Articles in Human Resources
The Lowly Job Description
Published by on June 1st 2010
The following is a re-print of an article that first appeared in May, 2009.
Ah, the lowly job description. Oft outdated and unappreciated. Scorned and despised by many.
I was working with a large church recently to get the job descriptions updated and standardized. So I found myself on-site, conducting in excess of 30 staff interviews to gain a better understanding of what they did. One of the questions I asked was, “Tell me what you consider to be your least critical tasks?” This in an effort to ferret out unnecessary activities and to see where the leaders placed their priorities. One of the pastors replied, with a smile on his face, “meetings about things that don’t matter, like this one.”
Summer Dress Codes
Published by on May 18th 2010
If the culture at your church is such that the staff already comes to work in torn jeans and flip flops, read no further. For the rest of you, you may want to consider relaxing your dress code for the summer.
Battlefield! Friendly Fire in the Church
Published by on March 30th 2010
Check out Scotty’s article in the April 2010 edition of Church Executive Magazine!
Sabbaticals
Published by on February 4th 2010
I grew up in academia; that complex, thought-provoking community that exists around every research oriented university. In 1979, my father had been serving as a professor at the University of South Carolina when he was named as a Fulbright Scholar and was granted a year’s sabbatical to teach and conduct research at a university in Taipei, Taiwan. In the academic world, the term sabbatical has come to mean a break in one’s career with the goal of achieving something new. Our year there was full of adventure and trial. It was also full of adults who couldn’t resist touching the mouse-brown hair of a child who looked so different from their own. That year, one of the “new” things I learned was the personal space…
Time To Go Home! Avoiding Presenteeism
Published by on January 7th 2010
I have a friend who had perfect attendance from Kindergarten all the way through the 12th grade! It wasn’t that she remained healthy and well for 13 years. Rather, she was sent to school even when she was sick. For the rest of us, our families probably weren’t quite so extreme but you might remember mom or dad giving you a Tylenol and cough medicine and sending you on out the door.
Personnel Files
Published by on December 11th 2009
Do you ever wonder if you have the right documents in your personnel files? Do you worry that you might have things in there that don’t belong? Read on for a list of do’s and dont’s.
Fluency
Published by on November 13th 2009
I spent the summer before my last year of college in France. Having studied the language for six years, I decided that a couple of months of immersion would be the best way to solidify my fluency. I had an offer to live and work in Paris but that job would have had me speaking English during the workday. Plus many Parisians are bilingual even though they are reluctant to admit it. So I scorned that opportunity in favor of work at a bank in the town of Dijon. Dijon was a train ride south of Paris in the heart of the Burgundy region and yes, they make the mustard too.
Life Line
Published by on October 2nd 2009
My family was around water a lot this summer. We had the opportunity to spend time at the lake, swimming pools, swimming holes, and even the ocean. With all that time in the water, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that we saw a swimmer in trouble. What did come as a surprise was that we saw two groups in need of assistance and that I was involved in helping both.
