Happy to Stay: What Makes Church Staff Feel Optimistic?

What if over half your church staff could feel genuinely optimistic about their future roles? Discover the vital factors contributing to staff optimism in our latest Healthy Church Staff Podcast episode. Todd Rhodes reveals intriguing findings from last year's Healthy Church Staff assessment, showing that 60.2% of church staff members are optimistic about their roles, while 19.5% are pessimistic and 20% are neutral. Gain insights into how church culture, professional development opportunities, and job role clarity play pivotal roles in shaping these perspectives. Hear real-life examples from church staff who feel inspired and valued, and learn why addressing the concerns of less optimistic or neutral staff is essential for a thriving church environment.

Additionally, Todd extends a heartfelt offer of assistance to anyone in the church community needing guidance or support. Whether you're seeking help with job searches or coaching, Todd is here to provide the necessary support. Feel free to reach out via podcast@chemistrystaffing.com for personalized assistance. Tune in to this insightful episode to understand how regular communication and proactive measures can drastically enhance staff satisfaction and well-being within your church.

Have questions or comments? Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com

Be sure to subscribe to The Healthy Church Staff Podcast wherever you regularly listen to podcasts.

- - - - -

Is Your Church Hiring?
If your church is searching for a new staff member, reach out to Todd for a conversation on how he might be able to help.

Are You Looking for a New Ministry Role?
If you are open to a new church role in the next few months, add your free resume and profile at ChemistryStaffing.com.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Hi there and welcome to this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. My name is Todd Rhodes and I'm your host for the Healthy Church Staff Podcast and also one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom. We have been looking this week at our Healthy Church staff assessment results from last year, and this week we've been talking about future stability. That's how your staff if you're in charge of a staff how your staff feels about their future at your church and, if you're a staff member, how you feel, how optimistic you are about your future at the church. Okay, so here's how we got some of the research. Last year, we received input from between 1,000, I think it was 1,064 church staff people and we told them this statement and asked them to rate their response to it. Here's the statement we gave them I am optimistic about my future at the church. Okay, so what did we find out? How many people on your church staff if you're the church Okay. So what did we find out? How many people on your church staff if you're a church staff member, how do you rate compared to everybody else? Here's what we found from last year's survey and we're taking another survey right now and I'll tell you at the end of this podcast how you can be a part of that for free. But about 60.2% of everyone that answers said that they feel optimistic about their current church and their current role and their future. So 60%, so that's six and 10. That's pretty good. About 19,. Almost 20% 19 and a half percent disagreed said that they don't feel optimistic and about 20% are right there, they're on the fence, they're neutral. So let's unpack that just a little bit.

Speaker 1: 1:46

So why are people optimistic about their future in their current role? It could be a number of things. It could just be a great fit. It could be a great kind of DNA and culture at the church where it's just, it's a nurturing and healthy work environment. For others, it might be that you feel like there's real opportunities for professional development. You feel challenged on a regular basis. You feel I don't know you feel alive. For others, it's just as I said, it's just a great fit, a strong sense of purpose, of mission, of alignment and man. If you've been in church ministry for a while, you know what that feels like and you also know what it doesn't feel like. But kudos to you If you are in a great spot right now and you feel really optimistic about your future. There's no better feeling in the world. One staff member, for example, shared how the church had invested in their leadership training and that made them feel valued and excited about their future at the church. Another person in last year's assessment mentioned that they feel inspired by their church's vision and really gets excited about their work because of the potential for making a lasting impact not only in their church but in the community.

Speaker 1: 3:04

So just a couple of examples of people that feel really optimistic about their job. That's only 6 in 10. Now your mileage may vary. In your church you might be very healthy and the number of your staff that feel optimistic might be 70, 80, 90 percent, maybe even 100 percent. That'd be awesome. Maybe your church is in a time where it's not a real healthy culture, so maybe the number of staff, the percentage of staff, that feel optimistic might be a little lower. But we do need to.

Speaker 1: 3:34

Particularly if you are in charge of a staff, you need to address those 20% who disagree, who do not feel secure about their future or optimistic about their future, and the 20% that are in the middle. So let's talk a little bit about the 20% that disagree. Why do they disagree. Why are they? I guess, the opposite of optimistic. Why are they pessimistic?

Speaker 1: 3:55

It could be a number of different things. It could be a lack of clarity in their job description. It could be lack of clarity in what their next step is, maybe career progression. They want to be able to move up in the organization in your church and there's not opportunities to do that. Could be just areas of dissatisfaction with current roles or, like I said, their job description or responsibility. It could be any number of things. It could be workplace challenges. It could be something personal. It could be personality conflicts. It could be mismatch with theology or the church. It could be any number of things.

Speaker 1: 4:30

But if you are in charge of staff, it's really important that where your staff are, are they optimistic or are they pessimistic, or are they right smack dab in the middle? Let's talk about those people. Another 20.2% say that when we ask them the question and ask them to rate their level of optimism on a scale of one to five, they gave us a flat out three. They're just neutral. That can indicate some uncertainty in the church's future direction. It could be just mixed experience with colleagues and leadership. It could be. Hey, I'm just, I'm filling this thing out. I don't know, it's kind of wait and see. It could be one day they're really positive and optimistic. Maybe the next day they're not. That could maybe be part of their personality even.

Speaker 1: 5:15

But it's really important if you're leading a staff, that where your 60% are, where your 20% are and where your other 20% are, because those bottom 40% are those that you really need to. If they're valued employees, you really need to make sure that they feel good about their future and that they are optimistic about the future for them and for their family at the church. As leaders of staff, it's our responsibility to create an environment that nurtures that staff optimism and well-being. And there's really, if you're just going on a hunch man, that's going to bite you. It's going to bite you in the butt really quick. You really need every episode. I say communication is key, but regularly checking in with staff members to gauge their satisfaction, to gauge what they need, to gauge what their aspirations are, is just absolutely essential.

Speaker 1: 6:10

So here's your takeaway for today if you lead a staff, if you lead a staff and you're not sure how everybody's doing over the next week or two weeks, I don't know how big your staff is. Maybe it's one person, maybe it's 10 people. Set aside some time. Don't make it intimidating. Maybe take them out for coffee or something and that might be intimidating if you're not used to doing that for them anyway but set aside some time and just have the hey. How are you doing conversation? Where do you see yourself? How optimistic are you about your future? How are we doing? How are you doing? How am I doing as your supervisor? Those are really important questions to have.

Speaker 1: 6:49

And if you are a staff member and you're not really optimistic about your future, first thing, if I don't say this, people are going to email in and say, todd, you took the spiritual aspect out of it. I always start with the spiritual aspect. You need to pray your way through this. This is a huge thing If you don't feel settled and encouraged and optimistic in your heart. That could be a church thing, it could be a heart issue thing, but that's something you really need to start Bathe that whole thing in prayer. Second of all, you need to figure out all right. So what do I need? What do I want? What is God calling me to do? Is this the place that I can do it? And as you pray through that, as you think through that, I really do believe that God will give you the answers. He doesn't give us all the answers all at once, but he also doesn't leave us hanging for an exponential period of time. So if you're really seeking, you're really searching, you're really praying through, I think God will give you some answers. He'll either bring that optimism at your current place or bring you to a place where you know that God has something else for you. That is what we're learning on optimism. It's really great that six and 10 are really optimistic, but those other 20% and 20% are the ones and maybe you're in that boat those are the ones that really need some special care and attention if you're in charge of a staff.

Speaker 1: 8:07

We are in the midst of actually just shutting down. We've got just a couple more days. We're closing down this year's Healthy Church Staff Assessment on Friday, so we would love for you to take it. It's absolutely free and if you take it around the 1st of August when we compile our full report, we've had over 1,100 people take the assessment 1,100 staff people take the assessment so far this year. So we've got even greater participation this year than last year. Once we compile that report. We'll send that to you absolutely free of charge on or around August 1st, once we get all the data compiled, and I'm really looking forward to finding out from you and it's all confidential and it's all free but finding out how things are different this year than last year. Hopefully we're in a little bit healthier places at church and church staffs this year. We'll find out come August 1st.

Speaker 1: 8:58

Okay, thanks so much for listening. If you have any questions or need to contact me in any way or need help with a search at your church or you need some coaching, I would be happy to assist you. You can reach out to me anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. All right, thanks so much for listening to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Hope you have a great day.