Comments on: Be Careful Hiring For-Profit Employees in the Non-Profit World

By: John Owens Ondo

John Owens Ondo — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Great comments Phil. I can recall a couple of production decisions where we decided to go with a lesser known (and on paper) lesser qualified candidate, but we just knew they had a calling and "got" the vision. Every-time it was a blessing because the real qualifications was that the person was God's choice.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I made the transition from the "real-world" to NPO over six years ago. One of the hardest things for me to overcome was, like you say, "we turn our own lights off". I have to do things now that no company on earth would pay me to do. Corporate would say - "we pay you to produce x product", or "I can bill for your time". In the NPO world you start to think some $6/hr person could do this task - but there are no resources so you wind up doing it. The concept of tying work skills to income or producing a product are simpley not there so you loose that mindset.

Great Article.

-Kevin

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

This gives all of us a ton to think about from the “I am looking for a ministry position” standpoint. My husband has been in ministry for almost 10 years and he uses secular business leaders as models for how to lead. There needs to be a happy medium between the warm and fuzzies of loving all of God’s creatures and cut-throat corporate.

We are, in fact, in sales. We ask people to put their whole life and trust in someone they can’t touch, hug or call on the phone. In today’s world, that makes the church staff and leaders the most talented salesmen out there.

By: gilliebean

gilliebean — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I'd just like to throw up a warning flag not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The key difference in the business models is how the revenue or resources are generated. But regardless of whether we're in a for-profit venture or an NFP, we're still attempting to generate resources and these activities need a strategy and they need management.

While a "corporate person" may not be the best choice for NFPs, sometimes "corporate principles" are. Many NFPs in North America today are being run by people with a lot of heart, but with no management experience or education... and their budgets are getting run into the ground because they aren't being managed effectively. They aren't being measured.

While it's important to recognize that you can take the executive out of his 60th floor office but you can't then make him work in a basement (easily), many of the principles by which executives manage their firms should begin to be employed by NFPs around the country (and Canada)! So let's beware that we do not encourage NFPs to ignore corporate, organizational, strategic leadership principles... let's ensure that we're talking about an NPF that's already grounded in effective organizational practices when we suggest that they think twice about hiring from Wall Street. By all means, don't hire the wrong person for the job, but let's also avoid the assumption that our NFPs don't require effective management.

By: Alan Smithee

Alan Smithee — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

A few years ago I worked at a well-respected mega church that had decided to "go to the next level" with their tv ministry. So they hired outside "experts" - aka Big Ministry producers - to build a new division. One new Executive Producer lasted just a year until his sniping & temper became too much. Another Producer lasted just 4 months because he created such a hostile work environment (by yelling at people) that eventually the church leadership hated him (and the media dept by extension). Sadly, the previous staff, who had served for years, became so polarized that virtually all of them left within 9 months. Two of them resigned in one day. Amidst the chaos, the church's TV ministry leaders refused to own up to their mistakes that they'd picked the wrong "professionals" while also alienating their media staff.

My job was to clean up this ugly mess. I discovered there was an ingrained church mentality in place that refused truly to listen to outsiders because they were not "home-grown." In the end, outsider motives (and hearts) were questioned, their wisdom dismissed and key decisions postponed. This became an intractable situation. Not even a year into my tenure, I was out the door too. Today, the tv ministry still puts out an average television show yet continues to spend millions on airtime. The few staff that remain are talented, good hearted people who just want to create a better tv program. The pastor is a great guy, a phenomenal speaker. He deserves much better. But going to the "next level" has been a category 5 disaster. In fact, the only leader still standing is the one who put this fiasco into place.

There is a moral to this story: when hiring outside professionals, find someone faithful, loyal and who "gets" ministry. But some competency is important too. The expert mix of these 4 key ingredients is difficult sometimes. Get them wrong and the test tube can blow up.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Folks, this is wisdom here. Take this to heart before hiring that shooting star who just walked in. A calling is birthed in the heart. A career is hatched in the ego. Wise is he who can discern this difference in himself and observe it in others.