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A Resource from the Episcopal
Diocese of Dallas http://www.missionalchurchnet.org This Month’s Recommended Books
Ancient Wisdom Mark gets a pink slip. . . Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit
the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see
how they are doing." Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark,
with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had
deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They
had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. —Acts 15:37-39 The rest of the story
. . . Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is
helpful to me in my ministry. —2 Timothy 4:11 God’s plan . . . Although there appears to be a sharp contention [between Barnabas and
Paul], in fact it was part of the divine plan that each man should receive his
proper place. —John
Chrysostom What is needed . . . There is need not of pomp of words but of strong
minds, of skill in the Scriptures and of powerful thoughts. — John
Chrysostom Reproof and respect . . . The Country Parson . . . procures [respect] . . . by a bold and
impartial reproof, even of the best in the Parish, when occasion requires:
for this may produce hatred in those that are reproved, but never contempt
either in them, or others. —George Herbert A balancing act . .
. Courage, conviction, and long-range vision must be balanced by tact
and patience and humor. Prayer and wise counsel will help him to distinguish
between his own wishes and God’s will, and between what is presently urgent
and what can wait. —Sam Shoemaker Lighten
Up How
Many Lawyers There is a
finite number of physicians that a population of fixed size will support. The
same theory holds for teachers and engineers. However, this principle does
not seem to apply to lawyers. The more you have, the more you need. |
For Missional Leaders
in the Episcopal Diocese of July 15, 2007 How to Terminate an Employee Canon Neal Michell I know this is an unpleasant subject. I have served as the
interim rector for a church for the last seven months. One of my first duties
as interim rector was to terminate an employee. I took no pleasure in it, but
it had to be done. No one likes firing someone, whether it is for misconduct,
or a wrong fit, or because the church simply can’t afford that position any
more. But, if you have to do it, you need to do it right. John Maxwell has said that who you don’t fire is more
important than who you hire. Keeping the wrong staff member can do untold
damage to your church. We don’t like to do it, but at some point you will
have to. Here is what I’ve learned
over the years about employees. 1. First, read your employee manual. Don’t have an employee manual? Oops. Your church ought to have an employee manual. If you don’t, get started on it
tomorrow. An employee manual, if properly drafted, will guide you
through the process of disciplining and terminating the employee. It gives
both the employee as well as the church notice as to what the obligations
are. 2. Next, read the letter of agreement by
which the employee was hired. It may provide some guidance as
well. Is the employee still on probation? (You do hire people with a
probationary period, don’t you?) Again, both the employee and the church will
be bound by the letter of agreement. 3. Call
you diocesan office and ask to speak to one of the diocesan chancellors who deals with labor law.
Many dioceses have such a person who can guide you through the process
and avoid mistakes and pitfalls which might bring unnecessary liability upon
the church. In addition, The Church Pension Group has a helpful book Human Resources Practices for Lay Employees of the Episcopal Church, that is quite helpful. It has a full
chapter on terminations. 4. Don’t
confuse your pastoral role with your managerial role. Don’t avoid the real
reason that the person is being released because you want to be nice to the
person. It is tempting to want to be pastoral in your relationship with the
employee and not give the real reason the employee is being terminated.
Sometimes a fired employee will file a complaint. If the reasons for
termination are not clear, you may open the church and yourself up to a
lawsuit. Further, not being honest about the reasons for termination does not
help that employee to grow as a person. 5. Don’t
surprise the employee with the reasons for termination at the termination
meeting. If you are terminating the employee for cause or underperformance of
some sort, the employee’s file should have had some written document
acknowledging the misconduct. Also, in case of misconduct, the document
should be signed by the employee and placed in the file. In case of
underperformance, a performance review or memo acknowledging the
underperformance should be placed in the employee’s file. 6. If
being terminated for misconduct, don’t let the employee remain on the job. Have the employee clean out the
desk immediately. You may want to give some sort of severance, but don’t have
the employee remain on the job just because he or she is being paid. Let the
employee get on with life. Do not write a reference letter at this time. Later, if and when a letter of reference is
requested, provide only dates of employment. Consult your diocesan or church
chancellor as to what exactly you can say in a reference letter. 7. Sometimes
an employee is simply not a good fit. There
is no misconduct, per se, just a
bad fit or you have an employee who does not ‘buy into’ the vision that has
been established. With this employee, try framing
the termination in terms of that person’s individual growth and development
and what God might be doing in that person’s life. This is where you can
exercise your pastoral relationship. Don’t confuse the two. 8.
Don’t have a termination meeting with the employee alone. Have your Senior Warden or the
Administrator present with you as a witness to what was said and what was not
said. 9. Pray
before you do anything else. It may be that God has also been speaking to your employee things not
working out for that person with the church. If God has been nudging you with
dissatisfaction over this employee’s performance, it is quite likely that
your employee is hearing the same thing. By the way, this does not apply only to paid employees. You might
consider terminating an underperforming volunteer. You might be doing them a
favor. Until next time, Neal+ P.S. I know that my newsletters
have been infrequent lately. I’ve been serving as interim rector of a church
along with my full-time duties on the staff of the Diocese of Dallas. |
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Copyright © 2007 Neal O. Michell, all rights reserved |
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We believe in the Power of Jesus Christ to Transform lives. We are Resurrection People! |
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