Probably one of the least liked HR processes of all organizations is the dreaded performance review. However, it does not have to be that way. Performance reviews should be beneficial not only to the organization but to the employee.
Key components to a successful process include:
Built-in commitment to your MVV
Shared goals and objectives throughout the organization
Employee ownership of career and job performance
Simplistic but meaningful processes
Solid guidelines and commitment from senior leadership.
Commitment to your MVV
If you want your Team to fulfill your Company’s Mission reach your Vision and operate within your Values, you must build these into the Performance Review process. When you do, it shows the organization that leadership believes in the MVV so much that they have included it in the measurement of employment performance. Ensure your goals and objectives are aligned with your Missionand Vision; if they are not, you must question why they are in place. Most organizations that we support appreciate us walking them through a simple Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis to help develop goals for the organization. In the area of Values, always build your values and other important values into the behavior section of the Performance review form; we will discuss behaviors in more detail later in this chapter.
Shared goals and objectives
In high performing organizations, including those that I have worked for, have all had Performance Review processes that were aligned to shared goals and objectives through the organization. Typically the scenario worked like this: The CEO would develop four to six goals and objectives that would then be approved or renegotiated by the board of directors. Those goals would then cascade through the organization all the way down to, for example, the third-shift sanitation employee at the plant in Arkansas. The employees would then align what they needed to accomplish within their scope of authority against the goals of the person(s) above them.
The review process primarily focuses on annual goals, and very little on the mundane aspects of day to day work that is reflective of what the job description dictates. The daily work should be accomplished, and, if not, the employee should be managed through disciplinary procedures.
Employee ownership
I have had the experience of employees approaching me earlier in my career at the end of the performance review cycle. Oftentimes, their approach was because they never had met with their managers even one time during the course of the performance cycle.
Make no mistake: they are at fault as much as their inept management.
Employees must take ownership of their careers, their development and their performance. Those who do not simply will not survive in this economy. Part of ensuring that they take ownership, and helping them to understand it, is ensuring that the process is clearly defined, i.e., that the employee is obliged to prepare performance form materials, and be proactive in scheduling a performance review meeting with their manager if the manager is not. If the manager still fails to meet with them, the employee has an obligation to go to HR or, absent HR, the manager’s superior. Doing nothing should never be an option.
Simplistic but meaningful processes
Twelve-page forms and manuals that exceed sixty pages will just not work. Ensure your process includes easily understood documentation, and a review form that does not exceed a good resume length, that is, two pages. Keep the form limited to four to six operational goals and three to five behavior-based goals.
Never have a process that is void of behavioral objectives.
I have had the misfortune to work with several teams that insisted upon only production-related goals. They killed each other in the process to achieve them, and, when challenged, they would always say that they were not being measured on niceness, but solely on how many widgets they made! Balance your performance scorecard, and you will have better results.
Solid guidelines and commitment from senior leadership
When we describe “solid” guidelines, we mean guidelines that are not created in a vacuum, by one person high on a mountaintop. Guidelines should be developed by a cross-functional group of employees from a variety of areas within the company. This brings a rich blend of thoughts and experiences to the table.
Regrettably, most of the HR people that I have worked with during my career are just not capable of coming up with such solid guidelines without assistance.
It is a sad statement to make regarding my profession, but I gave up defending much of the deficiencies I discovered years ago.
Senior Leadership must buy into the process and support it. If they don’t, it is doomed to certain failure.
Years ago, I worked for a company in which, no matter how hard the CEO worked on convincing the president of a particular division to manage the performance review process, this president would balk. The division president’s lack of commitment transcended the organization. The process became a joke, and no one nurtured it. I look back at the company now and wonder if things could have turned out differently. They have closed half of their plants, and shed several thousand employees. It might be a stretch to link this to lack of leadership in embracing a performance review process, but I do believe that, if Innovation was a top goal for the years heading into the downturn, that company could conceivably have created new products to sustain employment for those who were laid off. Sad, but this is often the case. Managers: stay committed!
What has been your experience with performance review systems? Do you like them? Hate them? We would like to know. Please leave us a few comments to broaden our knowledge. Thank you.
Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of managing organizations is the act of recruitment. It is not necessarily difficult only on the candidates; it’s also difficult on organizations as well. Even though we are living in tumultuous business times, with real unemployment exceeding 10 percent in almost every city in our nation, recruitment is still a challenge for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:
Lack of skilled candidates
Wounded and hurt applicants lacking trust of any organization
Having too many candidates to choose from makes it difficult to know where to begin
Salary expectation alignment; many candidates are accustomed to more
These are all hurdles to climb over but organizations that have a well thought out process and strategy will prevail in hiring the best candidates to accelerate the performance of the organization. The entire process of building a “Kingdom Minded” company revolves around including your Mission Vision and Values into every HR practice as practicable. The recruitment process is not excluded.
In developing your strategy, you should weave into the process several concepts that will help recruit the best candidates to help you manage within your Mission, reach your Vision, and operate within your Values. Your process should include:
Networking your vacancies to trusted sources
Using employee referral systems to increase your candidate pool
Use consistent hiring methodology when recruiting candidates
Always include your MVV in the recruitment process
Networking. Most companies, because of turnover within their HR department, or a lack of HR professionals within the company, do not have a formalized network to which they can announce vacancies. This is a concerning drawback to the process. Organizations should consistently mine for talent and the community should be aware of the organization and have a general idea of what they do and what their hiring patterns are. Organizations should spend time marketing themselves as a great place to work; this is also and effective form of marketing to potential customers. People want to buy products and services from organizations that treat their employees well. Start networking with churches, Christian colleges, LinkedIn groups, alumni associations, nonprofit executives, mission organizations, seminaries — the list could go on forever! The problem is that many organizations do not create such a network list. Network today; it will pay dividends in years to come.
Employee Referral Systems Nine out of ten companies I meet with do not have either a formal or informal employee referral systems for candidates. If they do have one, it is stale and not yielding any results. This is unfortunate, because people want to work with people who match the company culture, and know how and want to get the job done. Reinvent this program or develop it if you don’t have one. The easiest way to do so is to bring together a cross section of employees for half an hour and ask them straight out: would you refer your friends to work here? If not, why not? And what do we need to do to make this an environment that you would want to refer them to? Delve into what the referral reward should be in the program. Some miserly HR folks suggest one to two hundred-dollar bonuses. Considering a Monster board ad is three hundred dollars, not to mention the hassle of screening 10 to 20 candidates to get to one good candidate, don’t you think this is a bit stingy? Reward your people!
Consistent Hiring Methodology Lack of a consistent hiring methodology will get you burned. Getting an EEOC or Human Relations commission charge becomes not an “if” proposition but a “when.” But, stepping outside of the legal concerns, why not take the high road right off, and ensure your practice is beyond reproach? When recruiting, always have a job description, always have interview evaluation sheets, and always have decent but not copious notes of the candidate selection meeting when all interviewers give input. I have experienced some embarrassing situations at all levels of the organization where a document to support hiring or not hiring candidates didn’t even exist. If you don’t have this in place, make sure you keep your checkbook handy. You will need it.
And, finally, include your MVV in your process. You see, when candidates see this, they are intrigued, especially when the presenter presents it in a way that is exciting.
Candidates love to see people with passion and energy around their Mission.
Organizations have lost their mojo. Show candidates your passion! Most people want to work for a company that has direction. They are tired of the lack of leadership in government, in corporate America, and their local schools. The last thing they want to do is join a company that is weak and non-directional. Show them your passion through your MVV!
Explain to each candidate your Values, where they came from and why you have them. Let them know that you are a company founded on Christian principles. Most often the reaction I get from candidates when they hear this is, “Wow! Finally a place that might treat me with dignity and respect.”
Don’t worry about offending anyone. You are not pushing your values onto them; you are simply demonstrating what they are. I have had candidates say that they are not Christians, but that working for a company like ours would help them understand Christianity better. Exposing people to Christ — that is what we all desire.. That is the work God really wants us to focus on.
What have been your experiences in recruitment? Are there any best practices you would like to share? Be a difference maker today. Please contribute to the community and help others learn from your experiences. Thank you.
Employees complain when you don’t have a handbook, but, when you have one, they don’t want it! An employee handbook is very easy to create, but probably the most overlooked aspect of employment documentation. One thing is for sure: if a company has multiple shifts or multiple locations or just multiple employees, an employee handbook can certainly help keep all employees on the same page. Handbooks are always a delicate subject.
But when done right, and with employee input, this tool can make a difference.
Make it reflect your Mission Vision and Values (MVV)
Make it relevant
Keep it simple
Keep it legal and legit
Reflect your MVV. Your handbook should be an absolute reflection of your MVV, which essentially amplifies your culture. Someone who is unfamiliar with your organization should be able to pick up your handbook and see your heart within its reflection simply by the tone and the guiding principles you lay out for your employees. The front of the handbook should contain your MVV, followed by the President’s message as to why the MVV is important to the company and how it was created.
Make it relevant. Having reviewed hundreds of handbooks over the years, one thing is certain and that is that most are horrible. They are irrelevant, often don’t convey the culture of the organization and are more about preaching or dictating than guiding.
Keep it simple. A handbook should not contain every scrap of information about the company. Worse yet, it should not contain every possible scenario in which an employee violation could occur. Keep it simple and you will have a greater impact than if you over-complicate or over-stimulate the reader. Many employees I’ve spoken with over the years tell me that, if a handbook is interesting, they will read it to learn more about the company, but, if it just rambles on over policy and procedures, most will put it down after two pages. The ideal handbook will inspire the reader to learn — learn more about the company.
Keep it legal and legit. Always ensure you include the appropriate legal clauses. There are far too many to list here but a few that come to mind speak toADA, FMLA, Employment at Will, EEOC etc. You want to make sure you cover your bases.
In closing it is important to note that having a handbook is oftentimes the only opportunity for employers to memorialize what is expected of employees. But always include what employees can expect of you! A handbook should never be a one way street of core policies of the organization; if it is, you will chill the warmth right out of the organization, a chill you will live to regret.
We Value Your Comments. Thank you for taking the time to read our post in this series on how to build “Kingdom Minded” Companies. Please share your thoughts and experiences on employee handbooks. How did the ones that you have used fit your organization? Did they match your culture? Did they drive the behaviors the company and employees desire? Thank you for contributing to our community, and thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Most leaders, after they finalize the recreation of their Mission Vision and Values (MVV) for their organizations, do what comes naturally — they share it with everyone. If that sounds like you, then it goes out on your website, and it gets printed poster-sized and hung on the walls of your conference rooms and lobby. You mention it consistently for about three months … and then it dies.
It dies because it is not an intrinsic part of the way you do business.
It is not ingrained into the soul of your company.
How do you make your Mission Vision and Values a part of the way in which you do business? You integrate it into the practices that are always connected to the people that make it happen — you integrate it into the people who are applying your HR practices. HR practices are practices that touch all employees.
What are some examples of HR practices?
Employee Relations
Recruitment Management
Workforce Planning
On Boarding Management
Training Management
Performance Management
Compensation & Benefits
Attendance and Leave Management
Compensation and Benefits Management
Employee Development Skill Management
Health & Safety
Employee Activities
Employment Policy Management
You could probably laundry-list 40-plus practices, but, for the sake of explanation, we are going to provide guidance on six key practices that you can integrate with your MVV quite easily. These six are your:
Handbook
Recruitment Process
Performance Review Process
Job Descriptions
Communication Process
Training and Development
Over the next few weeks, I will walk us through the integration of the MVV into each one of these practices. What has your experience been when integrating these concepts into your company’s practices? Share with us below. We would appreciate hearing your thoughts and stories.
The Covid-19 pandemic caught many people off-guard, and has proven to be a hard time for nearly all of us in one form or another. Employers who were forced to close due to the lockdown and cannot afford to maintain staffing have laid off employees. Yet, opportunities have arisen to those with an eye to adapting. Many organizations, sensing a future that involves an expansion of telecommuting and the use of independent contractors, have begun hiring remote workers for routine tasks.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of jobs that can be performed offsite and at a distance are more readily available today.
If you are looking for places to start your job search, particularly with nonprofit and for-profit religious organizations that strive to maintain Christian ethics in the workplace, these resources should help.
Job Shepherd was created to meet the demand by Christian employers, including ministries, camps, churches, colleges, and Christian for-profit companies in their search for qualified job candidates.
Christian Remote Jobs
If you are looking for a job that is Christian influenced, these religious organizations offer Christian employment opportunities that can be fulfilled safely from home.
Universities
Concordia
Concordia, a nonprofit institution established by the Lutheran church, is one of the best providers of faith-based jobs, and are currently seeking remote faculty to teach their college courses online. Find Concordia’s job opportunities here.
Grand Canyon University
Want to work in a faith-based institution that weaves a Christian perspective through their curriculum? Then Grand Canyon University is an ideal choice. In light of the current global pandemic, the university is hiring both part-time and full-time adjunct faculty to teach online courses.
Northwest Christian University
Northwest Christian University is hiring faculty for a variety of subjects. All faculty positions are remote and selected persons will teach from offsite locations via online lectures.
Ohio Christian University
Ohio Christian University is also hiring remote-based faculty to teach a variety of subjects online.
Companies that match employers to remote employees and independent contractors
Belay
This company was created as a work-from-home company, and hires bookkeepers, executive assistants and web specialists. The vision of Belay is to “glorify God by rendering solutions that equip clients with the confidence to climb higher.” Check out Belay’s jobs here.
Christian Job Fair
This is a Christian-owned, privately held company that helps you find work that requires a degree, but also work you can do without any specific degree or skills. Virtual positions were on the rise before the pandemic, and in the current situation, the need has grown exponentially.
Christian Job Fair allows job seekers access to thousands of Christian ministry jobs, and positions with religious nonprofit ministries. Christian organizations and churches are provided with an easy and inexpensive way to hire for their Christian jobs, ministry jobs, and church openings. Christian employers can interview through chat, Skype, Zoom, email and phone. Website
Christian and Other Job Boards
In addition to the companies listed above, Christian job boards can also be of great help. For example, ChristianJobs.com is a job board that connects believers in the workplace. Here you can find jobs that exclusively promote Christian ethics in the workplace. They now feature a Work from Home category for any qualified candidates.
FlexJobs
This is a paid membership job board which promotes flexible and remote work, and they feature a specific section for Christian job seekers. They vet every job posting to avoid scams. Connect with FlexJobs here.
Hire My Mom
This website connects moms who are seeking work-from-home jobs with professionals. Its founder, Lesley Pyle, is a lover of Jesus and has strong faith in humanity. Visit Hire My Mom here.
Indeed
Indeed pulls the results from all major job board sites, including faith-based jobs, saving you considerable time and effort when searching for your next job.
Jobs In Christian Higher Education
The Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE)
ABHE is made of approximately 200 postsecondary institutions specializing in biblical ministry formation and professional leadership education. Visit ABHE’s Job Board.
The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities
CCCU is a higher education association of more than 180 Christian institutions around the world. With campuses across the globe, including more than 150 in the U.S. and Canada and more than 30 in another 18 countries, CCCU institutions are accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities whose missions are Christ-centered and rooted in the historic Christian faith. See CCCU’s Job Board here.
Association of Business Administrators of Christian Colleges (ABACC)
The mission of ABACC is to improve the standard of business management in schools of Christian Higher Education by providing professional development, networking and mutual support to their business leadership. Find ABACC’s Job Board here.
Christian University Jobs (CUJ)
CUJ provides access to career opportunities in more than 275 Christian universities, Bible colleges, seminaries, and vocational and theological schools in the US and Canada. Source CUJ’s Job Board here.
Secular Companies
In this Fox Business article, get tips and leads on identifying secular companies that are now seeking to hire remote workers, including Aetna, Adobe and Dell.
These are changing times for all of us. We pray that these resources will jumpstart your job search.
Your organization faces novel challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus has created turmoil for you and your most important resource, your employees. We want to help you. Now is the time to reset the old ways, decide how to restart, and move forward.
The first step is to reflect on why you exist as organization, what you stand for, and how you can best work with your employees to ensure mutual prosperity while advancing the ministries you support, the communities in which you live, and the families of the employees who make up your organization. Ensuring a workplace that promotes Christian values contributes to all of that.
This month celebrates the 8-year publication anniversary of the book How To Build “Kingdom-Minded” Organizations. In it, author, speaker and noted HR consultant Mark A. Griffin illustrates how leaders can build values-led organizations and maintain Christian workplace ethics designed to help weather difficult economic times.
Mark doesn’t just explain why establishing Christian values in the workplace is important—he shows you how to make it happen. Using a model he developed through years of organizational development experiences, Mark demonstrates how to weave your organization’s mission, vision and values into all of your HR practices. This ensures your Christ-centered culture is integrated into your organization and maintained, now and in the future.
Take advantage of this special anniversary discount to benefit from Mark’s guidance on how you might best build successful, lasting “Kingdom-minded” organizations in today’s politically correct business world. Mark will inspire you to be bold and brave in your faith, and ensure that Christ is in your workplace.
Special for the month of May 2020
1/2 off Retail Price
Kindle $4.49
Softcover $8.99
About the Author
Mark A. Griffin is the founder and chief consultant of In HIS Name HR LLC, a human resources outsourcing and career coaching firm created to help companies pilot the complex issues of managing HR.
As a human resource professional with 20-plus years of experience in both private and public companies (e.g., Quaker Oats, Kodak, Merck), Mark is passionate about building high-performance workplaces that utilize best practices and lead with strong values.
A veteran of the United States Air Force, Mark earned his MBA while interning for Congressmen Kanjorski as a military liaison during the first Gulf War. Mark has completed several executive education programs at the University of Michigan and is a certified practitioner of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator, MBTI®. He has also coached leaders on “Business as Mission” onsite in Eastern Europe, India, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Times are scary, for sure. We are now in the middle of a pandemic, and for many of you reading this, you are understandably concerned that your organization may well not make it through. Many share those feelings. You’re not alone. And we’re here to help.
A number of organizations, on the other hand, are confident that they will continue to prosper. For organizations to be successful, they must face the pandemic crisis head on and at the same time focus on high-performance human resources (HR) practices. Now, more than ever, your employees need hope and a future, and they desire and require strong leadership to get them there. Now is not the time to falter and flounder.
In HIS Name HR is approaching its 10th year. We have a national presence and the technology to help implement high-performance HR programs from a distance. Using tools such as Skype, Zoom, and FaceTime, we continue to guide organizations to success.
These are unprecedented times, with considerable uncertainty, both now and in the future. Never before has supportive Christian leadership in the workplace been more important.
Thanks to our efforts, our clients realize considerable gains in productivity, employee satisfaction, and reduction in hiring time within weeks of our partnership. We are the leading company for human resources (HR) outsourcing & HR consulting services from a Christian perspective. We offer support in all aspects of HR compliance and program development.
Does your organization need HR help, whether due to COVID-19 or simply concerning normal business practices? If so, don’t panic. We are here. We can help.
If you’re struggling with the current pandemic crisis, and what it means for your organization and your employees, and need someone to listen to your concerns who can help, contact us today.
All organizations have Core Values.Few organizations memorialize them; almost none manage them.
Organizations tend to be meshed together by a unique blend of personal and corporate values. These values are important to its employees, leaders and stakeholders.
What exactly is a Core Value? A Core Value from our human resources perspective is one that reflects the heart of your organization. It is what makes your organization tick; it defines your organization. It is how your vendors view your behavior toward them; it is your culture when dealing with customers.
It is what employees tell their neighbors and friends when they ask what it is like to work at your organization.
One of the most important aspects of Core Values is where they come from. Core Values need to be shared across the organization, but they also need to have a reference point. Your Core Values should include a statement highlighting that reference point.
Example:
We are a family-owned and operated organization. As such, we respect each other and collectively support the following Values in the way in which we do business and treat each other both internally and externally to the organization.
Efficiency: We pride ourselves on speed — and, yes, we are accurate!
Individual Responsibility: We believe in holding ourselves accountable. We deliver on our own promises and we always endeavor to use good judgment.
Quality: We do not compromise on quality. Quality is job one.
Ownership: We own our decisions, we own our mistakes, we own our achievements.
If you have not yet defined what your Core Values are, it may be time for you to solidify an agreement on which Core Values are important to your organization. This should be done with care, because, by now, leaders and employees have created their own values, and they are not always aligned with the owners or senior managers.
In the development of Core Values for a seasoned organization, the process should be shared, not just top down. Brainstorming should include several layers of employees and are often best done in focus group format, where groups of employees nominate a representative to meet with the facilitator, and the ensuing Core Values should be agreed upon and understood.
Naturally, there are some Core Values that are nonnegotiable, such as Trust or Integrity but the core value, the true heart of the organization, is what is valued collectively by employees, and is not necessarily always what the top leaders think or want.
How many Core Values do you need?
Some organizations have as many as ten Core Values. We believe that ten Core Values is too many. Instead, we recommend three to five Core Values. Fewer Core Values not only ensures that these are your true core principles but, also makes it easier for your employees to remember them easily. It is also easier to manage within your HR processes.
Below is a laundry list of the Core Values we have compiled that we find most valuable, to enable you to best select what is truly most important to your organization.
Accountability — We are responsible for our actions, which, in turn, influence our customers, vendors and coworkers. We hold ourselves and each other to a high standard of accountability.
Balance — We create a work environment that promotes healthy lifestyles and celebrates family-work balance for employees.
Biblical Principles — We are a company founded on Biblical principles, therefore, all we do we entrust in God.
Civic Responsibility — We honor our coworkers and our communities by our motivation, knowledge and ability to actively participate in our communities as volunteers and leaders.
Compassion — We show kindness for others by helping those who are in need.
Courage — We face difficult situations with confidence and determination, standing up for our convictions, even when some of the decisions we make are right, but not popular.
Commitment — We are committed to ourselves, our vendors, and our customers; it is through commitment that we will all achieve.
Community — We are committed to the communities in which we do business and our employees live, work and love.
Consistency — We pride ourselves on our reputation for consistency.
Diversity — We respect diversity of race, gender, thought, interests, and ideas.
Efficiency — We pride ourselves on speed — and, yes, we are accurate!
Empowerment — We create an atmosphere that allows others to achieve through their unique contributions.
Fairness — We pride ourselves on having a work environment that emulates fairness. We treat people equally and make decisions without influence from favoritism or prejudice.
Fun — Work does not need to be painful or joyless.
Honesty — We believe in consistently seeking and speaking the truth in the workplace. We believe in a workplace devoid of lying, cheating, stealing, or any other forms of deception.
Individual Responsibility — We believe in holding ourselves accountable. We deliver on our own promises, and we always use good judgment.
Industriousness — We realize the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards of putting forth efforts to achieve our goals; we celebrate our team’s unique abilities to contribute to prospering our organization.
Innovation — We create before others do!
Integrity — Without integrity, we are nothing!
Justice — We consider the perspectives of others and demonstrate the courage to be consistently fair while treating all with equal dignity and respect.
Leadership — We lead with conviction and understanding.
Ownership — We own our decisions; we own our mistakes; we own our achievements.
Passion — We love what we do, and our heart goes into our work.
Quality — We do not compromise on quality. Quality is job one.
Respect — We maintain a work style of trust in all our interactions. or Respect — We value our vendors, our customers and ourselves; we treat others as we would want ourselves to be treated.
Risk Taking — We take calculated risks, learn from our mistakes, and grow in our successes.
Safety — We are accountable for our personal safety and helping our coworkers maintain a safe environment.
Service Excellence — We provide best in class service to our internal and external customers every day.
The best Core Value is one that you and your teams identify and create together. Please post below what your experiences have been with Core Values and share a list of those values that you think are integral to every organization.
All successful organizations have a Mission. Without a Mission, well, no one will know what it is they are doing and why. Another problem organizations have when absent a Mission is that their customers and vendors often end up confused, having mixed expectations.
I have worked for many organizations in my time. Probably more than most, and I consider this to be a good thing. The reason I consider this a good thing is that the experiences that God has given me in these numerous and diverse organizations has made me a far more competent counselor to businesses across the marketplace than if I had occupied one narrow niche for most of my career.
One common denominator I have identified is that the businesses that are successful all have an established Mission for their organization, a Mission that is co-developed by all of their employees and is ingrained into the culture of the organization. In fact, in high-performing organizations, candidates are exposed to the organizations ’s Mission before they’re even hired. Vendors know the Mission and Customers are aware, as well.
When Vendors know the Mission and Customers understand it, that’s enormously positive, but the most powerful and impactful group are your Employees. In my wealth of experience, I have discovered an absolute truth by simply listening to employees for more than 20 years. Fully 99 percent of all employees who come to work every day, want nothing more than to do a good job; in fact, most want to exceed your expectations. It really is the American way. Work hard, play hard and love your life. The problem, though, that many organizations suffer from is a lack of leadership to help steer the organization.
Specifically, they lack leadership in creating a Mission that employees own and strive to achieve.
What is a Mission?
Your Mission is simply what you do best — every day — and why. Your Mission should reflect your customers’ needs. Having a Mission is the foundation of turning the dreams and potential of an organization into reality. So, in a nutshell, your Mission simply affirms why your organization exists!
So what does a Mission consist of? Well, it really is not rocket science. It is simply what your organization collectively — yes, I said collectively — not top down management, or board of directors to management — developed. It works like this:
The senior management team develops a framework of what they believe the Mission is and should be.
Line management then takes the draft document to the line supervision.
Finally, employees and a good HR rep facilitate a roundtable session using the draft Mission as a guide.
You have a couple of reiterations, meetings back and forth, and then it’s time for “Congratulations!” because you now have a consensus on your Mission. Now, of course, when it is being facilitated, the facilitator must be skilled in getting everyone on board with the final product.
Key is letting your employees know that each one of them has an opportunity to challenge it, provide their personal input and suggest changes, but that, ultimately, when the majority of the employees and management agree to the final document, then it is up to all employees to respect it and support it.
Benefits of Creating or Revisiting Your Mission.
The benefit of creating a Mission or revisiting a current one is that it opens up the communication process inside of your organization. An effective Mission is based on input and commitment from as many people within your organization as possible. A Mission statement should not be an autocratic version of Moses and the Tablets. All of your employees must feel and understand your organization’s Mission. Only then can they make the necessary personal commitment to its spirit.
Tips for great Missions:
Keep it short.
Describe WHY customers will buy from you.
Define your product or service clearly.
Identify WHO is your ideal customer.
Specify WHAT you offer your customer — benefits, services, advantages, etc.
Delineate what makes your product or service different from that of your competition.
Examples:
Google:“We organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
Starbucks: “We inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.”
Share with us your experiences with your organization’s Mission. How was it created? Who was involved, how would you have changed the process? Is the Mission applicable to you and your coworkers? Share with us and help the community to learn and grow.
Whether you are in the C suite at a large organization or working at a nonprofit, a college, ministry, or church, one of your most critical tasks is to ensure that your colleagues work in a safe, comfortable environment. Surveys consistently show that workplace culture is directly correlated to organizational success. Because of this, you must pay close attention to how your employees feel, and whether they are positioned to do their best work at your organization.
Therefore, as we enter a new decade, it is worth taking the time to explore some of the most important HR trends for Christians in the workplace. Even if you do not interact with HR on a day-to-day basis, understanding these trends can go a long way toward creating a terrific workplace experience for all of your colleagues.
Upcoming HR Trends for Christians in the Workplace
One upcoming HR trend for Christian ethics in the workplace centers on the rise of soft skills. Much of the media discussion regarding the war on talent focuses on the technical skills necessary for a particular role. And, clearly, your HR department and hiring managers need to ensure that your team members can successfully do their work. That being said, some of the largest skill gaps are behavioral, rather than technical. Soft skills like emotional intelligence and creative problem-solving are extremely valuable, regardless of your type of business or the services you offer.
Embracing Christian ethics in the workplace gives you and your organization a distinct advantage. The Christian faith naturally calls for followers to work on their emotional intelligence skills, for us to recognize that everyone around us has their own desires, dreams, and needs. Christians in the workplace stay true to a set of principles and values, and apply them to their colleagues.
Ultimately, it is difficult to hire for “soft skills.” They are difficult to identify on a résumé/CV. That said, having already incorporated Christian ethics in the workplace, you should leverage the emotional intelligence and other soft skills of your team. Even though technology has changed the world as we know it, these soft skills can help set your organization apart from its competitors. Make sure you take advantage of them in 2020.
From the rise of soft skills, 2020 will be the year of diversity of location and schedule. More of your current and new employees will be looking for flexible working schedules, whether that means having the option to work remotely several days per month or something else. Flexible working schedules can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, they increase employee morale. Some studies also show that flexible working schedules result in increased productivity. On the other hand, flexible working schedules require a significant amount of trust in your workforce. It may also be logistically difficult, depending on your particular organization.
While you and your colleagues must make the final call, Christian ethics in the workplace may tip the scales in favor ofallowing for flexible working schedules. Your colleagues, in all likelihood, will not abuse this freedom and be intent on doing the best possible work they can outside the office. Once again, it is a judgment call, but this is a fact that you may want to consider.
Finally, a key trend in HR for 2020 will be the rise of mental health services to employer benefits. While it may have been overlooked in past years, employers are increasingly looking for enhanced mental health options for their employees. The modern-day workplace is stressful. Clients can be demanding. Not only that, but employees may be dealing with other stresses in their non-work lives.
Whether or not your company adopts Christian ethics in the workplace, allocating part of your budget to mental health care for your employees can go a long way. Not only can it make your colleagues happier, but it can increase productivity within your company.
Spiritual Health
As Christians, we believe that the most important aspect of our health is spiritual health. The best benefit you can offer employees is access to a chaplain. Corporate Chaplains of America, a workplace chaplain network, provides employees with 24/7 access to the largest nationwide network of full-time workplace chaplains. These chaplains are professionally trained and prepared to care for people in crisis. Chaplains can help in circumstances where you, as an employer, cannot. Chaplains assist employees with hospital care, family and marriage care, substance abuse, stress management, and interpersonal conflicts. They are a great benefit and we have personally witnessed the impact they can make on morale and the eternal security of your employees.
Preparing for the New Decade
These near-term trends for Christians in the workplace are important to monitor. By taking advantage of these trends, you can help create and maintain a wonderfully positive and supportive workplace culture at your organization.
Therefore, as the new decade looms, keep these HR trends in mind. Gather your team to determine how you can leverage any or all of the trends mentioned above. By doing so, you can help ensure your organization starts off on a strong foot in 2020.
In HIS Name HR provides results-oriented human resource outsourcing services, professional recruiting services, and leadership development utilizing behavioral and talent assessment tools, as well as solutions to reduce HR costs and create more successful, productive employees. We help you develop a high-performance organization.
