Staff development is the key to forward motion in any organization. If your people are your greatest asset, then their growth and success are your organization’s growth and success. When they stop growing, you can almost guarantee organizational growth will come to a screeching halt, too.
So how do you ensure continued development? Two things: administrative leadership and HR tools. Your people need a path and a vehicle forward.
What is Administrative Leadership?
Administrative leadership begins with who you hire and how you equip them but runs the length of the employee lifecycle: it is how you guide employees, the future and the purpose you cast for them, your encouragement and accountability, and your actions and ability to evaluate and redirect as needed.
It begins with you: the HR director, the XP, the ministry leader. Top leaders in the organization set the tone for success. Without clearly determining and communicating organizational values and vision, your employees have nothing to rally around. It is only when the mission is at the forefront that people are motivated and moved to grow.
The method and frequency of communication is also key. Take the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-8) which basically serves as the mission statement for the Jewish faith: The passage states the commandment and then gives instructions as to how to pass the word along. In the same way, your people should know their mission and marching orders by heart, weaving them into their choices and conversations during meetings, client calls, and evaluations—even on their lunch break.
What are the HR tools?
So you’re a great leader who’s talking that talk and walking the walk and laying clear mission and values for your people. Now equip them to carry out their tasks within those boundaries. This is where the HR tools come in. (HR is, of course, resources for humans.)
The really practical and foundational tools your team needs to succeed are up-to-date and specific job descriptions so they know what is expected of them personally, a compliant staff handbook so they know the bounds of the organization and its functions, and an operations manual so they know how to do what they and the organization do.
There are, of course, lots of other resources that equip your team for success, but without those basic three, your team with be left with large gaps in their organizational knowledge. Only once you’ve filled in the foundational HR tools that allow for growth can you look at ways to help your staff thrive!
Let us help you set up a strong and compliant HR foundation!
Authored by the HRMS Team, a group of dedicated church HR experts who draw from extensive ministry experience to keep your organization compliant and healthy. Schedule a call and find out how we can help you simplify your organization’s HR here.