Placement: How do they do it?
The WHO of Placement
Great ministries use a team composed of staff and key leaders to place their volunteers. One said “we devote significant time and attention to ‘fit'.’”
The WHAT of Placement
Having a “thorough ministry assessment” is very important. This involves the leaders sitting down together and identifying leadership gaps and leadership needs. Most areas used “individual interviews” done by the staff or the “placing team.” In many ministries, potential leaders were asked to provide written responses to a leadership “screening “questionnaire.
The WHY of Placement
Striving to place people on the “right” team uses the Good to Great principle of, “first who, then what”. This results in: quality teams, stewardship of talent, and high retention.
Three reveling quotes are exemplary:
“We do hours of hard work on the front end.”
“The result is we only lost two people last year.”
“If we don’t have the right fit for the critical need…. we wait.”
The HOW of Placement
In the Volunteer Leadership Development Project we named five key pieces to have in the development plan:
A Screening Questionnaire following the new leader training course.
A Placement Process Plan including:
Who will own the placement process and why,
How the placement process will actually work (including completing a Faith and Conduct Acknowledgment, including a background check), and
What the first 90 days will look like for a new leader in your ministry (Exactly how is your ministry going to help each new leader succeed at the beginning of their ministry?).