Covenants for Staff Transitions Agreements Between Outgoing and Incoming Professionals

By Jan Gartner

A brown-skinned hand in a long-sleeved white top with decorative trim shakes hands with a white-skinned hand in a long-sleeved black top over a table with a lacy tablecloth and scattered papers.

No staff member will be in place forever. When a professional leaves their position, regardless of the reason, it’s important to set their successor up well. A covenant between outgoing and incoming professionals is one piece of a healthy transition, creating shared understandings and paving the way for the new staff member to fully take on the role and identity of the position.

A good covenant is the result of a thoughtful conversation between the parties. A congregation might impose restrictions on a professional who is moving on, or there may be limitations set by their professional organization’s code of ethics. But these wouldn’t constitute a covenant. A covenant is a voluntary agreement – best created proactively (and adjusted as needed). It might not be possible or appropriate to have a covenant for every transition, but we hope congregational leaders will encourage an intentional process in most situations.

Considerations

Here are some particulars that might influence the nature of the conversation and the covenant:

  • Is the outgoing professional a member of the congregation? Will they continue to be part of the congregational community? Do they have a partner or children involved in the congregation?
  • If staying, is the outgoing professional interested in volunteering in other areas of the congregation? Best practice: avoid having a former staff member in a decision-making and/or staff-influencing role (e.g., board, personnel committee) for at least two years.
  • Does the outgoing professional plan to continue to be in relationship with members of the congregation – physically, virtually, and/or on social media?
  • Is the outgoing professional a member of their professional organization? What about the incoming one? (Please encourage and pay for their membership, which provides networking and resources, as well as a code of conduct.)
  • How long has the outgoing professional been in their position? Why are they leaving?
  • Is the incoming professional a member of the congregation and/or otherwise already a familiar face within the congregation?
  • Has there been a gap between outgoing and incoming professionals?
  • What “what-ifs” can you anticipate? For example, might congregants reach out to the outgoing professional to ask questions or express concerns that should be directed to the incoming professional? If the incoming professional has occasional questions, is the outgoing professional open to receiving and responding to them?
  • Are congregational policies or professional organization code of conduct provisions in play?

Samples

See Sample Covenants for Staff Transitions (PDF), based on work done by the Association for UU Music Ministries, with support from Jan Gartner.

Do you have a covenant between an outgoing and incoming staff member that has worked well? We would love to add it to this page. Send to Comp@uua.org. (We will strip out identifying information.)