In the first steps of the hiring process, it's critical that you establish a plan for what exactly you want your process to look like. If you aren't clear on exactly what skills and talents you're looking for and how you are going to find someone to fill that role, you will end up with a frustrated team, confused potential hires and wasted time and money.

The most expensive hire is a bad one. You need to ensure that rather than rushing into any hiring decision, you sit down with your board of directors and talk through:

— Exactly what the process is going to look like.

— How long you are looking to take for the process.

— How much money you are willing to invest in it in order to save money down the road.

— Discussing what exactly you're wanting in your candidates.

Here at Vanderbloemen, we have two primary routes when it comes to hiring: a Vanderbloemen search and a search through our sister company, ChristianTeams. If you are looking to work with us for your next search, here are the details to consider when deciding which hiring path to take.

Responsibility Level Within Your Team

First, consider where the role you are trying to fill falls in your leadership structure. Is it an executive role, or is it a team-level position? From over 11 years of experience, we advise that, though all positions on a team are critical and valuable to your organization, an executive role requires face-to-face time with your team and a carefully curated candidate process in order to best separate your organization for success. These searches, therefore, are best done justice as Vanderbloemen searches.

With a Vanderbloemen search, we're able to take a deep dive into the DNA of your church and gain a better understanding of who will be a lasting cultural fit. We also spend time getting to know your team members to understand how your team's current personalities will mesh with potential candidates. These in-depth discussions increase our ability to help find the right person to step into your new ministry role.

In ChristianTeams searches, our team will meet with you virtually, rather than face-to-face. While your non-executive employees do much of the heavy lifting, there's often a higher volume of candidates who fit the requirements for these roles.

Level of Collaboration

In a Vanderbloemen search, we work hand-in-hand with you to find your best candidate. We want to get to know your culture so that we can interview the most qualified candidates for you. We bring our years of recruiting experience plus an objective view to present you with the candidates we think fit your organization best and work alongside you in the interview process. Our team conducts thorough background checks, assists with compensation package negotiation and provides onboarding insight as you make your new hire.

In a ChristianTeams search, our team will deliver a maximum of 6 qualified resumes to you, so you can focus on only the best-suited people for your open role. We do the work of finding the candidates, and you get to find who best fits within your organization's culture and skill sets.

In either process, you will be deeply involved and will have the final say in any and all hiring decisions. However, a less pivotal hire requires less of a time commitment between your church and our team, leaving you more time to focus on your bottom line while we do the heavy lifting to find your new team member.

Financial Investment

Financial commitment is one of the key determining factors in which direction to choose. Investing financially in a hiring process can seem daunting, but it's important to consider again how much a bad hire would end up costing your organization. Choose to purposefully invest in your search now so that you are more likely to find a good fit who will stick around.

How much you invest, however, will depend on the level of the search. An executive search done poorly is going to cost your organization more in the long run, so these searches are going to be more of an investment. An executive search includes in-person meetings in order to best understand what your team is looking for, and Vanderbloemen is closely involved in the search process. Our consultants and recruiters bring their combined expertise to ensure that your final hire is a perfect fit.

Team members are critically important for the wellbeing and success of your organization, but as previously mentioned, the volume of candidates and level of responsibility for team members means the process requires less financial investment. For ChristianTeams searches, your organization performs more of the hiring process, and it is, therefore, less of an expense.

Role Examples

Finally, in order to help you get a clearer idea of which route to go, here are some examples of roles we have previously conducted searches for with Vanderbloemen and ChristianTeams:

Vanderbloemen:

— Senior pastor.

— President/CEO.

— Principal.

— Missions director.

— Teaching pastor.

ChristianTeams:

— Student minister.

— Family life pastor.

— Worship director.

— Creative designer.

— Small groups minister.

As you prepare to fill your next role, whether it is a team member or executive search, Vanderbloemen is equipped to help you navigate the process. We love the whole church and are ready to step in and help you find a hire that fulfills your requirements, equips you for success and is an ideal fit for your organization.

For examples of work we've done with churches like yours finding key staff on the Vanderbloemen and ChristianTeams side, check out our success stories.

William Vanderbloemen is the CEO and founder of Vanderbloemen, which serves teams with a greater purpose by aligning their people solutions for growth: hiring, compensation, succession and culture. Through its retained executive search and consulting services, Vanderbloemen serves churches, schools, nonprofits, family offices and Christian businesses in all parts of the United States and internationally. Follow him on Twitter @wvanderbloemen.

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