The Paradox of Choice: Why Fewer Options Might Help You Hire Better
•Todd Rhoades•Season 1•Episode 348
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Having too many candidates can actually kill your church staff hiring process by creating paralysis and an endless search for the non-existent "perfect candidate." Fewer choices and clearer criteria might be the key to unlocking your next great hire.
• The perfect candidate doesn't exist – only people with unique strengths, weaknesses, and callings • Too many choices lead to decision paralysis according to psychology • Churches that hire from 10+ candidates often end up exhausted, confused, or settling • Churches with clear filters and focused lists hire with clarity and conviction • Trust the process when you've identified your culture, theology, and must-haves • Get clarity on: who we are as a church, what kind of leader we need, and what fit means • Limit your finalist list and say no earlier to candidates who don't meet criteria • Focus on your church's true needs, not just the loudest voices • Trust that with God in the process, you need discernment, not endless options
If you need help with church staffing, reach out to me at podcast@chemistrystaffing.com. Join our free webinar on spotting good and toxic resumes on Thursday at 2pm Eastern - register at chemistrystaffing.com/learn.
What if I told you that having too many great candidates might actually be killing your church staff hiring process ? Churches get stuck , search teams spin in circles and the perfect candidate never seems to appear . Does that ever sound familiar ? We're going to talk about that today , and we're going to talk specifically about how maybe fewer choices and clearer criteria might be the one thing that unlocks your next great hire . Hi there , my name is Todd Rhodes and I am one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and I'm your host right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast .
Speaker 1
And today we're going to talk about the illusion of the perfect candidate . All right , spoiler alert , there is no such thing as a perfect candidate ,
okay , but we'll get there in a second . The reality is we all want to get hiring right , okay , but here's the truth the perfect candidate doesn't exist . Instead , what exists is a list of people with unique strengths , weaknesses and callings . A side note here , they all have a resume , and I'm doing a special webinar . If you're listening to this on the day that it was released on Wednesday , may 6th , wednesday , may 7th . If you're listening on Wednesday , okay , I'm doing a free webinar on Thursday at two o'clock Eastern . I hope you can join me . You can just go to chemistrystaffingcom slash learn and you can register for that . It's all about resumes and how to spot a good resume and how to spot a bad or a toxic resume . Okay , so side note there , sorry , squirrel . What does exist , though A list of people with unique strengths and weaknesses and callings , and sometimes the more options that you have , the more likely you are to delay decisions , waiting for somebody who checks every single box and ends up checking out of your process .
Speaker 1
Instead , we have a lot of the churches that we work with that say hey , I need more candidates to compare with each other . And our answer almost always and we tell this to most of our churches , all of our churches , really , before we even start a search is that if you are crystal clear on what you're looking for , the type of person , the job description , the experience that you're looking for , when you see that candidate you're going to know you won't need to do a lot of comparing and contrasting . Anyway , ask your team are we hiring for perfection or are we hiring for purpose ? That's a really important distinction there . There's actually psychology that kind of backs this up . Studies have shown that too many choices lead to what they call decision paralysis
. So when you're faced with 20 candidates , your brain shifts from making progress to managing all of that complexity .
Speaker 1
Barry Schwartz is the person that coined the phrase the paradox of choice , and he says it best . I think More isn't always better . Sometimes it's worse . So churches that hire 10 plus candidates for every role often end up exhausted , confused or , worse , settling on a candidate Even though they looked at more candidates . They end up settling on one , feeling that they're still missing out . Right .
Speaker 1
But churches that commit to clear filters on the front end and a shorter , more focused list , a lot of times they will hire with clarity and conviction and much faster and much easier
actually . So how do you do this ? Here's three words I use quite often with churches and with candidates both sides of the fence . Right Three words Trust the process . Okay , if you're hiring , trust the process , not just the resume . When you've done the work of identifying your culture , of your theology and your must-haves , you can trust the process is going to bring the right people forward . You can trust the process is going to bring the right people forward . This means saying no to maybe candidates early on and yes to a few strong fits because you're being very intentional . So if you're trying to keep 8 to 10 candidates alive in your process , just in case one doesn't work out or we don't see it often with churches that have 8 to 10 that they want to keep hanging on by a thread , we see it with one or two candidates that boy , we really like this person , but these two people , if this person doesn't work out , don't do that . That's not a strategy , okay . Honestly , in many cases that's fear and it leads to burnout for both your team and for the candidates , because there's not really a good way to communicate to a candidate without letting them know that they're not your first choice . So clarity is going to bring confidence .
Speaker 1
Clarity will bring confidence and churches who get clear on their criteria early and as far as I'm concerned , early means before you even start the search . But if you can get clear on your criteria early , you will move faster and you'll make better decisions . So what kind of clarity do you need ? First of all , who are we as a church ? Secondly , what kind of leader do we actually need ? Not what kind of leader do we want , but what kind of leader do we actually need in the season ? And then , finally , what does fit really mean in our context .
Speaker 1
Now , when your team can answer these questions , it becomes easier to recognize the right person , even if they don't have the flashiest resume , and it also means that when you can identify this person , you're not going to have eight to 10 people in the pipeline . You're going to weed that down based on those clarity questions that you set up beforehand . Because here's the truth Sometimes the best hire is the one you nearly overlooked because you were distracted by the shiny object candidate . I've seen it happen over and over again . All right , so there is a better way forward .
Speaker 1
Here's a challenge for your next hire okay , limit your finalist list . Okay , don't go from 100 to 90 . Say no earlier ,
it's okay . It's okay to say no If they don't meet your criteria , that clear criteria that you set up beforehand . Say no early , that's fine , and then focus on your church's true needs , not just the loudest voices in the room , and that is something that you really need to take to heart . And , most importantly , is something that you really need to take to heart and most importantly this is so important most importantly , trust that if God is indeed in this process , you don't need 20 options . You don't need 10 options right . What you need is discernment , prayer and the courage to move forward with the right one . All right , so hiring doesn't have to be overwhelming . When you simplify and you clarify , that's where confident decisions are made .
Speaker 1
I hope this helped you today . So many times we just we think more is better , and , particularly when it comes to hiring , more is not always better . Quality is better . Knowing , having clarity on what you're looking to hire , what your church really needs not wants , but needs is incredibly key , and it will be guiding you through your search . That's what we help churches do every day here at Chemistry Staffing , and if there's a way that I can help you or someone on our team can help you or your church through hiring a new staff member or really anything to do with church staffing or building a healthy church staff team or culture , reach out to me .
Speaker 1
I'd love to hear your story and where you're at and how we might be able to help . Reach out to me anytime podcastchemistrystaffingcom . I read each and every email and I will get back to you as soon as I can , and if you're feeling stuck , let's talk . We can hop on a Zoom call for 30 minutes . Happy to
help you Again . Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom . All right , thanks so much for joining me today . We will be right back here tomorrow on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast . Hope you're having a great week you .
