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Transcript

You Never Put the Search on the Calendar · The Healthy Church Staff Podcast

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: You told your board, we're searching.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: You told your staff, we're searching, you said it in the elder meeting, and you said it in the hallway, we're looking, we're praying about the right person, it's in process.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: But there's no job post, there's no interview week, there's no job description, there's no search committee meeting on anybody's calendar, and there's no date when a decision gets made.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the thing searching without a calendar isn't searching, it's just hoping.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: If this sounds familiar, we're gonna talk about it right here today on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Hi there, my name is Todd Rhodes, and I'm one of the co-founders over chemistrystaffing.com.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about this a little bit here and there on the podcast, but I want to take a little bit different approach to it today.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: This one's about the search itself, the one that never really turned into a real project with real dates.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Try this.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Say it out loud.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: We're hiring a youth pastor, or we're looking for a kids director, or we need an associate.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now open up your calendar.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a date that the job goes public?
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a window for applications?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have a week blocked off for interviews?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Is there an elder vote that's on schedule?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Or have you even communicated exactly when everything starts?
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: A we decide by date?
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: If not, then the vacancy absolutely is real, and the person covering it is also real.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: But the search itself, it's just a phrase, and a phrase isn't a project, and it's not a search.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what happens when we turn the in process into no end date.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: The job opening, the vacancy turns into furniture, it just sits there.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And after a while, nobody even notices it.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Three months go by, then a sixth, then a year, and guess what?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody's still covering Sunday nights, somebody's still answering the parent email, somebody's still running the ministry that was supposed to get a hire three, six, 12 months ago.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: And every time the board asks, you say the same thing.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, hey, we're searching, we're being careful, we're taking our time, we're waiting on the right fit.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: And look, being careful is good.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: I am all for being careful when you're hiring.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, you need to be careful when you're hiring, but waiting forever with no timeline isn't careful.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's just drifting.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: You're leading people on.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: The role stays empty because empty never had any kind of a deadline.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the part I think a lot of people, a lot of leaders miss, especially when they think they're being wise.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Your team heard you say we're searching, and then they watched that nothing gets posed.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: They watched when no interviews get scheduled, they watched when the person covering, and in their case it might be them, just has to keep covering because there's appears there's no plan.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And you know why?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's is no plan.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And they came to a pretty simple conclusion.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the conclusion they come to.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: You ready for this?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty groundbreaking.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: They come to the conclusion that you're not really searching, you're managing how this thing looks, or you're hoping somebody walks through the door with a resume and a calling and a schedule that happens to fit yours.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Hope is not a hiring plan.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: And the person covering that role already knows the difference.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I realize you don't want to hire the wrong person, okay?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've been burned before, maybe you're realistically, honestly praying about it.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: You're trying to take good care of the trust that the church has given you, and that's great.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: But the problem honestly isn't prayer.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is a search that never becomes a project with dates.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: We're looking turns into kind of a permanent status, and nobody really buys that line anymore.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Faith without a calendar is still just hope.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Good stewardship puts dates next to the hope.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want you to do.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Stop saying we're searching until the search has dates.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: You need three three dates.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: First, a post date.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is when the role goes public.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: If you're working with yourself, maybe you're posting with your own church doing your a self-search.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that is the date that you post your first job opening.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you're working with a search firm, that's the date that it goes live.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Second, an interview week.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Block it off the same way you block off a staff retreat.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: And this is going to be a rolling process.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Have dates available for interviews.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then third, make a decision.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: When the elders or the lead pastor say yes, say no or reopen the search.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And be sure to put the search committee meetings on the calendar as well.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like they're real meetings, because if they're not on the calendar, they're not real meetings.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: And if you can't name those dates, you're not really searching yet.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: You're just hoping, you're thinking, you're praying, you're asking somebody else to keep covering you while you hope.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Take it into the room in your next elder meeting or your next staff conversation and just say it plainly.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, what's the post date?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: What's the interview week?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: What's the decision date for this hire?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then watch the room.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: If nobody can answer you, then you already know.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: If the answer is we're praying with nothing on the calendar behind it, you already know.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Prayer absolutely belongs in the search, but prayer doesn't replace a timeline.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: A search without dates isn't discernment, it's delaying things longer and longer because there's just a plan.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the bottom line for today.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: If you told everybody that you're searching, but there's no post, no interview week, no decision date, you're not searching, you're hoping.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And while the vacancy stays in process forever, it can do that until you actually get these dates good.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: So here's your challenge.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's a little uncomfortable.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you've been talking about hiring and you don't really have the plan for the role that you keep saying that you're feeling, put three dates on the calendar this week: the post date, the interview week, and the decision date.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Or else at least be honest and admit everything out loud to yourself, to your board, to the person who's been covering, that honestly we just haven't started searching yet.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you know somebody, a leader who keeps saying, hey, we're looking, but nothing, nothing ever gets on the calendar, share this episode with them.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: You can forward that to them and go put your search on the calendar or tell the truth that you haven't already started.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: All right, that's it for today.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: I hope this has been helpful.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes hiring, man, it can stiny us.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: We get stuck.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I get that.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: I get that.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: If there's any way that I can help you, want to have a conversation about hiring.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we do and our team does at Chemistry Staffing.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd love to have a conversation, hear your story, and see if there's any way that we can help you.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: You can reach out to me anytime.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Podcast at Chemistry Staffing.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: All right, that's it for today.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hope you have a great day, and we'll be right back here tomorrow.