Wallace SC&W Staff Encouragement and Care   An area that I constantly need to be active in and growing in is that of providing encouragement and care for staff members.  What can be done to show staff members that they are valued?  How might the excitement level and dedication of staff be increased?  Here are a few ideas:   *Do the basics: Celebrate Birthdays with a card, a staff lunch and a gift. Remember staff recognition days (Secretaries Day, Minister Appreciation Month) Remember the employment anniversary of staff with flowers, treats or another gift. Give the congregation the opportunity to say “thanks” during Christmas with cash             donations and ….   *Do regular pick ups:             Consider allocating money (or finding funding) to do monthly special touches for staff                         members.  At times we gave a $25-40 restaurant gift card to the staff person voted the most helpful.  At other times we gave a surprise gift card to Target, Wal-Mart, or another store to each of the staff members.  Play games as a staff.  Some staffs are more “game-ready” than others but most             people enjoy interacting with others and many enjoy a challenge. If there             is a strong resistance to doing things together then there may be some issues that             need to be dealt with in order to create a healthier atmosphere or staff team.  Also             before drawing everyone together make sure it is a good time for staff members to             take sometime to play (e.g. not right before a big deadline or at the busiest time of             the person’s work week).  Do it “on the clock” and don’t expect staff members to             take their personal time to do even “fun” team building.               Some examples of playing….hide blown up balloons with slips of paper in them             around the facility.  The slips of paper can be a mixture of “sorry try again” and             gifts like a long lunch, a box of chocolates, choose a gift card, etc…… Do a Deal or no Deal game where the staff plays together to win a big prize.  Each of the “dollar” amounts are different gifts that you offer the staff.  Be sure to Make them exciting and appealing.  When we played the game I had approved with Church leadership the gifts of extra vacation days, $100 gift for each staff person and more.  We ask staff members to sacrifice a great deal so we need to be willing to show our valuing of their loyalty and service.               Play with individual staff members.  Find out about each of your staff members and how                         you can have fun together.  Some might be more expressive than others but search                         for ways to create a mood of joy with each of them.  At one church this could be                         seen as I returned from vacation to find that my office had been plastic wrapped                         by the staff (desk, chairs, books).  At another church we “walled in” a staff                         member’s desk, which was in a hallway, by taping butcher paper to the ceiling                         and then filled her “office” floor to ceiling with balloons.   Make parties meaningful.  We have done staff parties in various ways depending on the             dynamics of the particular staff.  We have had them over to our home and cooked             an elaborate meal for them, served by members of the congregation.  We have             had various members each cook a special dish for a staff lunch at the church.  We             have had musically inclined congregation members compose and sing a song (e.g.             to The 12 days of Christmas) where each verse focused on the blessing of a             different staff member.   *Other things to keep in mind:             Show care when staff members are hurting or rejoicing.  Pay attention to what is going on                         in the lives of staff members and respond.  Did a son just get transferred to                         Hawaii?  What will that mean to his mother on your staff?  Did an Aunt die?  Can                         you attend the funeral or at least make a gesture of kindness?  When you helpfully invest yourself in the life of others they are more open and eager to connect with you.               Rally the staff to help each other.  It is easy for a staff to become segregated into their                         own areas of responsibility.  Certainly you can’t always be at each others events                         but are their times when you need to all gather round a team member to show                         support or even lend a hand to lighten his/her load on a particular project?   I remember this question a minister said he considered before hiring any staff member: “Would I want to take a 5 hour car trip with this person?”  In carrying out the wonderful work of Christ wouldn’t it be marvelous to travel that road caring for and encouraging one another and actually finding some joy along the road?                                                                                                                           December 18, 2008