Your mission is unique, and along the way you may find yourself needing to add someone to the team. Searching for a new leader needs to be an intentional process- you can’t rely on luck to happen upon a perfect fit. As we talked about in our last article, the risk of a bad hire is too great to not do a search well and to simply hope for the best. If you want your next hire to have a greater likelihood of thriving within your organization and driving your mission, here are three critical things to do in the hiring process:
1. Be willing to invest properly in the process
A well-done search that finds a qualified fit will require time and patience. If you get impatient and rush the process, you can easily end up with a candidate who isn’t fit for the role, costing you time and money in the future. Sit down with your board and search committee and set aside a committed budget and time frame for your search for the new role, giving yourself flexibility. Decide where to invest your search budget- and remember that wise investment now can ultimately save resources.
2. Look outside of your network
This is where a search firm can be critical, especially if you are seeking to diversify your leadership team. The Great Resignation has shown us that many people are seeking work right now, and though you may find a great deal of interested candidates easily within your network, the ones you have immediate access to may not always be the best fit. A thorough search, reaching past your immediate connections, is more likely to find someone who can contribute the perfect skills, theological beliefs, and background to your team.
3. Plan ahead
Having a succession plan in place ahead of time, particularly for key leadership roles, will set you up for future success. At Vanderbloemen, we always say that every pastor is an interim pastor. Leadership is something God gives believers to steward for a period of time, and to eventually pass on. Whether succession comes from retirement, emergencies, moral failures, or simply a direction change for your organization, transition is inevitably difficult. But you can make it much easier, more efficient, and less likely to hurt members of your organization by having a detailed succession plan in place. A succession plan ensures that regardless of the circumstances, you already have defined next steps. Our free Succession Readiness Tool can help you determine your next steps in creating a succession plan.
4. Trust God while also meeting him in the process
For some, a thorough search process might feel uncomfortable and out of the norm for your organization. You may even feel doing a “search” seems like you aren’t trusting God to anoint the right person. But David didn’t stumble into being King- God called him and Samuel anointed him. Luck didn’t cause David to end up leading God’s people. Rather, God spoke through Samuel’s listening ear and a thorough search. He listened to God’s direction as he met with various “candidates-” a combination of faith and work. It often takes us meeting God in the process to really seek out Biblical leaders. Get started on a search, taking all of the proper steps and preparations, while also trusting God’s sovereignty to bring the right leader to you in the process.
No matter what role you’re hiring for, it’s important to take intentional steps to developing a thorough search process rather than jumping in head first and hoping for the best. Here at Vanderbloemen, we want to be able to provide you with all of the resources you need to complete your teams and further your mission. Whether you’re looking to find your new leader or just looking to fill gaps in your team, contact us today and we’ll help guide you in your next steps.
