Protect Your Mission ~ Christian Leadership C-Suite Summit

Apr 26, 2024

May 8th, 2024

Conference 8:00 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Breakfast and lunch provided

Networking Reception from 4:15 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be served

Cherry Hills Country Club | 4125 S University Blvd, Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113

HR practices that can best help your Kingdom-Minded organization while protecting its mission in today’s hostile world.

Presenter Mark Griffin has seen it all in his more than 25 years of Human Resources experience gained by working with a wide range of organizations, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies to Christian Colleges, Ministries and Churches.

Let Mark help you by sharing his experiences in helping a variety of organizations manage their beliefs in the reality of today’s workplace.

Mark will share why he believes Christ-centered organizations experience:

Lower absenteeism
Higher quality products
Fewer employee morale issues
Safer work environments
Better perceptions by customers and vendors

Let Mark help you by sharing his experiences in helping a variety of organizations manage their Christian beliefs in the reality of today’s workplace. Leading your organization with Christ-centered values makes organizational sense; learn how to develop HR practices that reflect your core values and build a high-performance organization.

You Will Learn Employment Laws To Consider:

Duty to Protect
Current Supreme Court Rulings
DEI From a Biblical Perspective

Our goal is to help create courageous leaders who are informed on pertinent HR issues, trends and solutions. Knowledge will inspire participants to take action.

Mark is a human resources professional with 25-plus years of experience in both public (Quaker Oats Company, Kodak Inc., Merck Inc.) and private companies (Woolrich, Conestoga Wood Specialties, Valco Companies Inc.), Mark is passionate about building high-performance workplaces by utilizing best practices while leading organizations with strong values.

About The Presenter

Mark A. Griffin, MBA
President and Founder In HIS Name HR LLC

Speaker, accomplished HR consultant, and the author of How to Build “Kingdom-Minded” Organizations and College to Career: The Student Guide to Career and Life Navigation, Mark A. Griffin encourages leaders to build values-led organizations during these increasingly complex times. Mark and his wife live in Lancaster PA and have two adult children.

Presented and hosted by the Christian Leadership C-Suite Summit.

To see the list of other speakers or to learn more about the event visit them here.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Events, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

Understanding Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)

Apr 17, 2024

Understanding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are numerical or qualitative benchmarks measurements of how efficient a plan is. They give real data on not only what the goal is but what progress is being made toward that goal, showing everyone involved the impact they’re making day to day.

Their greatest value is that they turn vague goals like “improve customer satisfaction” into something you can actually measure. Doesn’t “decrease customer complaints by 50% this quarter” sound a lot more effective?

This makes KPIs central to an HR professional’s toolkit – and therefore a topic worth delving into at length.

Think about it. It only makes sense that high-performance organizations need to focus on measurable results. Without this, they lose both focus and engagement, two elements most employees crave.

Earlier in my HR career, I was blessed to be surrounded by many organizational development experts. One of the key pointers I learned from them was that if you measure a task, the majority of people will try to improve the results if given the chance.

So what do most organizations that operate within high-performance principles measure? That depends on the industry.

For instance, in manufacturing, quality, production, safety, and profitability are always shared front and center. This is true all the way from the boardroom down to the third-shift employee in a remote company facility.

Churches, meanwhile, might measure attendance, staff turnover, and volunteer participation. Or for a ministry, it could be conversions to Christ, project funding, website analytics, and country presence, to name a few.

I’ll admit I used to feel confused and overwhelmed by KPIs. It took me a while to get a meaningful understanding of them.

But that was many years ago. I now not only understand them, I appreciate how intensely useful they can be. I’ve even helped countless organizations develop meaningful KPIs.

And I’ve seen amazing results in the process.

So… What Exactly Are KPIs Again?

Simply put, a key performance indicator is a measurable value of how an organization is hitting its goals. You can think of KPIs as dashboards that give you at-a-glance views of how different parts of the organization are doing.

Revenue… Customer satisfaction… Production efficiency… Safety incident rates… These are all examples of what KPIs can track. Though really, they can monitor progress on any important metric, from sales targets to sustainability efforts.

Why Are KPIs Important?

Obviously, every organization wants to be more effective. So anything that can (ethically) make them more so is a bonus.

But there are a few key reasons why KPIs in particular are so useful:

They help everyone involved focus. With so many things going on every day, KPIs shine a light on what’s truly important so you and yours can prioritize activities that really move the needle.
They create accountability. Measurable targets make it easy to see where teams are underperforming early on. That way, you can take appropriate action to get things on track.
They provide clarity around expectations. It isn’t always easy to understand what management wants to see going forward. So metrics that can make them clear can go a long way in keeping employees focused and effective.
They drive motivation. When employers and employees can see concrete progress in what they’re doing, it proves their work is contributing to big-picture success. This boosts team engagement and morale.
They lead to better decisions. The data KPIs provide helps you understand what’s working well and what needs more attention. That way, you can make smarter choices.

Focus. Accountability. Clarity. Motivation. Insight.

What organization wouldn’t benefit from that list?

How to Use KPIs Effectively

KPIs have to be implemented thoughtfully to work. They are not a magic concept you can simply say out loud or write out on paper to make your desired results appear.

Knowing that, here are some tips to put them into practice:

Link KPI targets directly to organizational goals. Don’t just measure random things! You want KPIs that clearly map back to organizational objectives so you can see that progress is happening.
Focus on your 3-5 most critical KPIs. Tracking too few can devalue aspects and outcomes that are critical to your operations. Tracking too many can dilute their impact and makes prioritizing difficult. Therefore, identify the ones that offer the most value.
Set challenging but realistic targets. Impossible goals lead to frustration, but easy targets don’t push growth. Find the sweet spot that properly motivates your team.
Define how data will be collected upfront. Without a clear process, data quality really suffers. Make sure responsibilities and tools are set, evaluated, and maintained to capture reliable data.
Review KPIs frequently. Don’t just set them and forget them! Regular check-ins ensure that teams are on track or can course-correct early if needed.
Keep refining KPIs. As objectives evolve, so should your KPIs. Continually tweak them to link back to what matters most in the moment.

When you do, your key performance indicators can work for you in ways you have to see to believe.

KPIs in Action

To make this practical, let’s look at a few examples of common KPIs and how organizations use them…

Product Quality: KPIs can identify defects per thousand units produced. This helps organizations monitor how many units are failing quality checks that can then be improved on. When you decrease defects against a target, you drive better product consistency.

A defect goal is easily created. If the organization has 5/1000 (0.005) defects, the goal could be a defect rate of 0.0025 – which is a 50% reduction.

Naturally, product quality is important across every industry, including higher education and non-profits. But an exact organization’s defect goal can look different depending on what exactly is being measured.

Workplace Safety: The “lost-time incident rate” tells you how safe your workplace is. It compares injuries resulting in missed work time to total hours on the job. When this drops, it means you’re avoiding harm and keeping your crew productive.

One common calculation is the “days-away severity rate.” This records the average number of days injuries kept employees from work. To calculate it, you simply divide the number of lost workdays by the number of recordable safety incidents.

Admittedly, you could find that you could have a high injury rate and low severity rate this way – meaning that people are getting hurt but not severely. That’s preferable to a high injury with high severity, obviously. But most organizations should have zero accidents as their goal across the board.

Customer Satisfaction: Tracking things like customer satisfaction (CSAT) or the Net Promoter Score shows how your clients actually feel about what you provide. High marks mean they approve and will likely stick around to grow with you.

In short, make your customers happy and success will follow!

Your calculation for this KPI could simply be customer complaints per thousand sales. And similar to the product quality explanation, you can replace the input to suit your specific organization.

You probably already know what your customer satisfaction goal is, but make it as specific as possible. Say your organization is at 20/1000 (0.02) complaints. In that case, you could determine to cut that by half down to 0.01.

Production Efficiency: The Overall Equipment Effectiveness assessment rolls up how available, quick, and quality-oriented your machines are into one simple metric. Optimize OEE, and you can churn out more goods without incurring extra costs.

And, of course, efficient operations increase your revenue… bless your employees… and improve the communities in which you do operate.

Create the base line or profitability for the organization, then translate it into employee terms. So if you’re measuring your breakeven point for a production line, come up with a breakeven number per shift.

This calculation could be made by your engineering and production teams. But say they project 20,000 units per hour as your production rate goal. The KPI calculation would measure any deviation from the goal number, either above or below.

So if production is cut short by 19,000 units per hour, the calculation would be 19,000/20,000 = 95% of goal attainment. Or if they exceed the goal, the calculation could be 20,000,000/21,000 = 5% over goal attainment.

KPIs for Nonprofits

There are plenty of other ways KPIs can work for you depending on the type of organization you run, and the different types of goals and objectives you have. Here are three for non-profits specifically…

Member-Engagement KPI

This one tracks what percentage of your members are really engaged: how many are talking the talk and walking the walk.

Are they showing up for programs, volunteering, giving back financially, and otherwise helping to really make your organization grow? Maybe only 30% of your base is actively involved right now.

Maybe lower still.

Set a goal to bump that engagement up to 40% over the next year. You can get more members off the sidelines and in the game by doubling down on the programs that are already working. Likewise, rethink ones that aren’t connecting.

If more people are invested, your whole community will feel that love.

New Members Added KPI

Growth matters, so tracking new members is huge. Set a target to add 50 new members to your non-profit every month.

If you see you aren’t hitting that target, get introspective about your outreach.

How can you connect better with more folks in the community? Get creative! New ideas should be welcome (though properly vetted, of course).

When more people join your mission, it builds serious momentum. So get out there and share the word!

Donation Revenue KPI

Money matters, even for non-profits. That’s why we advise looking at total monthly donations and aiming for 10% growth year-over-year.

Consistent giving means your programs stay solid. If you spot any dips in donations, tackle that ASAP. And try asking members directly how your non-profit entity can earn their support.

Keep the faith that donations will rise, and act accordingly!

KPIs for a Variety of Industries and Organizations

If you run neither a non-profit nor traditional moneymaking business, don’t worry. There are almost certainly KPIs for your organization too.

We’ve included three particularly useful ones below, though there are plenty of others out there to research and review.

Lead Conversion Rate KPI

Isn’t it high time to turn those leads you have into actual deals? Ask yourself: What percentage of leads become customers for your business right now?

Ideally, you want to set your sights on 25% conversion.

This is not an impossible goal. To get there, follow-up faster with leads, nurture them along, and coach your team on closing skills.

Every lead is precious. Treat them that way, and you’ll see more of them stick around.

Higher conversions will pump up your revenue big time, making the effort more than worth your while.

Asset Utilization KPI

You’ve got trucks, planes, and/or other heavy equipment just sitting there collecting dust. What a waste!

An idle asset isn’t earning your organization any revenue. But a fully utilized one drives your organization forward.

So use what you’ve got to the maximum!

Let’s get that utilization percentage up by scheduling everything tighter and routing them smarter. An 85% utilization rate would be a great target to shoot for.

Customer Retention KPI

Look at what percentage of customers stay loyal to you each year.

Is it 80%? Awesome! That’s a solid start.

But there’s no reason not to aim even higher still…

Reduce your customer churn by improving satisfaction through better services and products. Make them feel the love!

Keep your people happy, and they will keep you happy by returning to your organization in ways that keep the revenue and relevance flowing.

Final Thoughts

Here’s the bottom line about KPIs…

They make goals clear and provide valuable insights to help teams work smarter. When used right, they drive better decisions, accountability, and results!

Unlike what I used to think – and you might currently think – KPIs are not meant to complicate your life. Implemented effectively, they give you the information you need to guide your team forward into bigger, better, and more effective phases for your organization.

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For further actionable insights, reach out to In HIS Name HR right here. We help organizations build high-performance human resource programs designed to build your workplace into the engaging, effective, integrity-filled space you want it to be.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

IHN HR Leveraging Gallup CliftonStrengths

Leveraging Gallup’s CliftonStrengths for Career Success

Feb 29, 2024

Career development should always be aligned with one’s potential.

Human potential is vast, but too many people unfortunately don’t know themselves well enough to tap into it. In fact, many of us navigate life without ever realizing our possibilities. To correct that, the first thing you need to do is understand your strengths.

Peter Guber, CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group, said the success of someone’s career – regardless of profession or field – depends on their ability to lead, manage, and build good relationships with colleagues. His experience leading an entertainment industry business taught him that so much of our potential must be excavated and then honed to reach true career success.

That’s why it’s so important to know yourself well – no matter how long it takes to achieve that understanding. Once you know who you really are, you can recognize what you’re really capable of.

And then you can put it into practice and truly thrive.

How to Identify Your Potential for Career Development

It’s a fact that many students struggle with choosing a career path to pursue. And many adults already in the workplace still don’t know if they followed the right field.

That’s a shame for both the individuals involved and the companies they do or will work for. Feeling like a misfit can lead to extreme unhappiness and underperformance all around.

This is why the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is such an incredible tool. It’s designed to help you discover your personality and where that personality best fits within your chosen career field.

Less well-known but equally helpful is Gallup’s CliftonStrengths assessment. To quote their website:

“The 34 CliftonStrengths Themes Explain Your Talent DNA. When you take the CliftonStrengths Assessment, you uncover your unique combination of 34 CliftonStrengths themes.

“The themes, which sort into four domains… are a culmination of decades of research led by Don Clifton to study and categorize the talents of the world’s most successful people.

“Together, the themes explain a simple but profound element of human behavior: what’s right with people.”

Moreover, they give “you a way to describe what you naturally do best or what you might need help from others to accomplish.” And who couldn’t benefit from that?

Once completed, I’m confident this assessment can make your career journey much more informed and fruitful.

Here are just some of the themes you might identify with…

Domain: Influencing

Theme: Activator

You enjoy jumping right in and trying out different roles and jobs.
You seek leadership opportunities and positions where you’ll be rewarded for getting things moving.
You sometimes (or all the time) think about starting your own business.
You realize some people might feel threatened by your drive to make decisions and get things going.

Theme: Command

You’re willing to take on several potential roles or jobs, and you seek out chances to assume positions of leadership.
You seek out positions that offer room for advancement.
You take into consideration situations where quick decisions are required.
You seek careers in fields like law, commerce, politics, or theater, where you can use your persuasive skills.

Theme: Communication

You speak with people who could fill the roles you’re interested in, knowing their experiences will educate you.
You enjoy settings that provide you with regular social connections. Cooperative, engaging, and instructional environments are your ideal.
You prefer professions involving comedy, acting, motivational speaking, teaching, public relations, ministry, or training, where you can share your experiences.

Theme: Competition

You seek out chances to assume leadership roles.
You work on projects that will allow you to measure and compare your results.
You think about business, sales, law, politics, and sports.
You seek out positions that offer room for advancement.

Theme: Maximizer

You interview the “best of the best” to find out what they enjoy doing for a living.
You prefer settings that support “best practices” and allow you to collaborate with others to make the organization better every time.
You could consider positions that allow you to assist people in realizing their potential.

Theme: Self-Assurance

You’re skilled in many different things and like to try out potential positions or jobs. In fact, it’s crucial for you to choose what you enjoy.
You seek out settings that will challenge you while offering freedom to figure things out on your own terms.
You might want to think about pursuing a job in training, entertainment, or sales.

Theme: Significance

You want to leave a strong legacy behind.
You seek out settings where you can be acknowledged for your achievements.
Consider a profession where you can truly and enduringly improve the world.

Theme: Woo

You make sure to meet a diverse range of individuals working in various professions.
You seek out settings that appreciate your capacity to convince or sell – and where you can meet new people on a daily basis.
You could consider a job as a public relations specialist, sales representative, trainer, comedian, or lawyer.

Domain: Executing

Theme: Achiever

You have a relentless desire to achieve. You are only satisfied when you’re reaching or exceeding the goals in front of you.
You approach everyday as a new opportunity to make an impact, but you need to be cautions. Your drive can convince you to work nights, weekends, and long hours.
You have a strong work ethic, are able to lead by example when properly coached, and are a great asset to any organization seeking to achieve high performance.
You should seek careers that give you a lot of room to achieve the results you desire.

Theme: Arranger

Your default when problem solving is to seek all the pieces at the same time and arrange them into a logical sequence. You see patterns that others do not.
You desire a workplace that isn’t routine, where the daily aspects ebb and flow allowing you to use your arranging capabilities.
Seek careers where you can bring order out of chaos.
Pursue careers in employee relations, or human resources management, urban development, and leadership.

Theme: Belief

You hold deeply held ideals regarding how things should be in life, at work, and in the community.
Your ethical approach sometimes frustrate you when the world’s actions don’t align with it.
You could consider careers where your core values align with the organization in question, especially in pastoral care, certain medical fields, teaching, and counseling.

Theme: Consistency

You look for settings where rules, guidelines, policies, and procedures are well-established.
You seek out settings that are predictable and structured.
Law enforcement, human resources, risk management, safety compliance, and quality assurance positions might be right for you.

Theme: Deliberative

You research as much information as you can regarding potential roles and employment.
You prefer workplace settings where you can work alone to perform in-depth analyses, and you stay away from those that require too much socializing or human contact.
You consider jobs as judge, finance officer, or risk analyst to be ideal.

Theme: Discipline

You establish goals and outlines for your career-planning procedures.
You prefer structured settings where you can uphold order for both yourself and other people, and make use of your organizational skills.
Depending on your education, you might consider a job as an executive assistant, brain surgeon, tax specialist, or air traffic controller.

Theme: Focus

You gather as much information as you can about possible jobs or roles.
You look for environments where you can focus and concentrate without interruptions or the need to multitask.
You do best in structured environments that are predictable and detail-oriented.

Theme: Responsibility

You prefer settings where you can operate autonomously and eventually be given more authority.
You seek out locations where you can establish relationships of trust with other people.
You would likely do well in professions that place more emphasis on results than procedures, such as executive assistant, librarian, or law clerk.

Theme: Restorative

You’re intrigued by individuals known for pulling people out of difficult situations or jumping in to fix issues.
You appreciate situations where you’re required to identify issues and provide solutions.
Since you depend on your education and aptitude, you might be well-suited for careers as a TV producer, surgeon, or customer service representative.

Domain: Strategic Thinking

Theme: Analytical

You are smart, logical, thorough, good at thinking through issues, and good at handling numbers, figures, and charts.
You are objective and use data to search for trends, patterns, and interconnectedness.
Be cautious. Your greatest weaknesses can offend people since you have the propensity to be tough, never satisfied, and full of questions.
Choose a career that requires you to analyze data. Accounting, finance, marketing, and certain engineering fields should be explored.

Theme: Context

You look back at your past decisions to get an idea of what you enjoy and are highly skilled at.
You seek out settings where you can investigate the origins of things and gain a solid understanding of an organization or asset’s past.
Professions such as archaeologist, historian, curator, professor of humanities, or appraiser of antiques could easily appeal to you.

Theme: Futuristic

You desire a career path that enables you to help others glimpse the future and inspire them to bring it to pass.
You look for environments that encourage creativity and imagination.
Jobs in commercial art, architecture, design, or city planning appeal to you.

Theme: Ideation

As much as you can, you brainstorm and daydream about potential careers or professions.
You seek out settings that encourage experimentation, originality, and unconventional thinking.
You could easily consider a profession in advertising, market research, design, consulting, or strategic planning.

Theme: Input

You try to obtain as much input as you can regarding potential roles and employment.
You seek out settings where you will be exposed to large amounts of information and data.
Occupations that allow you to stay up to date with the latest developments in science and enable you to become a knowledgeable researcher and consumer are right up your alley.

Theme: Intellection

You stay abreast of change related to careers and career development.
You seek out settings where you can ponder and mull things through before acting.
You should consider a profession that provides you with intellectual challenges, where you can ask questions and exchange ideas. But stay away from groups that uphold the status quo.

Theme: Learner

You examine career inventories, read up on careers, and do further research on what you read.
You enjoy settings that promote lifelong learning and personal growth.
You are well-suited to jobs such as business trainer, instructor, or college lecturer.

Theme: Strategic

You desire employment that enables you to create innovative initiatives and methods for addressing persistent issues.
You enjoy settings that are adaptable, foster creativity, and provide you with opportunities to view things holistically.
Professions in consulting, law, or psychology could be ideal for you.

Domain: Relationship Building

Theme: Adaptability

You have the ability to remain calm during stressful and ambiguous situations.
Routine roles that force you to plan and organize don’t appeal to you; you’re too action-oriented and independent-minded.
You enjoy constantly evolving demands and challenges. You could even say you thrive in chaos.
Careers that might suit you include human resources, emergency medical management, crisis management, manufacturing, and customer service.

Theme: Connectedness

You seek out NGOs that provide aid.
You prefer settings where you can engage with people and assist them in discovering meaning and purpose.
You recognize your own values and make sure the company you work for upholds them.
You think about carrying out a career that will allow you to live out your religious convictions.

Theme: Developer

You appreciate employment opportunities where you can help people in some capacity.
You seek out settings that emphasize communication, cooperation, and teamwork.
You like the sound of careers where you can assist others in improving their abilities such as life coach, counselor, or teacher.

Theme: Empathy

You look for employment in places where feelings are respected, not suppressed.
You desire environments that are upbeat and encouraging with lots of communication and teamwork.
You can consider pursuing professions such as education, human resources, counseling, or ministry.

Theme: Harmony

You’re a mediator at heart and seek to find middle ground with practical solutions that can drive everyone into agreement.
Your willingness to hear all perspectives helps when all sides of the issues need to be considered.
Ideal careers for you include arbitrator, counselor, diplomat, and ambassador.

Theme: Includer

You consider working with groups that are often set aside by others, such as those who are intellectually or physically challenged.
You seek out settings where you can play a welcoming role.
You enjoy the idea of being something like a special education teacher, social worker, therapist, youth worker, or HR representative.

Theme: Individualization

You appreciate settings where you can coach, train, and otherwise give others feedback.
You seek professions that allow you to work one-on-one with individuals.
Jobs such as HR specialist, business trainer, life coach, teacher, or counselor suit your personality.

Theme: Positivity

You choose work you’re passionate about that supports your hopeful view of the future.
You look for environments that are fun, fast-paced, and people-oriented, and where you can use your sense of humor.
You like the idea of careers as a coach, sales rep, teacher, or manager.

Theme: Relator

You discuss your perceptions with people in your trusted social group.
You enjoy settings that promote friendships and allow you to continue expanding your knowledge about others.
You could consider the role of manager, HR director, teacher, counselor, or school administrative professional.

How Well Do You Know Yourself?

Here’s an important question after scanning the CliftonStrengths’ list of themes and what they entail…

How well do you know yourself?

Most interviewers ask this question or something like it. So it’s an important consideration if you’re thinking about a career change. It might also come up during your annual employee review.

Or maybe you wonder about it on your own without any external prompting.

Regardless, this is the most crucial question you could possibly answer. It speaks to how much you know about what you want in life. And once you know that, it becomes so much easier to set goals in your career and elsewhere.

Just like that, you’re equipped to properly choose not only a fulfilling career but a fulfilling life.

So from now on, strive to identify the potential within you based on your individual strengths. In life, there is no such thing as too late to know yourself.

Set Your Bar High. What Is the Highest Goal You Want to Achieve?

In terms of career development, you need to have top-level goals or target priorities you want to achieve every year. Consider having at least three measurable goals and no more than five. At the end of December, you can determine your achievements, starting from the smallest to the most significant.

Learn from your achievements. Revisit what worked and what didn’t, and make sure you focus on repeatable behaviors that contributed to the goals you did attain.

Your targets must, of course, be in proportion to the potential you have. The higher the level of success desired, the more potential must be explored, including intrapersonal and interpersonal skills.

They also need to be reasonable. For example, if your current position is that of a supervisor and you want to advance from there, you can target becoming a manager in two years and then set your sights on the next advancement from there. Set a deadline for yourself and decide what steps you’ll take to achieve it.

Your yearly goals don’t have to involve accomplishing every intense dream you’ve ever pictured for yourself. Sometimes it’s much more intelligent to have a five-year or 10-year plan you build up to.

Just make sure to capitalize on and exercise your strengths to get there.

Speaking of plans, you should also consider making one to determine how to achieve each goal you have, yearly or otherwise. Another important aspect is determining likely challenges and preparing solutions to work past them.

Indeed, some goals are only achievable after you’ve overcome already existent problems.

Make Sure to Accept Help Along the Way!

Human potential is always aligned with career development. But you hardly have to work alone in order to realize yours. If you’re looking for guidance, there are seminars, workshops, and webinars out there specifically designed to optimize your potential and achieve your goals.

Or if you’re looking for more personalized guidance, In HIS Name HR helps organizations and individuals build high-performance human resource programs designed to get you where you need to be.

Concerned about the HR programs at your organization? The benefits of having a trusted partner to guide you and your team to excellence are invaluable. Contact us today. You—and your employees—will be glad you did.

Rise with us by implementing our high-performance remote human-resource programs to help find great people! E-mail us here.

Mark A. Griffin is president and founder of In HIS Name HR LLC. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

How to Be a Great Employee

Feb 7, 2024

Did you know the average adult is awake 16 hours a day?

For those of us who don’t always work from home, that includes one hour to prepare for work, 30 minutes each way driving there and back, and at least eight hours at the office Monday-Friday.

Right there, we already have 10 out of our 16 allotted hours.

Now let’s contrast that with the time we invest at church. For some people, it’s just an hour a week. Quite the difference!

Now, admittedly, it is difficult and even impractical to try to even those amounts out too much. We do need to earn a living for ourselves and our families. So it makes sense that so much of our lives are invested in preparation for work and actually doing that work. But this hardly means we have to neglect out Christianity.

Far from it, in fact.

That’s why God’s presence in the workplace matters so much! This time-consuming setting offers great opportunities to encourage those who already know Christ and to witness to those who don’t.

Most of us probably don’t work for an organization that outwardly expresses our Christian beliefs. But we’re called to be ambassadors of Christ and reflect Him in our lives regardless, including when we’re on the job.

The Bible has a lot to say about the importance of work and how we should conduct ourselves in it. Two examples include (NIV):

Colossians 3:23 – “Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

Proverbs 16:3 – “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”

As such, let’s explore some of the important values that Christians should demonstrate in the workplace. The one I want to share today is integrity, with many more to come in future articles.

Proverbs 10:9 (NIV) reads:

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”

I’m sure we can all think of examples where people (maybe even us) didn’t show integrity in the workplace. These behaviors include the C.Y.A., or covering your you-know-what, method; throwing others under the bus; telling untruths; calling in “sick”; and having affairs with coworkers.

If it weren’t for the prevalence of such conduct, we wouldn’t need to have so many workplace policies on codes of conduct, harassment, social media activity, and the like.

But what exactly is integrity? It might be easy to spot when people lack it. But what does it mean when we have it?

Integrity denotes a deep commitment to do the right thing for the right reason, regardless of the circumstances – even when no one is watching, C.S. Lewis. It includes a sense of honesty, dependability, and consistency of character.

People with integrity adhere to moral company policies. They own up to their mistakes. They are honest and don’t tell untruths. They are trustworthy and dependable.

The word integrity evolved from the Latin adjective integer, meaning whole or complete. So it’s an inner sense and outer expression of “wholeness” deriving from qualities such as sincerity and consistent character.

Consider these questions to self-assess your own personal integrity:

Do you portray yourself differently depending on who you’re with?
Do you admit your mistakes?
Are you honest at all times?
Can others depend on you to do what you say you’ll do?

Our integrity is tested on a daily basis by a culture that’s normalized falsehood and dishonesty. This might involve cheating on an exam, fudging a business expense, downloading music illegally, taking office supplies from work, or telling little white lies.

They might seem small in the moment. Even necessary. But those sorts of actions can chip away at our souls little by little.

On the flipside, Scripture tells us many benefits of living with integrity:

It can give us promotions in the right way (Nehemiah 7).
It grants favor and honor, and opens the door for good things to come into our lives (Psalm 84:11).
It can help us find contentment (Proverbs 19:1).
It brings clarity and guidance to our lives (Proverbs 37:18).
It helps us be more like Jesus (Matthew 22:16).

King David also shed some light on integrity in Psalm 26:1-3 (NIV):

“Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD and have not faltered. Test me, LORD, and try me; examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.”

You can see here that the root of David’s integrity is his relationship with God. As it should be for us.

How Can You Be Sure That Your Integrity Guides Your Actions?

In order to claim integrity as part of your identity, you have to commit to acting on it. It’s not always easy, but it ends up being very worthwhile when you:

Keep your word.If you say you’re going to do something, then do it! If you say you’re going to be somewhere, then be there! We all know those people we can’t really count on.Don’t be one of those people! Otherwise, we’re bound to see Jeremiah 22:12 (NIV) applied to our lives: “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.”
Tell the truth.Mark Twain said, “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” It’s easier and the right thing to do. Even little white lies eat away at your integrity.
Don’t gossip.Keep your confidence, and don’t talk about others behind their backs. Proverbs 11:13 (NIV) counsels us that, “A gossip can’t be trusted with a secret, but someone of integrity won’t violate confidence”
Work hard.Colossians 3:23 says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people” (NIV). If you’re a believer, your real boss is God. So whether or not anybody else sees your work, God does.That’s why 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV) reads, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
Act consistently.A person of integrity doesn’t act one way in church, another way at work, and another way in social settings. In addition, he or she treats the janitor with the same level of respect as the CEO.God is never changing. He is faithful, trustworthy, true, and loyal. He can be counted on. And he wants us to follow his example, as shown in Proverbs 11:3 (NIV), which reads, “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.”

In short, each one of us in the workplace has a responsibility to bring positivity and encouragement to the workplace. Let these tips and recommendations lift you to higher levels of performance.

Are you having a hard time navigating your career? If you need coaching, find more information here. We also help college students as they navigate career selection and graduation. We can help them with wise choices. We have the resources to assist those executives in need. With our many years in Human Resources and Organizational development we have the skilled coaches to help you succeed. Don’t go it alone!

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

Protect Your Mission CCCA Sectional

Nov 20, 2023

HR practices that can best help your Kingdom-Minded Camp while protecting its mission in today’s hostile world.

CCCA Sectional
White Sulphur Springs
4500 Milligans Cove Road
Manns Choice, PA 15550

Monday, February 26, 2024

4:00pm

Let Mark help you by sharing his experiences in helping a variety of organizations manage their beliefs in the reality of today’s workplace.

Leading your Camp with Christ-centered values makes organizational sense.

Mark will share why he believes Christ-centered organizations experience:

Lower absenteeism
Higher quality products
Fewer employee morale issues
Safer work environments
Better perceptions by customers and vendors

Mark will also share how he helps organizations develop HR practices that reflect their core values and still build a high performance organization.

Topics to be Covered

DEI and Biblical alternatives why is this important?
Protecting your religious liberty
Dangers from proposed laws
Current state of religious liberty in court
Creating a high performance culture through practical HR competency development
Where most organizations go wrong engaging employees
Setting expectations
HR tools for creating success
Employee policy manuals
Codes of Conduct
Employee relations and communications
Performance management
Counseling and discipline procedures
Terminations
How the Civil Rights Act administrative guidance affects your Camp

About The Presenter

Mark A. Griffin, MBA
President and Founder In HIS Name HR LLC

Presented and hosted by the Christian Camp and Conference Association Allegheny Region. For ticket information visit them here.

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Events, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

Protect Your Mission Webinar

Jul 21, 2023

Presented and hosted by Christian Business Partnership Ohio’s Christian Chamber of Commerce.

Restoring the American Promise. Together.

3PM EST Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023

HR practices that can best help your “Kingdom-Minded” organization and business protect its mission in today’s hostile world.

Click Here To Register

Let Mark help you by sharing his experiences in helping a variety of organizations manage their beliefs in the reality of today’s workplace.

Leading an organization with Christ-centered values makes organizational sense.

Mark will share why he believes Christ-centered organizations experience:

Lower absenteeism
Higher quality products
Fewer employee morale issues
Safer work environments
Better perceptions by customers and vendors

Mark will also share how he helps organizations develop HR practices that reflect their core values and still build a high performance organization.

Topics to be Covered

DEI and Biblical alternatives why is this important?
Protecting your religious liberty
Dangers from proposed laws
Current state of religious liberty in court
Creating a high performance culture through practical HR competency development

Click Here For Tickets

About The Host

Christian Business Partnership exists not only to defend your rights in the economy, but to ensure a business environment friendly to businesses throughout Ohio. Their mission is to aggressively advocate for the religious liberty of Christian employers and for a fair and free marketplace that enables entrepreneurs to thrive and compete. Learn more or join here!

About The Presenter

Mark A. Griffin, MBA
President and Founder In HIS Name HR LLC

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Events, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

Protect Your Mission ~ Lancaster, PA

Jul 5, 2023

HR practices that can best help your “Kingdom-Minded” organization and business protect its mission in today’s hostile world.

The Junction Center
1875 Junction Rd,
Manheim, PA 17545

September 7, 2023

9AM-1PM

Lunch Included!

Click Here For Tickets

Presenter Randall Wenger Esq. has a myriad of experiences from all his years of working on religious liberty cases in Pennsylvania including the Conestoga Wood Specialties case that resulted in a landmark victory in the US Supreme Court for religious liberty and the sanctity of life. Randy understands the pressures and dangers that are facing those who want to run their businesses and organizations in line with their Christian values.

Let Mark and Randy help you by sharing their experiences in helping a variety of organizations manage their beliefs in the reality of today’s workplace.

Leading an organization with Christ-centered values makes organizational sense.

Mark will share why he believes Christ-centered organizations experience:

Lower absenteeism
Higher quality products
Fewer employee morale issues
Safer work environments
Better perceptions by customers and vendors

Mark will also share how he helps organizations develop HR practices that reflect their core values and still build a high performance organization.

Topics to be Covered

DEI and Biblical alternatives why is this important?
Protecting your religious liberty
Dangers from proposed laws
Current state of religious liberty in court
Creating a high performance culture through practical HR competency development
Where most organizations go wrong engaging employees
Setting expectations
HR tools for creating success
Employee policy manuals
Codes of Conduct
Employee relations and communications
Performance management
Counseling and discipline procedures
Terminations
How the Civil Rights Act administrative guidance affects your business

Click Here For Tickets

Map To The Junction Center (Map)

About The Pennsylvania Family Institute

The Mission of the Pennsylvania Family Institute is to strengthen families by restoring to public life the traditional, foundational principles and values essential for the well-being of society. It is the only full-time professionally staffed non-profit organization representing family values—your values—in the state capitol. It encourages responsible citizenship and involvement in civic affairs to promote respect for life, family, marriage and religious liberty.

About The Presenters

Randall L. Wenger, Esq.
COO & Chief Counsel

Randall Wenger is Chief Counsel of the Independence Law Center in Harrisburg, a pro-bono law center affiliated with the Pennsylvania Family Institute and dedicated to maintaining those liberties that have made America great and free. He has litigated in federal courts all around the county, and his cases have included the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, bodily privacy, and pro-life issues. In addition to his role with the Independence Law Center, he is COO of the Pennsylvania Family Institute.

Randall has an economics degree from the University of Chicago and earned his J.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Lancaster County, and he and his wife Tina have seven children.

Mark A. Griffin, MBA
President and Founder In HIS Name HR LLC

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Events, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

DEI and Biblical Alternatives

Jul 5, 2023

Diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, has become a very popular topic in the last few years. Recently, I had the pleasure of spending time with Kevin McGary, a leading thought expert on diversity, equity and inclusion. Kevin has been pivotal in our quest to develop a Biblically based DEI program that celebrates human connectedness and offers recipients hope and unity by aligning all people’s strengths, and reinforces that no one person’s pain is greater than another’s. I also consider Kevin a good friend.

I was blessed to meet Kevin through the Pinnacle Forum group. Pinnacle Forum was created to help connect C-Suite-level executives into groups that allows them to support each executive in their sphere of influence as it relates to their walk with the Lord. Kevin is the chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation of California and brings to us an enlightened viewpoint on what is happening, societally, within the United States. Much of this I have witnessed through my HR experiences the past 30 years, as we have seen the deterioration of the family, and, in return, the deterioration of the workplace in general.

While many Caucasian and Black leaders shy away from discussing uncomfortable, difficult issues, Kevin and I want to share some of our collective experiences as, respectively, a Black man and a Caucasian man living in America to generate greater understanding of these difficult topics from our distinct perspectives.

While Kevin and I do not share the same skin color, we do share the same frustrations with the current happenings in our society. We certainly don’t want to politicize the situation, but we are finding it increasingly difficult to bring our country together. From my perspective, I wonder how Black Americans do not see the destruction that the Democratic party has created in their community, specifically in regard to NAFTA and its promotion by the Clinton administration. Taking tens of thousands of jobs out of the cities disproportionately affected the Black community and never made sense to me. I recall, in grad school, being told that we were “evolving to a more tech-centric economy.” Well, as we know, most of those tech-centric jobs ended up in third world countries, where wages are nowhere near as much as they would be in the US.

Not only did we lose jobs as a country, but those jobs went to places that don’t have the same child labor laws and green laws that we have enacted in America. I have been to India and witnessed the impact on their people and their environment. Sadly, many employees in India working for American companies do so on work campuses, sending their wages back to their respective villages to support their families. This doesn’t cause prosperity; this breaks up families and creates more pain. A much better approach could be to develop work locally and support that work with microfinancing. Much of the manufacturing that formed the backbone of our country fed tens of thousands of families and gave dignity to those who work there. Without work, where are people to gain dignity? Work is Biblical. Adam and Eve had jobs in the Garden of Eden. And, someday, we will all be using our gifts, talents and strengths in eternity with Christ.

Mark: Kevin, my question is simple. What changes have occurred that have put Black Americans at a major disadvantage in terms of prosperity here, in the US? My thinking always goes back to the deterioration of the family. The lack of the presence of two loving parents and even the lack of loving grandparents has caused so many issues with our youth. I am curious to know your opinion.

Kevin: The deterioration of the Black family is definitely a factor. But even before LBJ’s proclamations and policies specifically designed to undermine the Black family unit—remember, LBJ is recorded as having said his policies “will have the n***ers voting democrat for the next 200 years

Notably, Charles Darwin believed whites fully evolved first and were “superior” (i.e., possessing “supreme” human attributes and instincts), while Blacks were still climbing the evolutionary scale (foremost in his theories) and, therefore, he wrote, must be considered “subhuman.” He equated Blacks to apes, gorillas, and savages. In my book Woked Up! Finally putting an ax to the taproot of White Supremacy and Racism in America, I confirm that Darwin was motivated by grotesque and arcane theories of supremacy and racism. Since he was the first world-renowned scientific mind to make such assertions, I deem that Darwin’s theories are singlehandedly responsible for the disproportional abuse that has plagued and stymied Black progress for over 100 years. Having a cursory understanding of Darwin and his motivations provides context for why Blacks had to demand justice and equality, culminating in Dr. Martin Luther King’s demand that the content of character must be the overarching focus for human interactions. White people weren’t judged by their skin tone, so it wasn’t color that actually mattered: Black people’s skin color was seen as a mark of evolutionary inferiority.

Mark: And have these issues caused you to accelerate your involvement in movements against the current direction of our country?

Kevin: I am most certainly motivated to get involved in changing the socio/cultural downward trajectory of America! Unfortunately, Darwin and his protégé, Karl Marx, are still lauded and applauded globally. Their diabolical deeds to inculcate supremacy and racism have been largely ignored. Most people don’t fully comprehend the extent to which their theories have been motivated to instantiate grotesque “White Supremacy” and racism. My motivation is to make sure that people come to know the truth, so we all may be set free from these insidious mindsets.

Mark: This 1993 article from The Washington Post called out issues impacting the Black community. And this article from the Economic Policy Institute, written in 1997, cites the immediate impact that NAFTA had on American jobs, notably within just the first three years after the Agreement was enacted:

“Between 1993 and 1996, women lost 141,454 jobs to NAFTA, Blacks lost 36,890 jobs, and Hispanics lost 22,520 jobs, numbers closely reflecting these groups’ shares in manufacturing industries. Moreover, a disproportionate number of the jobs eliminated by NAFTA were manufacturing jobs, which pay relatively high wages, further contributing to NAFTA’s detrimental effect on the distribution of income and wages of working Americans.”

These are big numbers. I remember working in the garment industry during those years and the devasting plant closures that ensued. I watched one industry after another shift manufacturing overseas. I support all people in the world having the dignity of work. I have done mission work in Ukraine, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and I believe the only way out of poverty is through the dignity of a good, safe job. The difficulty lies in the jobs that have left, which have never been replaced with equal- or higher-paying jobs. We are seeing a deterioration of the workforce, not an increase in our capabilities. Finally, this article outlines the impact 25 years after the passing of NAFTA:

“According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Black workers have lost nearly half a million manufacturing jobs (494,000) during the NAFTA–WTO era. Black workers’ manufacturing losses were evenly spread across many subsectors that suffered significant trade-related job loss. For instance, in the automotive sector, by 2010, in just the first 15 years of NAFTA, Black workers had lost 56,524 jobs. Black workers were disproportionately represented in the primary metals manufacturing sector hit by the NAFTA–WTO era with a loss of 53,800 jobs. Black workers have also lost 22,100 jobs in the paper manufacturing industry and 18,600 jobs in the beverages and tobacco industry during the NAFTA–WTO era, two more sectors where Black workers were overrepresented relative to their general share of the workforce.”

Kevin, with these staggering statistics in mind, what suggestions do you have to reinforce that we need change to return dignity to people, but not through policy or the extension of destructive governmental programs that hinder an individual’s freedom to prosper?

Kevin: Some of the best ways to encourage the dignity of work and beget progress for any/all communities would be to reemphasize the trades! Higher education creates very high student loans and can be more burdensome (long term) than not. Skilled trades, on the other hand, continue to be in demand; most trades have proven to be “recession resistant” (resilient to economic conditions). Trades like HVAC, construction, machinery, auto mechanics, landscaping/design, etc., provide high incomes and opportunities that are mostly resistant to economic downturns. Entrepreneurship is greater for tradespeople. Also, unlike trying to “climb the corporate ladder” via “white-collar” jobs, meritocracy is more apparent in the trades arena. Therefore, people tend to achieve greater income acceleration and promotion based on skills/mastery of craft, as compared to the subjective criteria of the corporate world.

Mark: The privatization of prisons and the extreme zero policy of Democratic leaders caused a disproportionate amount of Black men to be incarcerated for de minimis amounts of drugs and narcotics in their possession. We know that the sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offenses versus powder cocaine were changed. This article from 1995 highlights those issues. Yet again, we trust our politicians to make the lives of our people better. This subject has been in my heart for many years. Privatizing a penal system and then decreasing the threshold of incarceration would seem, to me, to reek of impropriety. But what would you advise both the Black and Caucasian communities to do in this regard?

Kevin: There is a serious need for continued criminal justice reforms initiated under the Trump administration. With Joe Biden’s racist 1994 “criminal legislation,” Blacks were targeted and put behind bars for 25+ years for relatively minor offenses.

Judges were given great latitude as well, and this translated to large variations in sentencing; depending on the city, state, and court/judge, sentencing would vary from probation to 25+ years for the same crime! This must stop. Irrespective of where criminals decide to break laws, all criminals should know the minimum consequences for committing crimes!

Across the country, there should be consistency in sentencing guidelines. Too much power is given to DAs and judges (in certain cities), and this phenomenon has caused “woke” social justice warriors to champion over-correction on criminal justice reforms. To be sure, many cities have now implemented no-cash bail reforms (which provide a no-consequence revolving door for repeat offenders), and defunding of the police, which has allowed and encouraged many criminal activities to go unpunished.

Common-sense reforms that provide minimum sentencing requirements for all states will help restrict subjective rulings from radical judges, while also providing consistency.

Mark: Organizations now actively seek ways to create a more welcoming workplace that respects employee diversity and gives a voice to people who are often underrepresented. Whether you are a Christian-owned business or a religious-exempt employer, such as a Christian church, ministry, higher education institution, or camp, many foundations and organizations that provide grant dollars are mandating DEI. It is rumored that more and more local, state, and federal contractors that provide services to the federal government must certify that their employees have been trained in DEI.

Fortunately, we live in America, and there is no one authority that can dictate the contents of this mandated training. Many employers have sought an alternative to present, rather than the highly sexualized versions that consulting companies deliver. As an HR professional, it’s challenging to reconcile these mandates when much of the presented materials would violate current sexual harassment and workplace employment laws.

We believe that business owners and organizations can create the thriving work environment they aspire to by implementing our Bible-based, organization-wide DEI training program. In fact, much of its content aligns with the DEI training that was presented in corporate America in the ’90s. Some of the points, although presented from a secular worldview, mimic the Biblical worldview. For example:

All people are created equal.
So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. – Genesis 1:27

There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. – Galatians 3:28

The rich and poor have this in common: the Lord made them both. – Proverbs 22:2

God sees everyone as the same.
For God does not show favoritism. – Romans 2:11

Treating all people fairly is paramount.

Yes, indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. – James 2:8–9

The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these. – Mark 12:31

God loves everyone.
“The mountains may shift, and the hills may be shaken, but my faithful love won’t shift from you, and my covenant of peace won’t be shaken,” says the Lord, the one who pities you. – Isaiah 54:10

The Good News: No matter how the world changes around us, or what trials we face, HE is always there, guiding us through it all.

In a nutshell, God loves diversity, equity, and inclusion. Jesus set the example, so we should, as well. In addition to honoring Him, organizations promoting inclusive cultures provide a happier, healthier work environment. Indeed, according to a Deloitte survey, companies with inclusive cultures are twice as likely to meet or exceed financial targets; three times more likely to be high performing; six times more likely to be innovative and agile; and eight times more likely to achieve better business outcomes.

Inclusive companies also produce more satisfied employees. This same survey revealed that employees in these environments were likely to stay with the company three times longer, be 28% more engaged, and were 51% more likely to recommend the company to others. For 80% of individuals surveyed, diversity, equity, and inclusion remain a hugely important factor when committing to a workplace.

Robert Sellers, chief diversity officer at the University of Michigan, compares diversity, equity and inclusion to a dance: “Diversity is where everyone is invited to the party. Equity means that everyone gets to contribute to the playlist. And inclusion means that everyone has the opportunity to dance.”

Kevin, with this being said, what is your perspective on aligning the Biblical view with DEI versus the world view, and where do you see the critical differences?

Kevin: In my book DEI in 3D, I affirm that “the most significant value of Diversity for any environment is the encouragement of divergent viewpoints; this helps promote harmonious flourishing when focused on solving problems or attempting to accomplish an objective. Actively welcoming criticisms and coordinated assessment of different plausible solutions increase the Diversity of ideas within organizational thinking. If all organizational contributors feel their input and perspective are encouraged, honored, and respected, it can foster a rich unifying experience for employees. When corporate unity is increased, an increase in overall corporate performance should accelerate. From an in-depth DEI in 3D view, a sincere and concerted effort encouraging equal opportunity for people with diversified skillsets, political leanings, ethnicity, sex/gender, etc., is needed to produce a ‘melting pot’ of Diversity to achieve a pipeline of opportunistic successes.” This aligns with the Biblical view of the Kingdom.

A secular view of DEI emphasizes equity. Within today’s DEI parlance, the equity focus connotes that since everyone is accepted as equal, there is demand for equal pay and promotion outcomes (regardless of skillset, background, competencies, etc.). Taken to its obvious extreme, equity demands that people be promoted and placed into senior positions based solely on skin color (or gender identity, like trans). Equity, when reflected as equal outcomes, allows incompetent people who are abject failures to be rewarded with high pay and promotion. This is quite divisive, because it enables personal retribution (if someone lacks melanin, for instance, and the DEI exec despises them for it, they can be displaced in deference to someone less competent). This obviously doesn’t allow a menagerie of flourishing in a diverse workplace. Instead, is causes distrust, division, and resentment. Workplaces should be vigilant about diversity, while also emphasizing a commitment to merit/meritocracy, not “equal outcomes!” This—equal outcomes—is fundamentally a communist notion and should be rejected by all who believe in equal opportunity, fairness, and promoting unity.

Mark: Kevin, we discussed some of my firsthand experiences witnessing prejudice. Growing up in a predominately white community, for example, I did not, early on, have the opportunity to work closely with people of color in a for-profit secular company environment—I had experienced some of this during my time in the Air Force, but not with anyone at a high level in corporate America. But then I took a job at a Fortune 500 company where my boss was a very successful Black man who had risen to the top of this company very quickly, and I was learning so much from him. One day, we were having lunch together at a steak house, and when the subject came up, I admitted I had never witnessed anyone white acting or sounding racist or bigoted. My boss said that racism still very much existed, and that if I hadn’t seen it, I wasn’t looking very hard for it. That made sense, because why would I be looking for the negative all the time, given I tend to assume the best about people when I meet them? At the end of the meal, the waiter brought me the check, assuming I was senior to my Black companion. My boss grinned. “Case in point, Mark. That is a subtle form of racism.” I learned my lesson that day, as it might otherwise never have registered.

Kevin, how do you see this from your perspective? That lunch was many years ago. Has it gotten better for the Black community? What would you recommend the Caucasian community, as well as the Black community, do to shine a light on things like this? How can this discussion become healing and unifying, rather than destructive?

Kevin: Racism exists! Preconceived notions, based on race, also exist. Preconceived notions (devoid of malice) should not be conflated with racism, which, in my opinion, always includes malicious/malicious intent.

We must give one another grace based on the fact there is much ignorance about changing norms and precedence. Given that personal biases based on preconceived notions tend to become visible, we must allow for this as a plausible explanation of insensitivities and ignorance, as opposed to immediately “knee-jerking” to race/racism. When we (everyone) can learn to do this, we can begin to build a basis for achieving some level of trust and unity.

Mark: Another topic we discussed, Kevin, is law enforcement. This has been a hot topic in the press for the many years, starting with Rodney King, and now particularly on the heels of the very controversial George Floyd riots. We have seen many instances these past several years that show mounting frustration and tension in our nation. People have widely differing perspectives, with some believing that defunding the police is the solution. But we have to agree that not funding the police is backfiring. I was recently in San Francisco on vacation and was shocked at the crime and the appearance that has taken over the city. Automobile break-ins are rampant, assaults on citizens are increasing, and several areas are overrun with drug abuse and homelessness. And it’s not just California. Parts of Baltimore, Detroit, and Philadelphia are unrecognizable now, in contrast to the prosperity they demonstrated in the past.

This article outlines where many of the problems stem from, and much of it sadly has to do with reduction in our police forces. When police pull people over, it’s important to be respectful, but we also expect the police to be respectful toward, albeit cautious of, the citizens they encounter. We have a court system that can help us in the event an officer is abusive. Most police now have body cameras, and if they are abusive, their actions will be recorded. Even comedian Chris Rock, who uses some salty language to give guidance, believes that respecting law enforcement is in one’s best interest.

Kevin, what recommendations would you give to our readers to help prevent these kinds of issues from continuing?

Kevin: Everyone should rally around the FACT that we need law enforcement. Too often, officers are needed to intervene in domestic violence incidents, rape/assault investigations, terror/terrorist actions, and countless other ways that help protect and save lives! Let’s face it, there are rogue nut jobs in every profession; the law enforcement profession is certainly not exempt. For officers who have proven to be “bad,” we need to demand dismissal. Regrettably, police unions are complicit in retaining bad officers. One answer is to reduce the power and privilege of police unions when there is a track record of officer abuses/misdeeds.

With U.S. borders currently “open” and people from all over the world streaming in (some confirmed terrorists, some confirmed human and sex traffickers, and countless drug/gun-running lords), reducing law enforcement is not an option. Only sincere efforts to increase law enforcement mechanisms will help protect all citizens (especially those in inner-city communities). We must be vigilant about encouraging more law enforcement, while being diligent about holding them accountable to standards of conduct conducive to public safety and personal well-being.

Mark: The second point to discuss is the case of an affluent Caucasian man who runs over a man, obstructs the investigation with false claims, is let out on bail, and then receives a sentence of a minimum of 363 days and a maximum of three years for an accident involving death or personal injury. Furthermore, from our understanding, he retained his employment and is out daily on work release. This just doesn’t seem right. I am curious: Had the driver been a Black man from Philadelphia driving through central Pennsylvania in a predominantly white community, what might the outcome have been? This strikes me to be what some call white privilege. In this case, access to quality legal assistance, to local officials, and certainly the privilege involved with this person’s influence in the community, all played a part in the outcome.

What has been your experience in this area? What would you like to share with both the Caucasian and Black communities as to how we can better ensure that the justice system treats all offenders similarly?

Kevin: As stated before, minimum sentencing guidelines are needed; this helps remove subjectivity from the meting out of so called blind justice. Judges would not be able to bend the rules to help friends/family or their favorite (or preferred) ethnicity.

Mark: Thank you for that answer; that would solve many of these issues for sure. Kevin, my heart breaks when I see great Americans like Condoleezza Rice, Candace Owens, Ben Carson, and Burgess Owens being vilified by the media and the left-leaning agenda. These are role models who should be lifted up, rather than torn down. What can we do collectively to help elevate them, rather than witness them become marginalized?

Kevin: On the issue of Black conservatives being marginalized and silenced in many ways, the best way to stop abuses of dissenting voices (on both the right and left) is to recognize everyone’s humanity, and in that, dignity and worth. When we can come to the point where we can respectfully disagree without name calling, we will see opportunities to unify around the things that really matter. Honestly, we will not be able to come to this point until we recognize the evil of Marx/Marxism, and commit to thoroughly rejecting him and all of this ideology. Marxism is wholly corrosive and violent, and because of its global mass appeal, people have gotten more divisive and aggressively violent against those who dissent.

Freedom-fighting Blacks standing for righteousness, truth, and justice are elevated and supported best when we reject mainstream Marxist media. If we reject the communists in the media, we can go much further in unifying real truth and justice.

Mark: I put myself through college by working full-time and going to college full-time, at night. I didn’t enjoy the privilege that some assert all white people have. In addition, and this is a hard topic, I spent many years in corporate America being told that I would never rise to the senior ranks of a corporate company on merit, because Blacks and women were being promoted within the ranks of HR to fulfill affirmative action requirements. If I wanted to rise, I was told I would need to go into Operations, where I would have a better chance; otherwise, no matter what I did, I would not reach those ranks. I‘m not angry about it—I understand it. I actually was blessed by it, because not only did it give me a greater understanding of affirmative action but also the motivation to start my own company.

Kevin, what’s your perspective on affirmative action in the United States? Has it helped? Or has it hurt the people it was supposed to help?

Kevin: When it was initiated, affirmative action was needed to help Blacks—finally—get equal opportunities to succeed. Coming out of the civil rights era, it did what it was supposed to do. But it wasn’t intended to continue in perpetuity, so there is no rationale for its continuance. We

each need to be more intentional about recognizing and honoring one another based on the content of character, and not skin color; when we unify—one human to another—we represent God’s design for humanity and are provided a glimpse of the menagerie of diversity that will be harmoniously reflected in His Kingdom.

Mark: Thanks so much for giving us your thoughts on affirmative action. We certainly appreciate your pointed and direct feedback on a discussion that has been debated for many years. I appreciate your wisdom

My final question concerns the Black Lives Matter movement. Many people were very excited about this movement and moved quickly to support it. At the end of the day, though, what is well intended does not always come to a positive fruition. What have you seen regarding this program, and what’s next for it?

Kevin: BLM, as a motto, was something everyone could get behind. But BLM as an organization was a mess. It has now been deemed a fraud. Multiple mansions, very high-income family members, and appreciable contributions to Act Blue (and transgender organizations) are where they spent approximately $1 billion. Multiple states have sued BLM for fraud, and BLM has virtually ignored Black communities; no Black communities received help, support, or were aided in any way after the George Floyd riots. The BLM organization seems to have been established as a mechanism for unfettered graft and defrauding the public, not help!
The BLM founders are proud “revolutionary Marxists”—their proud proclamation—so I guess the fraud and malfeasance is to be expected….

Mark: Kevin, I want to thank you today for taking the time to help our readers get a greater glimpse of race and DEI, which is often presented in a different manner. Have I missed any areas you think we should discuss?

Kevin: To address issues with DEI and have it work in positive ways (in which it’s anticipated), the first thing I would recommend is to read my new book, DEI in 3D. It provides a healthy, cogent, and objective view of DEI and its anticipated outcomes. The second thing I recommend is to completely reject and denounce Karl Marx and Marxism. Marxism is wholly antithetical to morals and values, unity, and a proper and healthy respect for all humanity. Marx and his theory must be canceled! This is not optional; it is mandatory for those who are sincere about workplace (or small group) harmony.

Mark: Kevin, thank you for taking the time to discuss DEI and Biblical alternatives with us. The conversation took longer than we’d thought, but your perspective on the many points we’ve covered has been very valuable. Your wisdom and understanding will help many who were unaware of these potential risks in what is happening, societally. Thanks again!

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Career Coaching, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Inspiration, Kingdom Company Building

Webinar: Finding Great People In Today’s Economy

Feb 9, 2023

Presented and hosted by Christian Business Partnership Ohio’s Christian Chamber of Commerce.

Restoring the American Promise. Together.

1:30PM EST Monday, April 3rd, 2023

It’s no secret that your organization wants to succeed. It should come as no surprise that your employees also want to succeed!

Of course, there’s often a strong, positive relationship between the two—when employees succeed, so do the organizations they serve.

A key question to answer: How can organizations most effectively find, train, motivate and encourage employees’ success?

Topics We Cover

Marketing your organization in today’s difficult labor situation.
What should we have in place to be attractive?
Where do high-performing organizations find employees?
What are the three most important steps of an effective hiring process?

This presentation will also help prepare people within your organization who may want to move into an HR role. The presentation is positive, inspiring and provides the participant the opportunity to learn concepts used within high-performing organizations.

About The Host

About the Speaker

Mark A. Griffin is the founder of In HIS Name HR LLC, a human resources outsourcing and career coaching firm created to help organizations pilot the complex issues of managing HR.

As a human resources professional with 30-plus years of experience in both public (Quaker Oats, Kodak, Merck) and private companies (Woolrich, Conestoga Wood Specialties, Valco), Mark is passionate about building high-performance workplaces by utilizing best practices while leading organizations with strong values.

Mark and his wife Gail have two adult children and attend LCBC Church. Mark has coached leaders on “Business as Mission” as far away as Eastern Europe, India, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

Speaker, accomplished HR consultant, and author of How to Build “Kingdom-Minded” Organizations and College to Career: The Student Guide to Career and Life Navigation, Mark A. Griffin encourages leaders to build values-led organizations during these increasingly complex times.

Click Here to Register!

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Kingdom Company Building

The Five Common Board Governance Models: Which One Is Right for You?

Aug 9, 2022

Governance can be defined as: The combination of policies, systems, structures and strategic framework which a governing body puts into place to ensure that the leadership of an organization makes appropriate decisions.

Or, in less fancy, layman’s terms: Overseeing the control and direction of an organization. Governance models refer to how the authority chain and framework interconnect. These models ensure decision-making remains effective and that correct accountability is assigned to board members and/or managers of an organization.

With more competition than ever in the workplace, both nonprofit and for-profit organizations consistently find themselves faced with challenges as they seek to maintain success and stay on course. Deciding on a particular governance model can be a challenge in itself, as each organization is unique. There is no right or wrong governance model; at some point, every organization must decide which one fits them best. Many organizations adopt a combination of various board governance models that often evolves with time. When organizations face a new life cycle or phase, when operations become unstructured, when roles become ambiguous and board members dissatisfied with their roles, or when a CEO, a college president, a church’s senior pastor, or several board members leave, it may be time to reevaluate one’s governance model.

Adopting a new board governance model might seem daunting. But it needn’t be. Changing models is a bit like changing one’s lifestyle. Let’s say that someone has spent the past few years eating cheeseburgers and Fritos and watching Seinfeld reruns from the comfort of their couch every night. One day, they wake up and realize they’d like to change their life, get healthy, swap the burgers for green smoothies and the reruns for time at the gym, working on their fitness. They might feel eager, but understandably a bit overwhelmed. Where to begin? Which way to go first? This is a bit like that. Changing governance models entails abandoning well-established ideas and replacing them with new ideas and roles. This change takes time, energy, resources and resolve. It may feel confusing at first. But over time, clarity and greater ease does come. With the right model in place, any organization can succeed.

Let’s take a look at the five most common board governance models for nonprofit organizations.

Advisory Board Governance Model

Many nonprofit organizations choose to use the Advisory Board Governance Model. An advisory board is the platform that an organization’s president or CEO consults for assistance or advice. The president or CEO may carefully choose a team of trusted individuals as part of this board. Each board member possesses a set of professional skills and unique talents that will be useful to the nonprofit, and in most cases, they provide these valued skills at no charge. A quality advisory board can boost the reputation and credibility of a nonprofit. This is an excellent model for nonprofits concerned with achieving high fundraising and public relations goals. The advisory board may serve as the main governing board of a nonprofit, or the organization could utilize additional models that offer special expertise, such as a young professional advisory board. This model is often appealing to board members, because these younger members bring valuable contributions to the table, and meetings tend to be informal and task-oriented. While this model can initially be effective, challenges arise when board members face liability issues because accountability mechanisms become ambiguous. This model is not limited to nonprofit organizations. The Advisory Board Governance Model can be the first step in governance for small but growing for-profit organizations. It is an effective way to introduce new ideas from leading experts in variety of career fields.

Patron Governance Model

The Patron Governance Model looks very similar to the Advisory Board Model. However, it includes a few distinguishing factors. With the Patron Governance Model, boards comprise individuals who either possess a great deal of personal wealth or wield significant influence in the nonprofit’s field. The primary duty of this board is fundraising. Board members may contribute their own funds to the organization, or they might reach out to members of their network to contribute as well. Generally, under the Patron Governance Model, board members in this model have less influence over the president or CEO than with the Advisory Board Model, other than running the risk of losing funding. This model can be very helpful, but the board cannot be relied upon for governance tasks, like vision development and organizational planning.

Cooperative Governance Model

Many nonprofit organizations do not have an official president or CEO. In this case, the Cooperative Governance Model works well. Under this model, the board makes decisions for the nonprofit as a group of equals. This is a highly democratic model, as no board member has a higher standing or more power than another. This model is often used when the law requires a nonprofit to have a board of directors; it works best when each board member is able to show an equal amount of commitment to the organization. Challenges may arise, however, when personal morale declines. Under this model, there is no effective way to ensure accountability for individual actions.

Management Team Governance Model

The Management Team Model is one of the most commonly used governance models. With this model, the nonprofit acts similarly to a for-profit corporation. Instead of hiring people or teams to handle human resources, financing, fundraising and public relations, the board forms itself into committees to do these things itself. This model, which rose in popularity in the 1970s and has continued to gain momentum, is often used by volunteer organizations such as home school associations, Girl and Boy Scouts and other hobby groups. Challenges under this model arise when board members refuse to delegate authority and become micro-managers instead, resulting in inconsistent decision making and resentment and discontent among staff.

Policy Board Governance Model

The fifth common board governance model is the Policy Board Model, also referred to as the John Carver Policy Governance model. This model was developed by John Carver, author of Boards That Make a Difference. Carver, an esteemed psychologist who has co-authored five books and worked as a business officer in small manufacturing, understands both the business and psychology ends of organizations. He trademarked the Policy Governance model and has consulted with businesses in nearly 20 countries. Under his model, the board delegates much of their trust and confidence in operating the group to the CEO or president, and the CEO holds regular meetings with the board to update them on the nonprofit’s activities. With the John Carver model, there are very few, if any, standing committees on the board. Typically, the board is secondary to the CEO in overall power. The CEO is responsible for the staff, and the board typically does not interact with staff. However, the board and CEO work together as a team, meshing their skills and ideas. Members are often recruited because they have demonstrated commitment to the values and mission of the organization. Many nonprofits use this model, often combining it with other models to create a more specialized advisory team.

As with nonprofit organizations, for-profit (corporate) organizations use five common board governance models. The Traditional (Structural) Model is the oldest of the models, its use dating back to as early as the 1700s, when corporate structuring began. Many government organizations still use this model, as do many law firms. This model is built upon the concept that the board is the legal ownership entity and speaks as a board, while members of the board speak on behalf of the board but do not have an individual voice outside of the organization. The Board Chair is usually structured to be the official “voice” of the board, but only speaks in a way authorized by the board as a whole. Under this model, the board usually delegates responsibilities to the CEO or the board committee.

While the Traditional Model can be effective, it is no longer as widely used and presents some unique challenges. When the board delegates its powers, accountability and expectations sometimes become muddled. Another challenge arises when the CEO creates management operating committees that overlap with board committees which hold similar responsibilities. This can lead to confusion among staff about their roles, as board members cross boundaries between governance and operational management. Organizations still using this model have recently reduced the size of the board and sought board members capable of governing as a whole, versus merely representing constituents.

The Carver Board Governance Model, common among nonprofit organizations, is also popular among corporate organizations. In the words of John Carver, who, again, popularized the model over the past 20 years, this model is a “rigorous academic approach to a practice area that has had very little research over the years.” The Carver Model addresses two fundamental concerns: the board defining the organization’s goals, and creating policies by which the board and management team must abide. The board’s prominent role is to create policy to guide management and also guide the board in its governance work. John Carver suggests that, under this model, a competent board chair member should have the freedom to take action in the area of governance.

Challenges in this governance model arise when the board focuses its time on building policy rather than actually attending to other pressing responsibilities. While creating policy (such as how many meetings to implement a year) is helpful to create structure, and can potentially protect the board and organization, this model doesn’t always help to establish clear expectations or ways to measure success. This model works best when an organization looks beyond policy and creates a comprehensive strategic business plan and budget.

Every great organization creates and implements a strategic plan that aligns with their Board of Directors’ vision for the future. Learn more about IHN HR’s Strategic Planning Processes here:

For-Profit Organizations

Higher Education and Nonprofit Organizations

Churches

Less Common Board Governance Models

The Cortex Board Governance Model

Under the Cortex Board Governance Model, developed by John Por of Toronto, the board focuses on clients, community, legislation and best practices of similar organizations, so they can define the standards they wish to adhere to in their own organization. The board’s main role under this model is to clarify and set outcomes, so they can measure success. The board may set up an accountability framework, identifying which roles the board, CEO, staff or other members should assume. This model helps ensure transparency and accountability, as it helps organizations establish clear outcomes and measurements of success. Challenges with this model arise, however, when board members don’t fully understand the business and must rely on the management team to do much of the research. This model can also be tricky when organizations do not implement mechanisms or report structures to measure performance against new outcomes. However, these things can be developed over time. Focusing on what is important, versus what is convenient, is key for organizations that use this model.

Consensus Model

The Consensus Model, alternatively known as the Process Model, stems from the idea that all board members are equal, with an equal vote, responsibility accountability and liability for decision making. This model recognizes, however, that board members offer different areas of expertise, knowledge and wisdom. Under this model, board members must decide how issues will be discussed, how differences of opinion will be handled, and how members will reach a consensus on timeliness and agenda management. Many small, family-owned businesses or corporations with no shareholders use this governance model. Challenges arise when roles remain undefined, necessitating that issues must be sorted out among the CEO and board members. When disagreements arise under this model, board members often turn to Robert’s Rules of Order or the Parliamentary Rules of Order for guidance.

Competency Board Governance Model

The Competency Board Governance Model, sometimes referred to as the Skills/Practices Model, is also used in organizations. This model focuses on development, and ensures that all board members possess appropriate knowledge and skills. Relationships remain a key factor under this model, with special focus on communications and trust. Board members are often assessed to ensure their behavior matches the expectations of the organization, and that they work well together, as a team. While this model is very appealing for many organizations because of its relationship-driven quality, it can run into challenges when clear policy is not implemented. Having an experienced board member mentor newer board members can be an effective strategy.

If this information is new to you, or feels overwhelming, please don’t let it be! Choosing the best board governance model for your nonprofit or for-profit organization doesn’t have to be like pulling teeth. Your organization is unique and one of a kind. Therefore, your model will be as well.

Here are some questions to consider when reevaluating your governance model or establishing one for the first time:

Do we have a clear understanding of the purpose of our organization?
What are our organization’s basic values?
How do we measure our organization’s success?
What are our financial resources, and will these resources be reliable for the next several years?
Do we believe our organization should be run as a cooperative, or a collective? In other words, should staff participate with board members in the governing?
How much time is each board member wiling to devote to the organization?
What is our expectation for board member meeting attendance and commitment?
How will we hold board members accountable?
How useful is each committee we have? Could we eliminate any?
How will we handle disagreement?
How much trust does the board place in the CEO or president?
How satisfied are our current members with board performance?
As board members, to whom do we wish to be accountable?

In the words of John Carver, “A carefully crafted, conceptually rigorous purpose of governance … forms the heart of board effectiveness.”

What is the heartbeat of your organization? What really makes you tick? Remember, it need not be a one size fits all. Your organization is unique, complete with a distinct purpose, vision, skillset and team. Take some time today to ponder which one of these board governance models might work best for you.

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Concerned about the Board Governance Model at your organization? The benefits of having a trusted partner to guide you and your team to excellence is invaluable. Contact us today. You—and your employees—will be glad you did.

Rise with us by implementing our high-performance human-resource programs. E-mail us here.

Mark A. Griffin is president and founder of In HIS Name HR LLC. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter

Mark A. Griffin | Blog, Christian Higher Ed HR, Human Resources, Job Shepherd Employer, Kingdom Company Building