Follow Up to “Have You Actually Read the Employee Handbook?”

This is what I was told today, “Wayne, starting with this current year, 2007, you now have four weeks of vacation a year and whatever is left over at the end of the year rolls over to the next.”

Oh yeah! Who’s your daddy!

Answering the question from my last post, “Have You Actually Read the Employee Handbook?” definitely produced a wonderful outcome in my life and I just had to add this follow up to Church Staff 101. My vacation time doubled because I read the binder, and my fellow staff members are benefiting as well. Folks, take the time to review the handbook, you have no idea what you’ll learn!

Some To Do’s When Bringing Up Employee Handbook Issues:

• Of course, read it.
• If you have a question, bring it to HR’s attention and ask for a clear explanation.
• Be polite, this is not an “I got you” moment.
• If there is a “ruling” in your favor, be thankful; you’re still an employee.
• If HR can’t bring clarity, politely and respectfully bring it to the attention of a superior next in line.
• Determine if this is a battle worth dying over, if not let it go.
• If it’s a battle worth fighting and you feel like it’s a job “deal breaker” for you, be sure to read my series of posts, “Must Do’s to Get a Job.”

Submit your comments about reading your employee handbook, I’d love to hear from you.

Wayne

Have You Actually Read the Employee Handbook?

Well, have you? If your employer provides an employee handbook, do you have a copy, and if you've been given one do you even know where it is? For me, it's a white one inch binder with about forty double sided pages of interesting information that's been gathering dust on a bookshelf. Interesting now, though it should have been from the get go. Posting on Church Staff 101, you would think I'd be on top of things like this. Ha! This one has been a real "duh" moment. I've been at my current employer for just over three years, and a couple of weeks ago was the first time I had actually read it. What a shame.

What's even more ridiculous is the fact that most of my current colleagues have not read it either.

And so I challenge you, read those employee handbooks! Really, take some time to read through it. You may find there is information in it incredibly important to you. I realized anything I create while using the laptop the church has provided for me becomes their property, thus the reason I don't post from my laptop. Also, they have some explaining to do concerning my (and other staff's) vacation time; I believe according to the employee handbook, I should be receiving more time off.

It's important to know what the boundaries and policies are that govern you on the job. It's also necessary to know what you should expect from your employer; most times it's spelled out in the handbook. So take a moment and read through this short list of Six Employee Handbook To Do's, hopefully they'll be of help to you.

Six Employee Handbook To Do's:

1. Ask for a copy before you accept a position and read it.
2. Already at a job, then obtain a copy asap and read it.
3. Make note of information that is pertinent to you; vacation time, sick and personal leave, full or part time designations, dress code, even romantic relationships between staff members.
4. If you have questions, then ASK!
5. Put it someplace you'll remember. My last two jobs have made sure to remind me the employee handbook belongs to the church. When I resign, I'll have to return it.
6. Get the other staff to read their's also.

So, next time you're at a ministry network meeting or lunching with the other staff folk at your church, go ahead and ask them, "Have you actually read the employee handbook?" And when they look at you with the "yeah right" look, help them see the light by telling them why it's important.

Wayne

Are You Connected?

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
Jane Howard hits the nail on the head concerning networking. Are you connected? No, I'm not talking about being connected to the internet or to "Americas best network" cell phone plan, I'm talking about a ministry network.

For probably the last eight or nine years, no matter where I've lived, I've been a part of a network meeting in that location. And in every situation, it's been time well spent that has been life giving and encouraging. Just yesterday I attended a local children's ministry network meeting, and I came away from it with great stuff to pray and think through.

I feel strongly about this one aspect of my own spiritual and vocational growth. In fact, I wish that in the first six years of ministry someone had pushed me to join a group. I can't even imagine the mistakes I would not have made had I been around peers who had already been through what I was experiencing. Below is a list of Network To Do's for you, so don't waste another minute, get hooked up, plugged in, and encouraged.

Eight Ministry Networking To Do's
1. You need to look for a group! I went out of my way to find and join these peers, they probably aren't going to come looking for you. Use the internet, call local churches, denominational district offices and local schools of ministry, someone is going to have some insight to help you connect to a group.
2. Put it on your calendar, make it an appointment. If you don't, something else will come up or you'll forget.
3. Force yourself to attend. Again, make it important. Think about it as another way to continue to be a learner.
4. Go with the attitude you're going to take at least one great nugget back with you. Focus on learning at least one thing that will help. Someone is bound to say something that can affect you, just be willing and attentive to receive.
5. Exchange contact info. This is one of those reasons we have about a million business cards. Make a connection with someone.
6. Ask questions. Speak up. Don't just sit there, ask away, that's why you're there anyways. If you're intimidated to ask in the large group setting (Chicken!), then wait until the end of the meeting time and pull someone aside.
7. Answer questions! Again, don't just sit there. No matter where you're at in your ministry journey, you have experiences, knowledge and wisdom that will help someone else, so give it away.
8. Start a group yourself. Put those leadership gifts you've been given to good use and start your own network meetings if there's not one taking place near you. Use technology to help, like email, im chat, even online conferencing.

I would love to hear from you! Comment about your networking experiences. Also, add this blog to your favorites or RSS reader to keep up to date on posts.

Wayne

Must Do's to Get a Job - Part 1

"For many people a job is more than an income – it's an important part of who we are. So a career transition of any sort is one of the most unsettling experiences you can face in your life." Paul Clitheroe

What do you do when you think or know your time is short with the current church or ministry you're working with? Who do you turn to for help? What do you need to know and do to settle into the correct ministry position? Finding a new job has always been a daunting task for me. A task that has drawn me closer to God and my family but has also been a learning experience every single time. So don't fret, hopefully I'm going to pass on to you some wisdom and experiences that will help in the process of landing your next ministry position or preparing you for the inevitable. Over the next couple of weeks of posts, we'll look at what I believe are the most important practices and necessary mindset to prepare you for finding a new position.

Let's real quickly talk about "the call." If you're on this site, reading these posts, you hopefully have worked out in your life whether or not you're called to be in ministry. My experience has been I truly feel that I was called to serve Him in a staff position. I believe it took place the summer I was a kids counselor at camp and God impressed on my heart I was destined to be in ministry. I just knew.

I've spent a couple of years not on a church staff, working in the secular world, and I knew it wasn't "right." If you're questioning your call or the calling, then my suggestion is some serious on your face time with God and some serious time with a mentor, someone who's a spiritual giant you can access. You are the only person who will really know if you're called or not. Well I guess for a $25 donation, I may be able to tell you as well! Come on, lighten up, I'm just kidding.

Truly, I'm not making light of the calling. But again, my sense is it's an extremely individual "knowing." It's not going to happen without intense intercession. I think of it as "don't get up until you have what you need from God" type prayer. You have to hear from Him.

Next, we'll work through the all important resume'. I have seen first hand the resume' good, bad and ugly. Without a networking connection, your resume' gives the first impression, wow, HUGE ramifications.



Take a minute and subscribe to my RSS feed to stay up to date on what's new on Church Staff 101, thanks.

Wayne

Jott

I used to carry a pda device and a cell phone. The pda was used for a handful of applications I thought were super important. Eventually I got to the point that I was using it only for taking notes. The problem was that I either had to "type" the note then sync to get it to my computer, or I had to rely on the "handwritten" note using the pda software and hope that the pda didn't turn on in my pocket and my latest note destroyed by pocket scratchings.

And let me tell you, taking notes on my cell phone was a beating! It didn't matter what entry method I used, it was not efficient. I also had the great idea to use my cell phone to record notes as voice recordings. The problem was that it was never easy to remember to check all the voice recordings every day. And then when I did listen to them, well, I then had to transcribe them, two steps to get one note. Duh!

Ah, Jott to the rescue! Jott is a free online service that has saved my bacon! Here's how it works in real life. I'm driving and think about something important, like I need to remember to tell my assistant to purchase roller ball pens. I have Jott set up as a speed dial on my cell phone, number 7 actually. I speed dial Jott, the computer voice asks "Who do you want to Jott?" and I say, "Myself." I then speak the note, "Tell assistant to purchase roller ball pens." Computer voice says, "I got it." I hang up. Jott then transcribes what I just said and emails it to me! I now have the note in my inbox and I don't have to spend any time or energy trying to remember it. So simple.

Jott can be set up to send your note to any email address as well as your note can be sent to any cell phone as a text message. With Jott you don't ever have to go through the mental gymnastics of trying to remember what that super important note was you've now forgotten. It's truly an amazing free product.

Check it out at Jott.com and let me know what you think.

Wayne