The majority of my ministry years have included developing church staff as spiritual leaders. It has been and continues to be one of my greatest joys.
We all hire the best and brightest person possible. No one intentionally picks someone who lacks competence or selects a non-contributor with a poor attitude. But it doesn’t always work like we hoped and dreamed.
So what happens? What changes?
There is a long list of possibilities for a good hire to go sideways. Here are a few examples:
- There was no leadership development or coaching for the staff person.
- The chemistry and culture was not a fit.
- The staff member did not connect with or embrace the vision.
- The staff member was struggling with unknown personal issues.
- Communication from the leaders was unclear.
- The staff member did not have the necessary competence or capacity.
- Expectations were not made clear.
- The staff member’s attitude went sour.
So what can we do about this?
How can we get out in front and recognize the early warning signs of a good staff member starting to head in the wrong direction?
First, embrace the big picture.
Assume the best of each person.
Always give the benefit of the doubt and assume the best when it comes to a staff member who is struggling.
Own what we as the leaders did or didn’t do.
Leaders are typically on the go and moving quickly from one thing to the next. After a hire, pressure goes down and we move on to solve the next problem or lean into a new opportunity. Perhaps we didn’t give the staff member all they needed. We need to slow down enough to know and own our part in the situation.
Go all in with an investment toward helping the staff member turn around.
Its never helpful to abandon a staff member, especially one that who is struggling. Believe in them, coach them, and invest in their turnaround.
Our responsibility is to provide all the help, training, clarity, and encouragement possible all within a healthy culture. With that, the staff person’s responsibility is to continue growing, fulfill their responsibilities and make an overall positive contribution to the team.
With that in mind, here are 5 early warning signs:
1) They find problems faster than they find solutions.
Good leaders solve problems. It’s core to what we do. We make progress, solve problems and help people.
Anyone can find problems, good leaders deliver options for a workable solution.
Good leaders do see things that aren’t working and need improvement. But they’re also motivated to deliver several solution-oriented options and are capable of making it happen.
If a staff member consistently only identifies problems and often with a critical spirit, this is a serious warning sign that needs immediate attention.
Challenge the staff member to always present two-three potential solutions for any problem they see and be willing to cheerfully help accomplish the solution.
2) Their enthusiasm and joy starts to fade.
Enthusiasm and joy is an important part of a healthy and productive team.
New staff members always start out grateful, enthusiastic and excited to make a great contribution. The best staff members continue in that same manner.
When a new staff member’s enthusiasm begins to wane that’s an early warning sign. If their energy and interest seem to decline and they start showing up late and missing deadlines etc., it’s time to have an honest conversation.
If you catch this early, you may learn that something is going on at home, or expectations need to be cleared up. Ask them how they are doing. Maybe they experienced an early conflict on staff and being new didn’t want to say anything. You may be able to turn this around fairly quickly.
3) They complain more than they contribute.
When a staff member starts complaining more than making a productive contribution, this can quickly become a toxic influence on your team.
Complaints are subtle but contagious, they are like a colorless and orderless poison that gets into the water supply. They start small but travel quickly. Complaints lead to a complaining spirit.
I’m often surprised at how long senior staff will accept this behavior and allow it to continue. When it comes to staff, this one thing is always true; you get what you tolerate.
When it comes to leading staff, it’s always better to raise the bar of expectations than to tolerate low standards.
We all have an occasional “bad day” and there is grace for that. It’s when complaining dominates a leader’s disposition to the point that it drowns out their contribution, its clearly unhealthy and requires attention.
Communicate the importance and expectation of communicating with a positive bias. This does not mean they can’t express their opinions or disagree, but it needs to be done constructively along with an equal or more significant contribution to the church’s overall progress.
4) They become disconnected or withdrawn.
Withdrawn and disconnected behavior manifests itself in a way that demonstrates: “I’ll just stay in my area, do my job and keep quiet about everything else.” That is not healthy and doesn’t work for very long. That person’s discontent will soon leak.
This warning sign is potentially one of the most dangerous because it’s a stealth form of passive-aggressive behavior. They are not the squeaky wheel or more overt malcontent, so by the time you figure this out, it can be a serious problem.
Even though this sign can be dangerous, it’s also, ironically, one of the easier ones to get a positive breakthrough. It’s common in this situation for the staff member to feel undervalued or underutilized. Have an honest conversation and ask them what they’re thinking and feeling. Tell them you can see that something’s up, and they’re not the same. Ask how you can help. This may be all that’s necessary to begin a path back to being a healthy and productive team member.
5) Once they’ve had a disagreement and discussed it in a mature way, they can’t let it go.
Conflict on staff is normal, and can be not only healthy but also productive if the team knows how to resolve conflict.
It’s an early warning sign if after a good conversation where disagreement took place and resolution was achieved; the staff member just can’t seem to let it go. It’s almost as if being right is better than moving forward.
A combative or argumentative staff member, no matter how talented they are, isn’t going to last long. Be candid with them, help them see what could be a blind spot. In my experience, this is often not so much about a difficult staff member, but something of passion within them. Help them see a different and more productive way to channel their passion regarding a particular principle, program or person.
Unhealthy staff do not know how to let something go even after the conflict has been resolved.
In all five of these early warning signs, you are looking for a pattern, not a one-time kind of behavior.
We’re all human and go through tough times. Don’t try to “catch” staff doing something wrong, instead be discerning about developing patterns of behavior that require attention and need help to prevent a more serious problem.
Discerning these signs early allows you a much greater chance of keeping that great staff member you hired. It’s always discouraging when it doesn’t work out, but hopefully, a few of these thoughts will help prevent that from happening.
