Is Your Organization Understaffed? Know When It’s Time To Hire

“So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they (Aaron and Hur) took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.” Exodus 17:10-16

What a wonderful passage that clearly paints the picture of teamwork. Leaders can’t do it all, and that’s why effective support staff is so critical to ministry success. In order to accomplish the vision and mission of your organization, you will need to invest in the additional staff that specializes in specific areas of ministry. Joshua’s victory on the battlefield was directly tied to Moses’ leadership responsibility, which was directly impacted by Aaron’s and Hur’s assignment to assist and provide support. 

Can you see the beauty that is found in this kind of partnership? When everyone does what they were created to do, each person enables others to excel in their roles. A leader’s load is lighter when there are others around to help and provide additional support. Every leader needs team members that help execute the vision for the organization using their unique talents and strengths. You need people to generate impactful ideas, people who grab the ideas and then make things happen, people that take the vision and bring it to life, and everything in between.

At Vanderbloemen, we wholeheartedly believe in the team concept - every person fully operating in their gifts and talents. But, sometimes when you are in the trenches of the organization, it can be hard to identify the right person to add to your team. It can even be hard to know when new team members are needed and what qualities will be most beneficial in that new team member. 

To help you navigate these critical decisions that impact your overall organizational health, we’ve put together a few check engine light indicators that will let you know when you might be understaffed. These indicators are simple, but if ignored, they can cause some chaos and burnout in any organization. It’s kind of like that red check engine light that comes on in your car; you don’t want to ignore it for too long. It should be managed as quickly as possible. 

So what are those check engine light indicators? What things should tell you that it’s time to add staff? Here are a few signs we’ve seen to be consistent indicators after 10 years of building Christian teams.

1. FATIGUE AND EXHAUSTION

Are you tired all of the time? As a leader do you find yourself worn out at the end of each day? Are there so many tasks on your to-do list and never enough time to do it? These are signs that your plate is too full and help is needed. Having team members that can alleviate some of the daily/weekly tasks or can manage a department will allow you, as a leader, the time needed to accomplish the larger visionary goals. Two, three, or four people are always better than one, and when you are trying to accomplish “all the things” by yourself you get very little accomplished. 

2. LACK OF VISION

Has your vision for the future started to dwindle? When we are busy doing things, not in our “wheelhouse” our fervent focus for the future gets a little blurry. When the weight of administrative and departmental duties is removed the creative juices will begin to flow and insight for the future will be made much clearer. The day to day details can be managed by your team. This is when you can hold up your “Moses staff” and take additional ground for God’s Kingdom. 

3. LIVING IN THE WEEDS

It is true that the devil is in the details, but you don’t have to be. Hire the executive assistant, ministry coordinator, department director that will come in and soar in those areas. When you add the right people at the right time to your ministry team, those departments will begin to flourish and fewer balls will be dropped. Those staff positions allow leaders the opportunity to focus on pastoring the members and planning for the future.

4. TURNING DOWN CRITICAL EFFORTS OR WORK

If you find yourself having to turn down work that’s critical to your mission, you’re at high risk of being understaffed. When there’s a demand for a certain ministry, you’re not expected to manage all of the tasks associated with that desire, but you are expected to delegate to or bring in someone who can. Rather than saying no to new missions and projects, expand your team to improve bandwidth.

Leaders, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Take a good inventory of how you are feeling and if you find yourself living in one or all of these check engine light indicators, make the decision that it’s time to staff up in some areas and bring on those that can give you a seat to rest and/or hold up your arms while you actively pursue what the Lord has called you to do. 

To address this critical need within churches, schools, nonprofits, values-based businesses, and family offices, we recently launched Vanderbloemen’s new sister company, ChristianTeams. At ChristianTeams, we focus on recruiting your key staff members so you can stay focused on your mission. Because ChristianTeams is powered by Vanderbloemen, you’ll receive the same wow-making excellence and ridiculous responsiveness but through a virtual process, we've tailor-made for support level roles at Christian organizations. 

Don’t let your Kingdom mission become lost by ignoring these signs and holding off on hiring new staff. Connect with us to get started building your best team.