The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
Stop Convincing Yourself They're Qualified
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We've talked about all different kinds of hiring here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. We've talked about hiring too quickly, we've talked about hiring too slowly, we've talked about hiring when you shouldn't hire and not hiring when you should hire and all the different scenarios. Today we're going to talk about desperate hiring, desperate hiring, desperate hiring leads to really disappointing results just about every time, and today we're going to tackle the moment where you try to talk yourself into a candidate who you probably shouldn't move forward. We're going to learn how to spot some subtle red flags or yellow flags. Trust your gut and hold out for a hire that actually strengthens your team. Hi there, my name is Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and I'm here to hopefully share some advice.
Speaker 1:If you're hiring man, you know the moment You're looking at the resume, or maybe you're looking at a candidate straight in the face and you're thinking to yourself something's just not quite right here. They're not quite right, but maybe they could grow into it. I just don't have a good feeling here. But maybe, and you continue on and you eventually hire that. But maybe, and you continue on and you eventually hire that. That line of thinking. That's where a lot of bad hires begin, and today we're going to talk about the danger of convincing yourself someone is qualified when they're really not Okay. So here's where it starts. Here's where the desperate hires start. Every time you feel the pressure. You feel the pressure to fill the role. You've got a deadline, you've got vacancy stress, you've got fear of overworking your current staff or maybe, even worse, overworking your volunteer team, and all of it creates the subtle pressure to just get somebody in the seat For crying out loud, it shouldn't take this long to hire somebody. So let's just hire somebody and call it a day. But the reality is church staffing isn't fantasy football. You can't just draft based on who's left on the board. You've got to ask yourself are you hiring because this person fits, he fits our church, she fits our team? Are you hiring out of desperation, because you feel stuck Right?
Speaker 1:Sometimes you might have a red flag or a yellow flag that you just decide to ignore. You shouldn't, but dang it, you just got to hire somebody, right? You got to get off the pot and hire somebody. Maybe they don't have the theological alignment you said was non-negotiable and you start to think okay, it's not that bad. Maybe they have gaps in their work history that they won't explain or that they can't explain, or that you talk to their reference and they really couldn't explain it. But you're like, just give them the benefit of the doubt here, maybe in your spirit, that they lack the emotional intelligence or they lack the maturity that they're going to need in this role. They lack that in spades and key areas. But you're like I'm willing to overlook it.
Speaker 1:It was probably not as bad as I thought. Maybe the references were just. Maybe you actually had a reference say proceed with caution here. And you have proceeded with caution. But at this point it's like you just I'm willing to take a chance. Let me tell you right now. Okay, friend, ignoring those flags now means most likely, you're almost 100 percent chance that you're going to be dealing with regret later. Ok, so what do you do instead? What do you do instead? Because just because you say no to somebody doesn't mean that the pressure goes away. Matter of fact, if you say no, the pressure mounts. You've got you. It makes it worse the next time around and if you're not careful, you're going to be more desperate. So what do you do instead? Here's what I suggest, just a few ideas, and you should do this before you ever start, before you even publish the role or start promoting the role, or definitely before you ever do your first interview.
Speaker 1:Create a list of non-negotiables. Put that on a list before you post the position, before you start interviewing. Put on your non-negotiables and these are the things you got to be close-fisted on. Maybe it's a theological thing that they just have to match. Put that on your non-negotiables list. Now, you can put too many things on your non-negotiables list. The thing is, your non-negotiable list has to be the truly just the things, and it's probably just a few things. Maybe it's one or two things. If you've got 20 things on your non-negotiables list, you've got too many non-negotiables. But and I just like saying the word non-negotiables here but start with that list, put them on there, put the things on there and don't deviate from that.
Speaker 1:Get a second or a third set of eyes on this candidate. That's the second thing. If you have doubts maybe somebody else does too Get their input on it as well. Maybe they can help you to see that maybe your concerns aren't valid. Maybe they're going to back up exactly what you're seeing. I always think it's good to use some structured interview questions to surface some real answers and trust your gut.
Speaker 1:Don't apologize for walking away the right hires out, but you'll never find them if you settle too soon, even when the pressure's on, okay. So here's the final thought. Here's the bottom line for today. You have to remember this all the way through the process. You are not just filling a job, you're building a team and if the person in front of you right now isn't the right fit, it's okay to pass. Matter of fact, you need to pass. If you know they're not the right fit, it's okay to pass. Matter of fact, you need to pass.
Speaker 1:If you know they're not the right fit, all right, I would love to hear from you have you ever talked yourself into a hire and later regretted it? I'd love to hear the story. Maybe you're a candidate and you saw some red or yellow flags about a church that you were interviewing with. But you really wanted a job, you really needed a job and you took the job and you knew that you shouldn't. You talked yourself into it and you regretted it. I would love to hear your story. Reach out to me, send me an email. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. And if your church, if there's any way that I can come alongside your church and help you with your hiring process or with compensation analysis of your current team, anything having to do with getting unstuck or creating a team that's healthier than what they are now reach out to me. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. I'd love to have the conversation with you. All right, that's it for today. We're here every day, Monday through Friday, on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Hope you'll join me right here again tomorrow.
