STAFF ONBOARDING PROCESS

Step One

Fill out and return the appropriate application needed to begin your new ministry role! Our Bookkeeper and Business Administrator will assist you in this process. By now you should have walked through the interview questions and taken these assessments but if you need a recap of what you've done here they are ... 

ASSESSMENTS

1. Core Values Assessment
2. Enneagram Type
3. Evangelism Styles Assessment
4. Introvert/Extrovert Spectrum Assessment
5. Myers-Briggs
6. Sacred Pathways Inventory
7. Smalley/Trent Personality Inventory
8. Spiritual Gifts Inventory
9. VARK Assessment
10. Working Genius - a link to take this assessment will be emailed to you! 
11. Work Appreciation Languages - a link to take this assessment will be emailed to you! 

Watch the Transition Of A Leader message from our Lead Pastor. It will give you context to our overall vision for leadership and the seven C's that shape our leadership culture. 

Step Two

Watch the online New To Know Session. This is what we share with everyone in our church who is considering whether they wish to become a part of the family to help them get acclimated to who we are. Follow along with the video and work through the links to familiarize yourself with our mission, core values, culture, ministries, and team. This will also aid you in becoming familiar with our website. You may find our most recent annual report of interest too. As a staff member, you'll become an official member so it's good for you to also be acquainted with our church's bylaws. 

Step Three

Participate in the one-day orientation with our Lead Pastor and those who are called upon to join you in that experience. Did we mention free food?! You'll get access to our staff handbook, forms, job descriptions, learn all about our policies, procedures, software, applications, and the technology we use to get stuff done. Most importantly, we'll discuss our staff core values and we'll begin to help you understand the culture of our team. In preparation for this orientation, you'll need to watch and listen to the Trust vs. Suspicion content located here. If you like organizational charts to see how things generally fit together and how we relate to one another you can take a look at ours here. 

These three words are a part of the learning curve as you acclimate to the "one church in two locations" culture of Riverside. As part of the onboarding process and moving forward, it will be important that you learn what is fixed, what is flex, and what is free. You will find this to be a tension to manage rather than a problem to solve. We admit that it's a bit subjective and situational. That's why it takes time to learn. Be patient with us (and yourself) as you figure it out. Here are some initial guidelines to help you get started.

1. Some cultural matters/areas are FIXED (purpose, core values, language, branding, colors, merchandise, budget).
2. Some cultural matters/areas are FLEX (pictures on the walls, coffee/food, scheduling approach, numbers of team members, recruitment process, teaching styles, contextualized and guided by the differences in the spaces/facilities themselves).
   
3. Some cultural matters/areas are FREE (e.g. furniture in blue rooms, personalities/styles, contextualized and guided by the differences in the spaces/facilities themselves). 

When you are uncertain, please ask. We’ll figure it out together!

Step Five

Read the following books that we'll provide for you right away ...  

Step Six

Participate in a three-month evaluation. In this meeting, you'll be evaluating us! Here are some of the questions you can expect to discuss with us that will help us to see our organization through a new set of eyes. This is where you can help us to improve! 

Based upon what you’ve experienced working with our team ...  

1. What would you say is important here? What gets prioritized?
2. Do you see anything we are doing that is off-mission or off-purpose?
3. Do you see anything that frustrates you? Any areas you're feeling stifled? 

4. Do you have a good friend at work?
   
5. Do you have all the tools you need to do your job?

   
6. Are you doing what we hired you to do?

   
7. What has surprised you? 
   
8. What are you enjoying most? 
   
9. Where have we over-promised and under-delivered? 
   
10. What do you need clarity about to help you prepare for the 6-month evaluation? 
    
11. What does a really good day at work look like, and when was the last time you had one?
12. What does a really bad day at work look like, and when was the last time you had one?
13. What are you worried about?
14. Did you do something in your first few days/weeks that you realized is frowned upon in this culture
15. What is different (positive or negative) from your last workplace?
    
16. Other: ____________________
    

Step Seven

Participate in a six-month evaluation. In this meeting you will be evaluated but don't worry, we spend a lot of time in ongoing evaluation to avoid any major surprises in this conversation. (The giving and receiving of feedback is extremely important to us so if this is an opportunity for your growth we encourage you to invest time to develop this leadership skill here.) This meeting will focus on the 7-C's and your job description. This is where we hope to help you to discuss the alignment of what you've been doing with what we hired you to do. We'll also discuss how you're feeling about "your seat on the bus."

Beyond these first initial steps you'll have future opportunities for yearly reviews and evaluations that contain questions and conversation starters like these ... 

1. What are you doing in your position to help people find and follow Jesus and to live at the intersection of our three core values (revere, connect, contribute)?
2. In terms of your primary area of responsibility, how did this year go for you? How are you doing?
3. What is especially gratifying and meaningful about your work?
4. What are the most satisfying achievements for you in your ministry this year and why?
5. Have there been major areas of concern, disappointment, or frustration in your ministry this year? If so, please share what these were and why.
6. How is this year going for Riverside Church? How are we doing?
7. Do you have major personal or professional concerns you would like to discuss?
8. What two or three professional goals do you have for the next 12–18 months, and are they measurable and include realistic time horizons?
9. What do you believe to be your strengths and gifts for ministry?
10. What energizes you about your ministry?
11. What training may have been completed and/or begun during the past year?
12. Are there areas you are would like to target for continuing development in the next year? Are there specific plans for addressing these plans?
13. What’s it feel like to work here?
14. What’s it feel like to work here … with me?
15. What suggestions can you make for me? How can I be of more support and assistance in helping you perform your ministry better?
16. Feel free to share here what did not fit into the above questions that you deem important to discuss.

“Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”

(‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬ NLT)‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?
2. Do you have the materials and equipment that you need in order to do your work right?
3. Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
4. In the past seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
7. At work, do your opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission or purpose of Riverside make you feel that your job is important?
9. Are your coworkers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do you have a best friend at work?
11. In the past six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
12. This past year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)

1. How are you glorifying God with the quantity of your work?
2. How are you glorifying God with the quality of your work?
3. How are you glorifying God with the timeliness of your work?
4. How are you glorifying God with your resourcefulness?
5. How are you glorifying God by growing in self-reliance? (Do we need to hold your hand?)
6. How are you glorifying God by adding skills to your talent portfolio? 
7. How are you glorify God by developing increasingly effective work habits? 
8. How are you glorifying God by helping everyone win across the organization?
9. How are you glorifying God by making sure that you are having staff and congregational impact? Is your work thrilling and changing the people that it's supposed to affect? 
10. How are you glorify God by demonstrating a Christ-like attitude and Christ-like conduct?

That's it! We believe in you! You can do this! God's got His hand upon You!