Critical HR Information for Churches

As many of you may have noticed, the world of Employment Law-or the law governing how you interact with your church staff– is ever-changing with the new administration.  Even though I deal with Human Resource topics daily, I still find myself behind the learning curve of current HR events.

On April the 2nd, my company, SourcePointe of Alabama-a Human Resources Outsourcing company- provided its clients a Lunch and Learn on the various topics of today’s hectic HR scene.  As a benefit, I am passing along this information to you as a courtesy and investment into your ministry.  With all of the changes, I want to first be sure you are protected.  If you would like to view the presentation, please click here.

If you currently outsource your payroll, I would encourage you to give me a call today so  I can work with you on strategies to save money, while providing you additional support through our company, SourcePointe.  As a very high-level over-view, we provide the following:

Ø  Payroll Administration including-

• Online reporting
• Garnishment administration
• Employee tax status changes
• Direct deposit
• IRS and DOL audits
• State and federal unemployment tax reports
• W-2 forms & Specialized reports

Ø  Benefit Administration including-

• 401(k) retirement plan
• Medical plans
• Voluntary life insurance
• Short & Long-term disability
• plan administration

Ø  Human Resources Administration and Compliance including consulting on-

• Fair labor standards act
• Family and medical leave act
• Equal employment opportunity
• Wage and hour regulations
• On-site consultations provided

Please enjoy the information provided to you and consider giving me a call if you have any further questions at 205.868.1557.

About the Writer:

Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently works for SourcePointe, an HR Outsourcing Agency while continuing to own and operate Christian Management Consulting as a ministry. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.

Church Organizational Questions

Recently on my Linked-In Profile, I decided to post a poll to see if I could get an unbiased response from Pastors regarding their views on Church Organizational Structures.  I was surprised to see the results.  Look below:

Of course, there were many discussions and comments surrounding Biblical structure and denominational structures.  Casting all of these discussions aside, let’s spend some time looking at this topic from a behavioral and human resources stand point.  I will take each of these topics in numerous posts beginning with the highest percentage first.

How Do You Do It?

Chances are, you have taken some time to read earlier posts on Choosing the Right Church Structure.  If you have not, I would strongly urge you to take a glance over it when you have some time.  The first decision to be made must be which structure you are going to choose.

The next stage of the process will depend largely on the current church structure and the amount of change required to embrace the new church organizational structure.  When you find yourself ready to begin contemplating who should go into which position, I would suggest a couple of the following to consider:

• Post the New Positions: From a compliance standpoint, it is always good to post any new positions to enable anyone interested in the position to apply and go through interviews.  Although this is labor intensive, it is the best way to ensure all who are interested in a change express it, and that you are presenting positions in a clear, open, and fair manner.  One of the negative sides of this practice is the exposure to having to have difficult conversations with those who may not qualify for the position they applied for.  On the flip-side, posting such positions may give someone an opportunity to express a need for a change in their current role.  Even if they may not qualify for the position, as a leader, you now know there is an opportunity to coach someone who is potentially needing, feeling, or wanting a change.
• Talent and Passion: In an earlier post highlighting reorganizing your team based on strengths, we spent some time discussing possible ways to use individuals’ strengths as a way to align them.  Sometimes, I have seen teams with individuals who were miserable in their positions due in large part to their “misdiagnosis” in their job.  It is critical to conduct interviews with each team member to discuss those things they are passionate about.  What gets them up in the morning?  When it comes to Kingdom work, what gets their fire stoked?  As you are talking with them, you should be able to tell the answers to some of these questions by their behaviors.  I have seen in some cases where simply swapping one person for another person on the same team has produced great results.  By conducting these interviews with each of your team members, it may help provide some direction to the leadership on who may apply for which position.
• Accurate Job Description: We discussed church job descriptions in an earlier post and will spend some more time in following posts.  As discussed in these posts, be sure to accurately describe what you are looking for in the position and then be prepared to honor those qualifications.  The worst thing to do is write a job description and hire someone who does not meet those qualifications.
• Dual Communication: Depending on your by-laws, you may have some verbiage dictating how decisions will be made (whether by a council or board of directors, etc).  My one major suggestion / strong recommendation is to conduct these announcements in a one-on-one manner with at least two people facilitating the conversation.  Again, one of the mistakes commonly made is not to have someone else in the room to communicate the impending changes.  This will ensure a buffer for anyone who may not take well to the changes and will also provide a witness for each of the conversations.  You would be amazed with the impact of having someone else in the room not only to help you as a communicator with anxiety, but also help ease the overall tension of the situation.

We will spend some more time discussing the other aspects of the poll results in following posts.  If you have particular questions you would like to submit, please email me your questions at trent.cotton@gmail.com.  Also, if you would like to learn more about the poll results, you can visit the poll by visiting it by clicking here. I look forward to exploring these topics with you.

If this article was of interest to you, please check some of the others in this topic by clicking on one of the titles below:

Divide or Don’t Divide?  Church Organizational Structures

Questions for Church Organizational Structures

Reorganizing your Team According to their Strengths

Building the Right Church Team

Church Organizational Structures : A Bit More

Discovering The Right Church Organizational Structure

Discovering The Right Church Organizational Structure – Part II

Subscribe in a reader

Join Amazon Prime – Watch Over 40,000 Movies

About the Writer:

Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently works for SourcePointe, an HR Outsourcing Agency while continuing to own and operate Christian Management Consulting as a ministry. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.

New Year New Plan

Although there New Year’s is normally a time for individuals, companies, and churches alike to have a new strategy and renewed focus on gain, 2009 presents many companies with many more challenges than previous years.  Whether it be the general economic slowdown or a more specific challenge within your church or community, the age-old habit of sitting down to draft a “2009 Business/Ministry Plan” is most likely getting a bit more attention and effort than in years past.

So how do you sit down and write a simple business/ministry plan for 2009?  Of course, the first answer should be prayer, solid prayer.  Once you have discerned the direction, what should you do?  Here are some tips for you to consider:

1. Determine what makes you, not just your church, different from the others. People are beginning to actually look more into churches, their make up and their ministries.  Why are you different?  What is your target?  Of course, “the lost” is a common answer, but do you have “knack” for a particular… breed of the lost?  If so, how will you help reach them? Also, what can you do outside of talking in the pulpit to reach the lost?

2. How can you effectively network? Networking is working smarter, not necessarily harder.With the advent of church social media tactics, it is key to learn and lean on those who know more about this arena to help you get the message out.  How will you do it?  Who will be involved?  These are all key questions to ask yourself.

3. Keep it brief, keep it attainable. In this process, don’t try to see how many words you can get on the page.  This is to become your “mode of operation” for 2009, not a glamor shot of your writing skills.

4. Involve Partners. Many times we forget that forging strategic partnerships can help us get into that group we have been courting for years.  Having partnerships with fellow colleagues will help you grow your ministry without having to invest more time in fruitless efforts.

5. Involve continued learning. Do not get caught without knowing how to get the answer.  A good salesperson is one who knows not only their product, but also what is going on in their industry and the industries of their clients.  The same is true for a pastor, preacher, teacher, or just ignited Christian.  Stay on top of the news, those you preach to will.

Whether you are a pastor, minister, business owner, consultant, banker, or salesperson, you need a plan more in 2009 than in years past.  Take some time to develop a great marketing plan, put it into action, and count the money coming to you.  Best of luck in this 2009 Survival of the Fittest!!!

Subscribe in a reader

About the Writer:

Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently works for SourcePointe, an HR Outsourcing Agency while continuing to own and operate Christian Management Consulting as a ministry. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.