A Guide to Church Staff Performance Reviews
I once heard on a podcast that staff performance communication at churches can be so bad, it can often come across to the employee like, “we love you, we love you, we love you. You’re fired.”
When I heard that, I shuttered. Unfortunately, it’s true.
As a church, staff performance reviews seem like a no brainer, but practically, can be really difficult to execute. This is why many churches don’t have them at all and you end up in a bad situation like I mentioned from that podcast.
The church is not a business, even us Executive Pastors know that 😉, but then again, we don’t want to have the wrong person in the wrong role or to neglect the importance of challenging church employees to be more effective for the mission they’re called to. So some kind of regular way to assess church staff seems wise.
But based on what metric? The kinds of goals our staff are ultimately after are the sanctification of God’s people and the growth of His kingdom - how can our staff reasonably be assessed on these eternal (and Holy Spirit dependent) goals?
Tricky. But important and I’d argue, not unsolvable. It just requires a little more thoughtfulness.
In 2022 at Arrowhead Church, we needed to solve this very problem. We needed a process for regularly evaluating church staff (from the lead pastor down to the intern) that fostered professional growth, without losing the heart of our ministries.
For me, how we developed staff evaluations was shaped by a mantra I’ve latched onto over the years:
"Clarity is kind."
I first heard this statement by Craig Groeschel and it has become a defining pillar for my leadership asperations as an executive pastor. Said another way, “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). As leaders of any organization, performance reviews aren’t about squeezing every ounce of productivity out of staff; it’s providing clarity to them. It’s answering internal questions like,
Am I doing a good job?
What should I be focusing on right now?
Why does my boss want me to do ______?
Does no one else think ______ matters?
How can I move up in the organization?
Why is so-and-so getting a promotion and I’m not?
How can I get help with this problem?
Knowing the importance of regular, constructive feedback, we revamped our staff performance review process at Arrowhead Church, built on our goal of clarity. A process that fosters transparency and nurtures the growth of each team member.
Good Leaders Support and Challenge
The support/challenge matrix developed by Ian Day and John Blakey
Some organizations get the point of staff performance reviews completely wrong.
Many organizations view these meetings as “checking an employee’s homework,” like we’re standardize testing. Those organizations have unhappy employees and often, a high turnover rate.
Successful organizations with engaged, high-performing team members understand that the real purpose of staff evaluations is to support and challenge the employee.
Check out this “Support/Challenge Matrix.” In each quadrant, you can see how the employee response to different levels of support and challenge from their leadership.
The Support/Challenge Matrix is a pivotal concept in shaping how we conduct staff performance reviews at Arrowhead Church. This matrix was developed by Ian Day and John Blakey and shared in their book ‘Challenging Coaching’. The idea is that optimal growth and performance occur in an environment where employees feel both supported and challenged. A good performance review does exactly these two things.
“Support” refers to the encouragement and resources provided to staff, creating a secure and nurturing work environment.
“Challenge”, on the other hand, involves pushing employees to step out of their comfort zones, fostering skill development and innovation.
As we developed our own staff performance evaluations, we wanted to provide clarity for both support and challenge. Staff need to feel supported by their manager - heard, resourced, and assisted when big problems arise. But they also need a manager who sees their potential and calls the staff to something bigger, something higher, something more. We don’t hand-hold, but we aren’t domineering, either.
That’s a tough balance. But it’s a major reason we should give attention to staff performance meetings. These are perfect environments to provide support and challenge in very clear, candid ways (as we’ll get into).
What are we going to evaluate?
Using “clarity is kind” as my Northstar for this entire process, we couldn’t just tell managers to start holding formal performance review meetings with their employees and expect that to work well. We needed a structure. We needed to know, first, what it was we were evaluating.
My first step was to rebuild everyone’s job description around three categories of job assessment. These categories would serve as the platform for goal setting and later, feedback on those goals.
The Three Categories of Employee Goals at Arrowhead Church:
At Arrowhead Church, we've defined three distinct categories for setting employee goals: Metrics of Success, Developmental Goals, and Next-Level Goals. Each goal in any of these categories must be:
Achievable The goals should be realistic and attainable given the employee's role and resources.
Measurable: There should be a clear way to assess whether the goal has been met. For example, “Maintain a child/teacher ratio of 5 to 1 during the fall semester” is measurable, whereas “Maintain a good child/teacher ratio” is not measurable.
Date-specific: A clear timeline or deadline should be associated with the goal. Let’s not let it linger forever, there needs to be a finish line that the employee can work toward.
So let’s dig into the three categories for our staff goals at Arrowhead Church:
1. Metrics of Success
These are essential performance indicators directly tied to an employee’s job description. They answer the fundamental question: What are the key functions and responsibilities expected from someone in this role? Metrics of Success are typically 'lag measures,' meaning they reflect past results and should ideally be visible in our Monthly Metrics report.
2. Developmental Goals
These goals focus on the growth and enhancement of skills relevant to the employee's current position. They are aimed at improving effectiveness and efficiency in the role. Developmental Goals are more immediate and short-term compared to Metrics of Success. The focus is on skill development, work etiquette, learning new tools, or improving processes.
3. Next-Level Goals
These goals are ambitious and go beyond the routine duties of the employee's current role. They are not mandatory but are designed to stretch the employee's capabilities and contribute significantly to the church's mission. Achieving these goals can indicate a potential for future advancement or increased responsibilities. The goal should push the employee beyond their comfort zone. Successful completion of the goal should have a noticeable positive impact on the church.
Setting the Goals
Any successful goal requires buy-in. Even when you want to challenge your team to reach higher, you’re going to get their best selves when they also believe in the goal you’ve set. They need to buy-in and see the value of a goal. Not to mention that any staff member will find holes in your organization that you had no idea were there, so bringing them into the goal setting process is good for the health of your organization. Rather than set all of our staff’s goals for them and hand them a sheet of paper telling them what they should care about, managers set the goals alongside each of their staff.
Our first meetings were goal setting meetings. These were one-on-ones between a manager and a staff member. They talked about those three categories of goals. The manager showed up prepared with a few ideas, and they worked from there. It opened much more candid conversation that had been lacking in our team, honestly.
This is a good time to talk about one of my favorite concepts from the last few years: The Third Thing.
Dr. Andrew Johnston’s “Third Thing” Approach
Dr. Andrew Johnston explaining the “third thing” concept
Dr. Andrew Johnston’s "Third Thing" method is fascinating, and yet so simple. I won’t unpack the whole method here (you should watch his video embedded here), but during our goal-setting phase, the employee and employer mutually agree on the goals – this agreement becomes the "third thing". It’s not about the manager or the employee; it’s about this mutual commitment they’ve both agreed matters. It shifts the power dynamics from “my manager told me I had to do this” to “we decided we're going to do this.” Then, the agent of challenge or of accountability becomes not the manager, but the “third thing.” This method plays a crucial role in our feedback meetings, especially when goals aren’t met. Those conversations can go something like, “So the last time we met, we both said that the most important thing for kids ministry right now was volunteer training, how has that gone?” The conversation isn’t a conflict between manager and employee, but a more collaborative effort to address the "third thing” both parties agreed to. Make sense?
Example of our monthly metrics sheet. This is one of fourteen pages.
Monthly Metrics: Our Dashboard
A crucial piece of our new staff feedback process is what we call Monthly Metrics. This is a monthly report that we publish every month and send out (via Slack) to all our employees and elders. This report has detailed, month-by-month numbers on anything we can measure at the church - Sunday attendance, volunteer acceptance/decline rates, group membership and attendance, giving - everything. In many ways, these monthly metrics serve the role of our “third thing.” It’s an indifferent ruler to measure our progress for many of our goals.
It’s very important that our employees have a way to track their goal progress on their own. While not every goal is tied to our monthly metrics, many of them are, and our employees can find almost any number they’re looking for in it.
If you’re going to tie staff goals to external metrics, providing regular access to some kind of dashboard is essential. Thankfully, we had already been producing this monthly metrics report a full year before we revamped our staff performance process. Otherwise, it would have been a crucial step to complete first.
Regular Feedback Meetings
A screenshot from our Feedback + Review form that goes out to employees and managers. Here, you can see an employee’s developmental goals and space for them to reflect ton them.
Once we completed our initial goal setting sessions, we began a rhythm of regular “feedback” meetings. We don’t call them “performance reviews” because that’s not exactly what we’re after: We are after clarity. These meetings are about setting goals, celebrating goals that are met, and figuring out a path forward when they aren’t. In other words, these meetings are about intentional two-way feedback.
We have these feedback meetings every 2 months (or six times a year). That’s not to say this is the only time that managers and staff meet one-on-one (that happens every week or two), but this is the formal time set aside for big conversations.
One Week Before
A week before each feedback meeting, we utilize our HR system, GoCo, to facilitate a self-evaluation process. Staff members reflect on their progress against the goals in each category. Managers then review these self-assessments, providing their perspective, which might include affirmation, additional insights, or constructive challenges.
The Meeting
During the feedback meeting, it’s a collaborative discussion rather than a one-sided review. These are typically about an hour long. We use the self-assessment and manager feedback as our starting point. We talk about accomplishments, challenges, and areas for growth. It's also the time when we adjust or set new goals, especially the Developmental and Next-Level Goals.
After the Meeting
Post-meeting, all notes and evaluations are accessible on the staff member's GoCo profile. This means that right away, the employee can refer back to the conversation and see all the things they need to focus on going forward. This transparency also ensures that our lead pastors, elders, and administrative staff are on the same page about each team member's performance and development.
Wrap-Up
Revamping our performance review process has been a game-changer. It’s not just about checking boxes; it’s about real growth, clear communication, and aligning individual goals with our church’s vision. When it comes time to make compensation or advancement decisions, these performance reviews are invaluable. They offer a comprehensive picture of a team member’s contributions, growth, and potential, allowing us to make informed, fair decisions about salaries and promotions. By regularly evaluating and discussing these three key categories, we ensure that every team member knows where they stand, what they’re working towards, and that they are a valued part of Arrowhead Church’s mission.
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