Creating a new role
It is important, before starting a recruitment exercise, to be clear about what you are trying to achieve. Many churches believe that having a Children & Youth/Community worker will help to increase the presence of young people but they have not really thought out how this will be achieved. It may be useful to consider the below questions:
What do you see as the purpose of youth work?It is important to be clear about the purpose and duties of the post. For example, do you want the post holder to evangelise or work where young people are, in order to enable them to develop their potential and make decisions for themselves? If not resolved at the beginning, major differences of understanding could affect the success of the work.
Whose needs are you responding to?Have the needs you have identified come from your church or circuit community? The role needs to fit the needs of the church, not the individual.
Have you consulted with and involved those who the project is aimed at?Good consultation will ensure there is support for the post holder and minimise the potential for misunderstandings.
Are you clear about the outcomes you expect? Are you able to state clearly the duties of the post?In order to make a good appointment it is important that you state clearly what the job will involve and what you expect of the post holder.
What other resources will be needed to achieve your aim?You should consider how the post holder will be managed, what support will be available and from whom, what resources the post holder will need (office, computer, computer packages for example) and how these will be funded.
How will the post holder and the work be monitored and evaluated?Monitoring and evaluating involves carrying out ongoing work in progress meetings, ongoing feedback and interim and annual appraisals with the post holder.
As part of probationary period and and performance development review SMART objectives should be agreed as well as identifying training and development needs and providing the necessary opportunities for training and development to take place.
Does the church membership as a whole own the project?It is important that there is wide support for the appointment and a shared understanding of what the post holder will be expected to do. Avoid one or two people driving the appointment without gaining general support. Agreement and support for the appointment and the objectives will increase the potential for success in the post.
Is there scope for a partnership arrangement with other churches or organisations?Sometimes a joint approach can be helpful. In this case it may be helpful/useful for one of the organisations to act as the employer with agreement between the parties about management and funding.
What terms and conditions are appropriate? Is the role open ended or fixed term in nature?