March 24, 2021
Staff Transitions in Your Ministry
Staff Transitions can be tricky to handle. Whether it involves a new hire or a person changing jobs inside the organization, there are levels of complexity involved.
Most Common Requests we Hear
The inquiries we receive at Miller Management are usually due to a staff transition of some sort:
- “The lady that has done our books forever is retiring. She was the only one who knew what was going on. Now what do we do?”
- “Our church is growing and the Pastor can’t handle the books anymore. Which he is relieved to be getting off his plate, but we haven’t hired any employees, yet.”
- “We’re a new start up and have no idea where to begin. Help!”
Did you know when you outsource your finances, Miller Management can help take care of the staff transition aspect, too? Keep reading to find out how.
General Staff Transition
First, let’s go over some aspects of handling staff transitions on your own.
For a new job: there will be time set apart to figure out which role is needed, the job description to fit the role, an onboarding process will need to be made, and follow up trainings and evaluations are necessary.
For an existing job: there is still time spent making sure the role is actually needed, the job description still fits the role, and the onboarding process & evaluations still make sense. But, there is the added responsibility of transitioning the old employee out well, and making sure necessary and accurate information is provided to the new employee.
HHS.gov provides a whole packet for the first day of the new hire. They also emphasize how important the first six months of the job are to new employees.
Onboarding Process
Gallup research found that only 12% of new employees thought their organization handled their onboard process well. {Yikes!}
But Glassdoor research found that when you do onboard well, employees have a higher level of retention and productivity. Retention rates were in the 80th percentile and those employees were 70 percent more productive. {Woo-hoo!}
After the Transition
Once your hire is complete, don’t forget to keep them engaged in the organization’s community and motivated to be a team player. A good onboarding process usually takes 90 days to one year to be truly effective, and continued evaluations help make sure everyone is on the same page.
Importance of a Good Hire
Descriptions
Expectation is key for this piece. Having a job description plainly laid out before the hiring process begins is a great place to start. Plus, there are other factors, such as “the right fit” within the organization.
Leadership
We don’t need to tell you how important onboarding a Pastor or Ministry Leader is to your church or non-profit. The leader sets the stage for forward motion, the direction of the ministry, and usually the overall vibe of the organization.
But you may not be as prepared to handle your finances or payroll, and that is where outsourcing a team comes in. Either when your team is new and small, or well established with an extensive employee list, outsourcing may make the most sense.
Outsourcing
There are (ever-changing) laws and rules related to Payroll. There are anti-fraud and best practice measures to take in Accounting. And – although we hate to admit it – fraud in ministry is definitely something we all have to be vigilant about.
For MM Client Transitions
Training
During the Miller Management client onboarding process, we provide extensive training to any of the staff members that will be in contact with our team. If there is a staff transition in your company after that time, we can also provide training for your new staff; free of charge. We don’t just provide it, we encourage it!
Remember those 90 to 365 days we mentioned earlier? Those training hours are now off your plate.
You Might Also Like: our Expertise post in our Outsourcing series
Ongoing Trainings
Another great resource are the client exclusive webinars we provide periodically. Some of those examples include: Understanding Financial Statements, Payroll Laws, and navigating new IRS credits/laws/loans.
Remember those ever-changing laws and best practice measurers mentioned earlier? Our staff sifts through the information and filters to you the importance aspects that are specific to your ministry.
It may be impossible to calculate those hours you just saved!
Contact Us
Now, let’s go back to those staff transitions where only one person in your organization had all the answers, and they are now gone. Well, no more with your outsourced partners! Your outsourced team can help you at any time with questions regarding your organization’s payroll and financial information.
Phone
At any time you come across questions, please pick up the phone. Your Accountant, Client Services Representative, or Payroll Specialist is available as a resource to you. Our company doesn’t even want to provide direct extensions because we want to make sure you talk to a person each time you call: 816-382-3050.
If talking on the phone is your kryptonite, we also provide individual emails on our website to reach a certain employee, or a generic contact form for those questions you really don’t know to whom to turn.
The other great thing about an outsourced team is there are multiple people who can meet your needs, even if your specific contact is not in the office that day.
Hours and hours of time saved trying to sort through someone else’s files to find your answer!
MM Resources:
Before you pick up the phone or email your general questions, feel free to peruse our extensive Resource page or our blog for helpful articles, white papers, and commonly used forms specific to ministries.
We also provide information on leadership, staffing, managing people, organization, and office culture to name a few categories. A one-stop shop if you will. You can find many of these extras through our Training & Consulting arm of MM, or they may be on our Pinterest boards, or our blog.
Expertise. Clarity. Confidence.
We hope you are noticing a trend here. Time saved on your end, access to answers from experts in the field, and training provided to help ensure you understand the information given to you.
After all, our mission at MM is to provide Expertise that brings Clarity to finances, enabling leadership to have Confidence in decision making.
We know that for most ministries, your time, efforts, and attention are usually well spent in the actual ministry side of things, and tasks such as payroll, finances, and administration can be a good place to outsource those responsibilities.
Other Resources on Staff Transitions:
- Successful Employee Transitions – Business News Daily
- Tips for a Smooth Transition – NonProfit Hub
- 7 Tips for a Smooth Church Transition – Christianity Today
- 5 Mistakes Churches Make Onboarding New Staff – Unseminary podcast
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