Help wanted: Christian charities and the ongoing search for talent

Acquiring new talent continues to be top priority for Christian charities

Each month, CCCC invites members to send us their prayer requests which we then pray over during our weekly staff meetings. We love being able to support our ministry partners in this way!  One of the most common prayer requests we receive is that God will bring along the right people to meet the numerous staffing needs faced by Christian charities across Canada.   I have no doubt that for many, acquiring new talent will continue to be a top strategic priority in 2017.

CCCC’s upcoming webinar on ‘hiring well’

Charities planning to hire new staff in 2017 won’t want to miss CCCC’s upcoming FREE live webinar: “Hiring Well”.  In this webinar we will be discussing best practices for Christian ministries to attract and hire top talent, including:

• How can we clearly define the role we are seeking to fill?
• What are the best practices for promoting the opportunity to join our team?
• How can we select the right candidates?
• What needs to be done to properly make the job offer?

We will be offering the webinar at two different times:

• Wednesday, February 22 at 12 pm (EST)
• Wednesday, February 22 at 2 pm (EST)

Please register by clicking on the time that suits you best.

This webinar is open to anyone, but only CCCC Members will receive complimentary access to the webinar recording.

Options for Christian ministry opportunities

CCCC is often asked where Christian ministries can most effectively advertise their job postings.  Assuming that the charity has taken the time to define their requirements and update the job description, the following list provides some suggestions:

• Denominational offices
• Christian colleges and universities
• Employee referrals and word of mouth
• Professional associations (e.g. when recruiting for credentialed professionals such as Accountants, Payroll Specialists or those in Fundraising functions)
• Staffing agencies and professional recruitment services (e.g. when recruiting for more senior or hard to fill positions)

Online job board on road map for CCCC

I am pleased to share that CCCC is working towards adding an online job board to the services that we provide.  We have been hearing for some time that charities would value a way to connect with Christian job seekers, and we are excited to finally be moving ahead with this initiative.  If this is something that is of interest to you, please consider taking a few minutes to complete an online survey which will help to ensure that this service offering meets the needs of Christian charities in Canada.  This survey will remain open until February 28, 2017.

Christian ministry online job boards

Here are several online job boards that Christian charities may find helpful.  Of course this is not meant to be an exhaustive list, and if you know of other service providers that you have used successfully in the past, I would love to hear from you!

Ambrose University 

• Job seekers will certainly appreciate the relevant blog posts on effective job search tools and techniques.
•  Employers have the option of including additional details with their job postings, such as: video, website and social media information.
• Employers can also set the posting up so that applicants apply to them directly, or through the job board.
• Job postings must be approved by the school before they get posted to the job board, and are free to post.

Christian Careers Canada

• Christian Careers Canada is a service of Tyndale University College & Seminary and is open to the Canadian Christian community.
• By default jobs expire after 90 days, however users can set a maximum expiry date of up to six months.
• Job postings must be approved in advance by Christian Careers Canada, and the website indicates that postings are often approved on the same day.
• There is no cost to employers to post their positions to this job board.

ChristianEmployment.com

• This website is a paid service where Canadian charities can post their positions for a period of 30 days.
• The site has many good resources for job seekers that are written from a faith based perspective.
• As part of a paid service, biblical career counselling and support are available by phone or skype.
• Charities seeking Christian outplacement and career transition services may wish to investigate this resource further.

Christian Job Search

• ChristianJobSearch.net is a free service through Heritage College & Seminary and users are encouraged to consider making a donation to help with the costs of maintaining the online job board website.
• Employers can choose to make their postings visible for 30 or 60 days.
• Employers have the option to create a profile that is viewable to job seekers.
• Job seekers will like that they can set an email alert based on a keyword.

Don’t neglect your charity’s talent pipeline!

While online job boards can certainly be very useful, it is important to remember that they are not a complete solution when it comes to meeting your charity’s staffing needs.  To reach more passive, highly qualified candidates, a different approach is often required.

The idea of a talent pipeline is based on building and maintaining relationships with others who may not yet be ready to join your team, but could make a great staff member in the future.  It’s really a continual process that moves beyond viewing recruitment as a point in time activity, to continually connecting with highly qualified candidates who may not be actively looking for other employment.

While building a talent pipeline does require leaders to be intentional in doing so, the good news is that it isn’t difficult.  Here are a few ideas of how to get to work on building your charity’s talent pipeline:

• Make it part of the conversation: when speaking with others in your network, make it a standing question to ask if they know of any talented ministry professionals that you should meet.
• Post interview follow up: remember to keep in touch with unsuccessful candidates who may be a good fit for your organization or another Christian ministry in future.  Asking to connect via LinkedIn is an easy way to do this.
• Stay in touch: schedule a reminder in your calendar to connect with someone in your talent pipeline each month.  It can be as easy as sharing an article they may find helpful or giving them a quick call.  Handwritten cards are still a very effective way of staying connected.

A word about millennials

Consider reaching out to Christian colleges and universities to find out how to make your job postings known to their co-op students and alumni.  Sometimes schools will host job fairs which can be a great way of meeting a large number of candidates in a short period of time.  If you are planning on attending The Pursuit’17 in Edmonton this spring, make a point of meeting some of the individuals who are attending as part of CCCC’s Young Leader’s Program.  Millennials now make up the largest demographic in the Canadian workplace, so there is a good chance you will be hiring one in the future!

Closing thoughts

Charities that take a proactive approach in building their talent pipelines will be better positioned to fill key and critical positions than those who do not.  While tools like online job boards can certainly be very helpful in creating awareness about the job opportunity, a broader approach is often needed, especially when it comes to hard to fill positions.