52: The hiring process

Hiring a new team member can be a challenging and sticky moment. Converge church planting leaders Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee discuss what they’ve learned over the years to help you through the process.

1:44 Danny thinks the biggest thing is to be patient and get the right person, not the best person.

3:00 Danny says it’s important to spend time with a candidate outside of the interview room context, where you get to see how the person operates in real life.

4:00 Danny discusses hiring pastoral staff.

4:46 Danny talks about how he decided if someone would be at the director level or pastor level.

5:28 Danny says his church gave candidates a 25-question theological survey as the first step in the hiring process.

6:24 Danny’s church posted an opening online and on social media, but the most important thing they did was let people in their network know that they were hiring for the position.

7:12 As they got inquiries, Danny’s church would send candidates its theology and philosophy of ministry.

8:04 After that stage, the church chose five or six people to have phone conversations with.

8:20 The final three candidates would spend the weekend at the church.

8:41 Danny used three different interview groups (character, competency, culture) made up of pastors, elders and laypeople.

9:35 Danny says he did an exit interview at the end of the weekend to get candidates’ feedback. He also allowed them to clarify anything they had said and share "any skeletons in the closet."

11:03 Lee likes to focus internally when hiring because those people are already immersed in the church’s culture.

12:00 Lee says planters need to know their philosophy of ministry and write it down so that they won’t comprise when hiring or placing leaders into positions.

13:00 Lee reminds us that, ultimately, any hiring involves risk. "You’ve got to be willing to take the risk to grow the team, but don’t compromise the things that got you to where you were and will continue to move you forward."

13:30 If you realize that the person you hired is not a good fit; pull the trigger quickly to end it, move on, readdress and try to hire again, if possible.

14:10 Danny shares two clarifying questions he asked his team: If we saw this person failing five years from now, what would be that issue? If this person is going to be successful five years from now, what is going to be that thing?