with Disabilities Act.

No Ordinary Job

Hiring practices are a bit different for churches than they are for corporations. Our philosophy of grace and forgiveness enables us to consider candidates who may have a criminal record or bad credit history. That doesn't mean we should hire a serial killer or child molester, but if someone has served time, repented of a crime, and found new life in Christ, then we should do what we can to help.

Hiring a new employee is a responsibility and privilege. As with all things, "whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (1 co. 10:31).