We hear you asking: How many staff members should we have? What's the best staffing configuration for a congregation of our size? What if we can't afford the staff we have, much less the staff we want to have?

We don't have the secret sauce for you, but we hope the concepts presented here will spur generative thinking among the leadership (both lay and staff) of your congregation.

This page is a work in progress.

Key Concepts and Practices

• Take good care of your staff through appropriate compensation, realistic job scopes, supportive supervision, and policies that reflect UU values.
• Do what you can do well with the resources you have. It is not up to the staff to "do all the things."
• Flexibility is needed as priorities (and people) change.
• There is no "one right way" to staff your congregation, and the configuration that works today will not serve you indefinitely.
• Ensure that staff are conversation partners as you explore alternatives (while being clear about ultimate decision-making authority).

Context

The Purpose of Staff

Congregations are intended to be (mainly) volunteer organizations. You may wonder why so many have employees at all. By playing important roles in keeping the congregation's programs and operations running, members are freed up to make the mission and ministry happen. Covering key responsibilities through paid staff extends overall capacity and helps ensure expertise, consistency, and accountability.

Professionalization

Congregations recognize the value of well-trained, accountable employees. The move toward professional expectations across the staff team has had very positive outcomes. In the critical area of religious education, for instance, congregations appreciate having staff who will pay attention to trends in the field, learn from counterparts, apply best practices, and contribute to collaborative staff teams.

Ensuring that your staff are part of their professional organizations not only equips staff through resources, continuing education, and collegial networks, but also provides your congregation with the assurance that staff are knowledgeable about professional standards and accountable to a code of conduct.

Trends

Staffing levels and costs have increased in recent decades. Hours and positions, including specialized roles, have been added; a higher level of professionalization is expected. While some point to a reduction in volunteerism as the reason for the expansion of staff, the picture is more complicated. Consider, for instance: an increasingly complex regulatory environment, greater proficiency needed in technology, more attention to safety and security, and the call for better coordination and collaboration across ministry areas.

To the extent that you have more trouble finding volunteers than in times past, it may mean: 1) you are letting go of longtime expectations of unpaid labor (especially by women), 2) avenues for participation need to evolve, or even 3) there's been a loss of a sense of ownership among the members as they have come to rely on staff to do everything.

An abundance of books about church staffing came out between the 1980s and the early 2000s, much of it formulaic in nature and framed around staffing for numerical growth. While you will still find such quantitative guidance, recent articles and resources tend to acknowledge the many factors that lead to customized arrangements. Staffing norms vary greatly, across denominations and across UU congregations.

Finances

In recent history, most congregations dedicated roughly 70% of their operating budget to staff (including salaries, benefits, professional expenses, and payroll taxes). Anecdotally, this percentage seems to be creeping up, not so much because of an increase in staff of late but due to factors such as upward pressure on salaries, as well as higher benefit and professional expense costs in the context of relatively flat budgets. When congregations experience financial strain, leaders often find themselves reconsidering their staffing.

Strategies

Congregations as Small Employers: Nimbleness

Even the largest of our congregations are small employers. Think of a cherished independent business in your town. Perhaps they supply you with outstanding specialty cupcakes or it's the only place you'll take your dog to get groomed. Very likely, you know the employees and have observed how well they function well as a team.

As a customer, you may not be aware of all of the ways this business has adapted over time – employees got trained on new technologies, increased competition forced pricing and marketing adjustments, and processes were modified to comply with new safety standards. This successful small business's staff show creativity, flexibility, and a willingness to roll with the changes; the owners have ensured that their pay stays aligned with local wage norms, even as new pressures are cutting into profits. In thinking about your congregation, what parallels do you see?

Here are some ideas for cultivating a nimble team:

• Hire for core competencies like teamwork and adaptability as much as for specific skills and experience.
• Seek a diverse staff. A team that collectively brings a variety of identities, along with differing work and lived experiences, can provide a stronger foundation for adapting to change. (See Staffing for Diversity in LeaderLab.)
• Avoid making job descriptions too specific. Identify general areas of responsibility that require expertise and consistency. Within that larger framework, appreciate that particulars will change over time.
• Support continuing education and urge staff to be involved in their professional organizations. In addition to strengthening the ministries of the congregation, continuing education averts burnout, amplifies professionalism, and reinforces the value of collegial relationships.
• Implement cross-training on key staff functions, including volunteers as backups when appropriate.
• Foster a culture of community care. Make sure your staff have what they need to be successful, including supportive supervision and time for rest. (See Valuing Your Staff in LeaderLab.)

Nonstandard Staffing Possibilities

• Staff-sharing across congregations: By sharing personnel, congregations can expand work opportunities for talented staff, enhance programs and services in UU faith communities, and live our theology of interdependence. (See Sharing Staff in LeaderLab.)
• Congregational collaboration: While each congregation may have their own staff, congregations working together can lighten workloads and deepen relationships through collaboration. Examples: one congregation offers Our Whole Lives to two congregations while the other hosts a combined Youth Group; three area ministers do a pulpit swap over three weeks; a music-reading class is offered to a cluster of congregations.
• Blended Roles: You have a talented part-time staff member and an unmet need in another area of congregational life. Might this staff member be able to take on an additional role with some added hours? A number of staff are filling two roles within their congregations, e.g., administrator and membership manager. A blended role results in a more robust position for your staff member; makes the most of their skills; and eliminates the need to recruit, hire, and onboard another part-time staff member. Do a trial period and recognize the need for adjustments and trade-offs.
• Remote workers: Sometimes congregations have trouble hiring locally and/or want to keep a valued staff member who is leaving the area. If an employee will be working mainly from afar, consider how to keep them connected to the congregation and the community, how the standard job duties may need to be adjusted, and workload changes that might come into play. Also, be aware that there may be payroll implications when hiring across state lines.

Normalize Part-time Work

Most employees of UU congregations are part-time. Many are part-time by choice – intentionally bivocational; semi-retired; and/or making time for family, education, or other obligations and pursuits. Others are creating full-time congregational work through shared positions, as discussed above. Some would gladly work additional hours (for additional pay) if you could offer them.

Sometimes employers have expectations of part-time staff that are more appropriate for closer-to-full-time employees, e.g., impractical in-office requirements, daily availability, or an unrealistic workload. Have conversations with your staff about schedule and more, showing flexibility when possible while being clear about your needs. Taking care of part-time staff by supporting the totality of their lives and livelihoods will reduce frustration and turnover. Remember that part-time is the norm.

Revisit Staffing Levels and Structure

• What are your priorities? What can you support well? If you are struggling to maintain staffing levels or aren't sure that your staffing configuration is ideal, faithful discernment can help you move forward in accordance with your mission and values. Consider getting help from regional staff or others in structuring a discernment process. Who takes the lead? How can your staff participate?

• Resist basing staffing decisions on easy metrics. For instance, lower religious education attendance doesn't automatically translate to fewer staff hours needed. Fewer kids enrolled, or less regularity in attendance, may mean that the religious educator is using time to: rethink program design, follow up with families, and/or collaborate with others to reimagine the congregation's ministry to families. (Additionally, some responsibilities are independent of program size, e.g., preparing a Time for All Ages.) In assessing appropriate staff time, consider the expectations you have for the position, what a reduction in hours would mean, the congregation's mission, and your vision for the program area.
• Take advantage of voluntary staff departures to reflect on current needs.
• If you are reducing an employee's hours, be sure to reduce the scope of work proportionally.
• Consider disparate impacts when contemplating furloughs or other across-the-board measures. How will these affect those with lower pay or fewer safety nets – and those who already experience greater systemic impacts from societal challenges?
• If eliminating a position becomes necessary, see Compassionate Staff Terminations in LeaderLab.

• Be transparent. Employees deserve to know if position reductions or eliminations are under consideration for budgetary reasons. Supervisors, keep your staff informed. Involve staff in conversations, as appropriate, and communicate the decision-making process and timeline. Make sure staff receive advance notice of personnel-related congregational communications.

Shared Ministry

The ministry of your congregation is meant to be carried out by the members. We rely on staff to supply core skills, knowledge, and consistency. But staff aren't supposed to "do it all." How can your staff be equippers and mobilizers of the laity?

Competing Needs

You want to attract and retain great staff, pay them well, and ensure that they have everything they need to be successful. But resources are limited. Leaders are wondering how to "do more with less." You recognize that eliminating positions, reducing hours, and/or failing to provide raises could be costly in terms of staff morale, loss of institutional memory, and program disruption. Consider using polarities to help you reframe competing needs or values as complementary. Staff-related polarities to explore include:

• Staffing Levels and Staff Compensation
• Reliance on Staff and Reliance on Laity
• Staff as Generalists and Staff as Specialists
• Consistency and Flexibility