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Archives For Recruitment

Recruiting Courtesies, Pt 2

August 11, 2009 - Mac Lake - Recruitment
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In my last post I listed the first three of seven recruiting courtesies.  Here are the last four that can help us from being “rude recruiters”.

  • Give them a written description of what you expect.  We know what we want from a volunteer position and too often when we recruit someone we just assume they know what we want.  It’s a recipe for disaster when we don’t put our basic expectations for the role in writing.  Be as thorough as possible.  People don’t appreciate it when they get into the position and the leader says, “Oh by the way I forgot to tell you we need you to…”
  • Allow them two or three weeks to observe and shadow a veteran volunteer.  Remember just because a person has high enthusiasm about a new role doesn’t mean they have a high competence.  Give new volunteers time to understand and adjust to the culture of your ministry.   This not only equips your new recruit, but it impresses on your existing volunteers the value of mentor-based training. 
  • Provide adequate training.  We all know this is important but very few people do it.   Some make the excuse they don’t have time to do the training, but when the new recruit starts making mistakes you will have to invest the time on the back end to correct what they’re doing wrong.  Be wise and make the training investment on the front end.
  • Follow up within 30 days to see how they’re doing.  Within the first 30-60 days your new recruit will surely begin to experience some disappointments, defeats or disillusionment that could dampen their enthusiasm.  A good honest pulse check at the end of 30 days can help you encourage and coach the new volunteer resulting an a happier more productive team member. 

    • What other recruiting courtesies would you add to this list?

    Recruiting Courtesies, Pt 1

    August 7, 2009 - Mac Lake - Recruitment
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    The Fall church season is just around the corner and you know what that means…It’s time to recruit!  Unfortunately many church leaders have Rude Recruitment habits.  So in preparation for this season I thought I would take a couple of days and share a few thoughts on recruiting courtesies.  Here you go…

    • Give the potential recruit time to pray.  Never ask someone to make a decision on the spot.  When we do “on the spot” recruiting the individual feels the pressure to say “yes’ to you rather than truly having the opportunity to say “yes” to God.  Once you make the proposal tell them you’d like for them to take 3-4 days to pray about the opportunity before giving you an answer.
    • Tell the individual why you thought of them for them for this role.  Be very specific.  The initial recruitment moment is your first chance to cast vision to the potential candidate.  So take the opportunity to cast a vision of how their gifts, passion and personality match up with God’s vision for your area of ministry.  Help them see exactly how they can have a significant impact in your specific area.  Remember your job is not just to fill a position but to cast a vision.
    • Ensure the individuals gifts and passions fit the position.  Having the wrong person in a position is just as bad as having no one in the position, so be patient and find the right person with the right gifts.  When we recruit the wrong person to the wrong position we not only do the ministry a disservice but we do that individual a disservice. 

    I will be adding a few more in the next post but in the mean time…what other recruitment courtesies would you add to this list?

    Filling Your Leadership Pipeline to Overflowing

    July 27, 2009 - Mac Lake - Recruitment
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    A common belief among staff, as well as the average church member, is the staff is responsible for recruiting new leaders. This mentality is concerning because it limits recruitment efforts and creates a shortage of leaders in the church.

    We must remember one of the biggest factors for getting new people into leadership is their relationship to the person making the ask.

    Do you remember your first invitation into leadership? I do. Marjorie Willis, my hgh school English teacher asked me to consider leading the Christian Club on campus. Why she choose me I don’t know, I was the shyest kid in the entire school, but something prompted her to ask me. Because I had a close relationship with her I said I would pray about it. Had anyone else asked me I would have given them a flat out “No”. Over the next couple of weeks her voice guided me to a place where I couldn’t deny it was God calling me into that leadership role – So I said “yes”.

    • I said “yes” to her because I believed in the fact that she believed in me.
    • I said “yes” because I knew she would walk along side me and coach me.
    • I said “yes” because God knew it was her voice I would respond to more than any other.

    You see there are potential leaders in your church who will not respond to your invitation to lead, but would consider it if it came from a trusted friend. I’ve learned that people who may not respond to my voice will respond to another.

    Could you imagine what could happen if we would empower the voices of all our leaders to call others into leadership? I believe this would unleash an army of leadership recruiters that would keep the funnels of our leadership pipelines running full of growing leaders.

    So today’s question is not: Who are you challenging to step up into leadership? But instead, “Which of your leaders are you challenging to identify, recruit and raise up new leaders?”