Navigating Compensation Challenges in Church Staffing

How can your church navigate the tricky terrain of compensation and benefits in today's economic climate? Discover actionable insights from Todd Rhoades, co-founder of Chemistry Staffing, as he unpacks the findings from the 2024 Church Staff Health Assessment. Learn how rising living costs and inflation are affecting church staff retention and why fair compensation is crucial for keeping your team motivated and committed. This episode promises to equip you with practical steps to ensure your church staff feels valued and adequately compensated.

Join us for an illuminating discussion on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, where Todd shares strategies to enhance your church’s compensation and benefits packages. From conducting regular compensation reviews to benchmarking against similar organizations, you'll gain invaluable tips for making informed decisions that foster a supportive work environment. Tune in to ensure your church can attract and retain top talent, maintaining a motivated and engaged staff in the year ahead.

Have questions or comments? Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com

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Is Your Church Hiring?
If your church is searching for a new staff member, reach out to Todd for a conversation on how he might be able to help.

Are You Looking for a New Ministry Role?
If you are open to a new church role in the next few months, add your free resume and profile at ChemistryStaffing.com.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Hey there, welcome to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. I am so glad you're here today. We are talking about the impact of compensation and benefits, and we are in the middle of a two-week series last week and this week unpacking some of the results from our 2024 Church Staff Health Assessment. Hi there, I'm Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and I'm your host here on the Church Staff Podcast. Let's take a look at some of the things that we found out about the impact of compensation and benefits from our 2024 Church Staff Health Assessment. You can download your free copy. It's an 84-page PDF download at chemistrystaffingcom slash staffhealth. You can go download that even right now while you're listening.

Speaker 1: 0:54

Now we all know that ministry isn't all about the money, but the reality is fair. Compensation plays a significant role in staff motivation and in retention how long our staff will stay at our church and our 2024 assessment gives us some insights into how this is impacting church staff right now. A couple of things that we discovered is that there are some economic pressures. Matter of fact, many churches are feeling the pinch of economic pressures affecting their ability to offer competitive compensation and benefits, and, with the rising cost of living and the inflation that we've been dealing with the last few years, it's becoming an increasingly important issue in churches. Okay, many churches are realizing, particularly when they go to hire a new staff person or replace a staff person, a little bit of sticker shock because of the economy and the cost of living and inflation it's a lot more expensive to hire a really good staff person. So economic pressures are real, okay. And then, second of all, staff motivation and retention. Fair compensation and benefits are directly linked to staff motivation and retention. We should know this right. But when staff feel valued and adequately compensated, they're more likely to stay and be fully engaged in their role. So let's be real as we break this down, compensation and benefits are just absolutely critical factors in staff satisfaction and retention.

Speaker 1: 2:22

Now, money's not everything. Matter of fact, we interview candidates all day, every day and the number of times. If I had a dollar for every time somebody said the money's not, I don't really do this for the money I'd have a few dollars in my pocket right now, and it's true. But at the same time, it's not about a paycheck, but we have to survive and we have to provide for our family. It's not totally about the paycheck, it's about feeling valued and supported, but when staff members feel like they're being fairly compensated for their work, it can significantly impact their motivation and their engagement and their long-term commitment. On the flip side, when compensation is lacking and we hear this story quite often too it can lead to dissatisfaction, it can lead to burnout and ultimately, turnover, which is when they reach out to people like me at Chemistry Staffing and say, hey, help me.

Speaker 1: 3:16

So what can your church do to improve in the next year? How can you ensure that you're providing fair compensation and benefits? All right, let's break it down. Here are some suggestions. First of all, conduct a compensation review. This is something that we do at Chemistry Staffing. If you need to do an overall staff compensation review, you say, todd, are we paying well, are we not paying well? Are our benefits good? Are our benefits not good? It would not be a bad idea to conduct a compensation review. There are a number of different companies that do that, but we do that here at Chemistry Staffing too, and you can reach out to me at podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. Be happy to help walk with your church through a compensation review, but regularly review your compensation packages. Ensure that they're competitive, make sure that they're in line with other churches of your size and in your area and this might just be as a matter of fact. This is what we would do. We would try and benchmark what you're paying against other churches and nonprofit organizations, other similar type entities, even in your community, based on your cost of living in your area.

Speaker 1: 4:20

Conduct a compensation review Regularly. Do that, I would say every, ideally every year, but every two to three years. You should probably do that If economic conditions change rapidly, like they have been the last few years, every year to two years, I think would be good. Number two ways that you can improve in the next year offer some non-monetary benefits. If your church is one of the ones that we talked about, that's, having those budget constraints and the economic concerns, and if it makes it difficult right now anyway to increase salaries, you can consider offering some non-monetary benefits. It could be maybe some flexible work arrangements, it could be some additional vacation days that don't really take anything more out of your budget, could be some inexpensive professional development opportunities. But think about non-monetary benefits that provide value and make an employee feel valued at your church.

Speaker 1: 5:14

Third thing be transparent. Be open and transparent about how compensation is determined and this can help staff understand kind of the reasoning behind their compensation and feel more valued. And then, whenever you can, invest in staff well-being. Besides monetary compensation, invest in the overall well-being of your staff. It could be providing resources for mental and physical health. Some churches provide for a gym membership. All different kinds of things you can do here but create a positive work environment and foster that kind of culture of appreciation, even if it's over and above monetary considerations.

Speaker 1: 5:51

Okay, so here's your bottom line, and we all know this compensation and benefits. And we all know this. Compensation and benefits, they're crucial aspects of your staff's well-being and retention. And it's not just about the money, hear me, it's not just about the money. It's about creating an environment where staff feel valued and supported and motivated to give their best. So here's your call to action for today Take some time this month to review your compensation and benefits packages. You can do that internally if you need some help.

Speaker 1: 6:21

Again, podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. I'd love to be able to come alongside and help you if I can. But look for areas where you can make improvements, even if they're small improvements. Sometimes even a little adjustment can make a big difference in how your staff feel and perform can make a big difference in how your staff feel and perform. All right, that's the Healthy Church Staff Podcast for today. Join me. Tomorrow we are going to end our series. Tomorrow we're going to be talking about mentorship and leadership development. You won't miss it. And again, you can download the 2024 Church Staff Health Assessment absolutely free download available now over at chemistrystaffingcom. Okay, thanks so much for listening. Have a great day. Talk to you tomorrow.