More than Just Words: Does Your Staff Feel Truly Respected?
May 08, 2024Season 1Episode 88
Todd Rhoades
Discover the transformative power of respect within church staff dynamics as we unveil the startling insights from our Healthy Church Staff assessment. With 27% of church team members feeling undervalued, the question arises: how can we foster a culture where everyone feels their contributions to ministry are deeply valued? I'm Todd Rhodes from chemistrystaffing.com, and in this episode, I guide you through practical strategies for leaders to acknowledge and appreciate their staff effectively.
We'll explore the ripple effect that respect has on team morale, delving into the nuances of the 13% of staff stuck in neutrality, and presenting real-world solutions to shift their experience from indifference to recognition. By acknowledging the wins, supporting professional growth, and setting an example through leadership, we can create a church staff environment where respect is not only preached but practiced. Tune into this episode for a candid and empowering discussion on cultivating a workplace that truly reflects the caring heart of the church community.
Discover the transformative power of respect within church staff dynamics as we unveil the startling insights from our Healthy Church Staff assessment. With 27% of church team members feeling undervalued, the question arises: how can we foster a culture where everyone feels their contributions to ministry are deeply valued? I'm Todd Rhodes from chemistrystaffing.com, and in this episode, I guide you through practical strategies for leaders to acknowledge and appreciate their staff effectively.
We'll explore the ripple effect that respect has on team morale, delving into the nuances of the 13% of staff stuck in neutrality, and presenting real-world solutions to shift their experience from indifference to recognition. By acknowledging the wins, supporting professional growth, and setting an example through leadership, we can create a church staff environment where respect is not only preached but practiced. Tune into this episode for a candid and empowering discussion on cultivating a workplace that truly reflects the caring heart of the church community.
Welcome to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. I'm your host, todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom, and I'm glad you're here today. Today we're going to be diving into kind of a real cornerstone of any positive work culture, whether you work at a business or a church, and that's respect. Now, did you know the results that we got from last year's Healthy Church Staff assessment told us that over a thousand people responded, but 73% of church staff surveyed said that they felt respected by their colleagues and their leadership, and that's encouraging respected by their colleagues and their leadership, and that's encouraging 73%. But it also means that over a quarter of the folks serving in our churches don't feel that respect. So what can we do? Let's find out, all right. So we've already mentioned in our survey findings 73%. 73% agreed or strongly agreed that they feel respected by their staff, fellow staff members and by the leadership, and that's great. But unfortunately, 14% out of our sample, that was 147 people out of just over 1,000. 147 people don't feel respected. 14%. Another 13% were neutral. They don't feel respected. They do feel respected. Maybe they're just neutral, but it could be. Some days they feel good, some days they don't, but neither respected nor disrespected just in the middle. So let's look at the positive results first.
Speaker 1:
If your church is typical and if you are in charge of your staff and, like I said, if your church is typical it shows that most of your staff likely work in an environment where good relationships and respect are the norm. Three out of four that's pretty good. This might be due to really supportive leadership. It could be due to a strong culture of the church that has a real respect, a focus on respect, or it could be even just some special programs that reward people's work and make them feel respected and valuable. But this is the trend that you want to build on Celebrate those wins, encourage that respectful behavior. It helps when you acknowledge good work, which sometimes at churches we just expect it. We don't acknowledge when somebody hits it out of the park. Provide chances for your church staff to grow and lead by example. Let your own actions be a model of how to treat others.
Speaker 1:
So that's great three out of four but let's not ignore the 14% that don't feel respected. Again, if your church is typical some churches everybody's going to feel respected. Other churches the amount of unrespected people that feel unrespected on your team is going to be much higher than 14%. But don't ignore those people. Leaders. This needs your attention.
Speaker 1:
So why is there a disconnect? What happens when you've got a person that kind of is in that 14% that don't feel respected? It could be a lack of communication. It could be that there is communication but it's really poor communication. It could be that, like we just mentioned, that there's not any kind of meaningful recognition of appreciation or a job well done at times. It could be that training is bad. It could be a number of things, but understanding what's missing is really the first step to make your staff feel valued, and you have to be self-aware enough as a leader. I know it's hard, but maybe ask some questions to see how people are doing, because you need to identify the people that don't feel respected.
Speaker 1:
Okay, let's talk about and do something about it. Let's talk about the neutral group. Again, about 13% are in the middle. They don't feel respected. They don't feel disrespected, they're just. Eh could go either way. What are some reasons there? Maybe they never got thanked for what they do. Maybe they just don't feel appreciated. Maybe they don't feel like their work matters. All of these things are really important when you serve on a church, staff Leaders pay attention to this group. The neutrals are the ones that are in the middle, so they can be swayed one way or the other and they're going to be a lot easier to get into that respected the people that feel respected. It's going to be a lot easier to get the neutral people there than what it is for the people that don't feel disrespected.
Speaker 1:
Pay attention to this group. Here's some things you can do. You can ask for feedback. You can try to make their roles more meaningful. Connect them better with the team. Maybe do some team building exercises For the neutral people. Any kind of little changes, any kind of little tweaks that you can make can really make a difference in changing kind of that neutral feeling into a feeling of respect, and everybody deserves that respect. The good part is, hey, if you're normal, if your church is normal about three out of four you're doing pretty good. But there are some ways to do it. We want to directly impact and address the issues that we see. Here are some final suggestions as we let you go today.
Speaker 1:
If you have a problem on your team or if you feel like you've got team members that don't feel respected, here are some things you can do. Maybe consider holding regular, almost roundtable meetings with your staff. Now, this could be done during a staff meeting. It could just be maybe once a quarter, where you just get everybody together and outside of a regular staff meeting and just say, hey, how's it going? Let people speak up, let it be a safe place that lets you share as the leader of the team, share where you've been, what you encourage, and share where you're going. It shows leader. It shows the rest of your team that you're a leader and it shows that you're listening. Also, if this is an area where you just feel like you as a leader, if you're leading a staff that you feel like you need some help, maybe invest in some of your own training. Learning to recognize where your staff is and how your staff is feeling is a huge part of being a leader. And if you can figure out how to get a not just a good read but an accurate read on where your staff is, that can really change everything.
Speaker 1:
Okay, respect that's the foundation of good working relationships, whether you work in a church or a business. Wherever you work, even in your family, respect is huge. It's going to make your staff happier. It's going to help you find and keep great people and it's ultimately going to build a stronger church. Our survey found that things are mostly good, but there's always room to do better. Prioritize, respect, recognize your people and step in when issues come up. That way, you'll build a community where everybody's valued and step in when issues come up. That way, you'll build a community where everybody's valued.
Speaker 1:
Hey, if you haven't taken this year's 2024 Healthy Church Staff Assessment, I would encourage you to do. Please do that. It's just open for a couple more weeks and we've had a few hundred people take that assessment already, but we want to get to over 1,000 like we did last year, of church staff people taking the assessment. You can do it for free, absolutely free. We'll send you a free report on your answers and how we think you're doing compared to others, and a report right after you take that assessment. Like I said, it's free. You can take it at churchstaffassessmentcom. Okay, thanks for listening. We'll be back tomorrow right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.