The Work Ethic Conversation Your Staff Isn't Having

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the challenges of maintaining standards of excellence in church staff culture while balancing grace. He addresses the issue of staff members using spiritual language to deflect from accountability and avoids work quality issues. Todd emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between grace and lowering standards, and provides strategies for effectively addressing issues with staff members without crushing their spirit, including clear communication, identifying barriers, and setting explicit expectations. • Challenge: Staff using spiritual language to avoid accountability and work quality issues. • Grace is not about ignoring standards; it's about coaching towards excellence. • Separate work critique from personal worth to maintain healthy feedback. • Identify the real issues: skill, capacity, motivation, or fit. • Clarify expectations with no ambiguity to ensure improvements. • Importance of maintaining standards for team health and performance.

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Transcript

When Deadlines Start Slipping

SPEAKER_00 0:08

You've got a staff member who's all of a sudden missing deadline. The work is loppy, it's after sometimes they just totally blow. Alright, they forget all about it. But when you bring it up, they pivot to spiritually. And just trusting God's timing here. Hey, I don't want to be performance driven. That's not really the heart of ministry. Great. Alright? You feel like the Pharisee for caring about excellence. We're

The Toxic Version Of Grace

SPEAKER_00 0:35

talking about excellence this week on the podcast. And I'm glad you're here. This is the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. My name is Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at Chemistry Staffing. I'm glad you're here because here's the thing: what I just described is not actually about grace at all. There's a version of grace floating around the church staff culture that can be toxic. It sounds humble. It sounds even gospel-centered. But what it actually does, it protects people from growth. It lets someone avoid hard feedback by making you feel like you're the bad guy. And it sometimes erodes the credibility of your entire team. So let's name here, in the time that we have today together, what's actually happening here. Someone on your team isn't hitting the mark all of a sudden. But instead of owning it, they reframe the standard itself as unspiritual. I'm not about performance, I'm about presence. God's more concerned with my heart than my output. This feels really task-oriented, not people focused. But here's the problem. But it's being used to avoid accountability. And if you push back, you're the one that's the legalist. You're the one that feels like you're the driven one. You're the one that's they're trying to make you feel like you're the one missing the heart of ministry. Meanwhile, the youth parents are wondering why the email never went out and your exec team is picking up Slack every week, and everybody's starting to wonder if standards even matter anymore.

Grace Filled Does Not Mean Standardless

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Now, I'm not saying that your staff should be running on anxiety and performance metrics. That's not the answer either. There's a spectrum here, and you don't want to be on this side and you don't want to be on that side. So that's not the answer. But there's a massive difference between being grace-filled and being standard less. Okay? Grace doesn't mean that we don't care about excellence, it means that we coach people toward it without crushing them in the process. Jesus didn't lower the bar, he just loved people while they grew toward it. And that's exactly what your team needs from you.

How To Coach Without Crushing

SPEAKER_00 2:53

So how do you actually do this? First of all, you separate the work from the worth. Start by affirming their value and mean it. Mean it. I'm so glad you're here. You're called, you matter. And then you can say something like this, and because you're called, because you matter, we need to talk about how the work is going. Okay? This isn't about their identity, it's about their output. Then you need to name that gap very clearly. Don't dance around it. This is how you do it. The emails aren't going out on time. Events aren't being followed up on, and that's a problem. Be specific. Use examples. No vague. I'm just feeling like maybe cla clarity is the kindness part here. And then you need to ask what's in the way. Maybe they're overwhelmed. Maybe you don't have the full picture. Maybe they don't have the tools that they need. Maybe they're in the wrong seat on the bus, as Bill Hybels used to say. Maybe the role's just a bad fit for them. Help me understand what's making it hard to get this done. Put yourself in their shoes, give them an opportunity to say, this it's because of this or it's because of this. And then listen. Really listen. This might be a skill issue. It might be a capacity issue. It might be a will issue. It might be a motivation issue. It might just be that they're not capable. You need to know which one you're dealing with here. And then you need to reframe grace really correctly. Okay? Grace doesn't mean we ignore the gap, it means that we work through it together. Grease means that I'm not writing you off, but it also means I'm not pretending that everything's fine, okay? We're going to get you where you need to be, but we've got to move. And then set clear expectations. Hey, here's what I need to see from you in the next couple weeks, in the next 30 days. Hey, let's check in weekly. I'm here to help, but we do need to work on this. No ambiguity, no wiggle room, no shame. Just clarity.

What Is At Stake For The Team

SPEAKER_00 4:57

And here's why this really matters, because there's a lot at stake. When you let someone hide behind spiritual language, you're not being gracious. You're being unclear. And that's actually unkind. Because they'll eventually hit a wall with you or with the next church. And the rest of your team, they're watching. And if mediocrity gets a pass because someone knows the right words to say, your high performers will stop performing, or worse, they'll just leave. Standards aren't about being harsh, they're about being healthy. Paul told us in Thessalonians, he said, aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands. That's not legalism. That's leadership. And it's where your team needs to be, and it's what your team needs to hear from you.

Bottom Line And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 5:46

So here's your bottom line for today. Grace and excellence aren't opposites, they're partners. Listen, you're not a bad leader for caring about quality. You're a faithful one. So go have the conversation and your team will be healthier for it. That's it for today, all the time that we have. Thanks so much for spending some time with me. If there's any way that I can help you or your church, particularly when it comes to staffing or healthy staff initiatives, are you just maybe you've got something that man is just bugging you? And you don't have anybody to talk to and you'd just like to tell your story to somebody. I'd love to hear it. Reach out to me at podcast at chemistry staffing.com. I reach read each and every email I get from all the listeners and respond to all of them as well. Podcast at chemistry staffing.com. All right, that's it for today. Hope you have a great day, and we'll be right back here tomorrow on the podcast.