When you have to fire a Staffer or Volunteer

Two weeks ago I talked about making changes in your program for the better.  Part of those changes involved making staffing and volunteer changes.  That post focused primarily on strategically placing staffers or volunteers and/or moving them around to make them most effective in their roles.

But what happens when a staff member or a volunteer not only becomes ineffective in their role, but starts bringing dissention and conflict into the group or the leadership team? What if, by what they say or do, end up tearing the group and leadership down or apart? What do you do then?

It is in these times that have been some of the hardest in my time in ministry. In 1 Timothy 2:16 Paul writes to Timothy, “But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,” (ESV). With this in mind, if you have a leader who is causing dissention and ungodliness in your group, you have to deal with it immediately and swiftly.  If not, a lot of harm can come to your program.

The first step you can take is to go and talk about it with your supervisor. You have to let him know what you are dealing with and ask for his advise on how to handle it. I had a situation one time when I handled a situation without talking to my supervisor first and when he found out, we had a pretty big disagreement with how I handled the situation. We were able to rectify it and come to a joint conclusion, but had I gone to him first and talked it through with him, he could have been more supportive and helped more.  You need the support of your superior(s) on this.

The second step is to go before the staffer or volunteer and express your concerns with them.  It would be great if you did this one on one, but if you need to, it might be best bring your supervisor and trusted partner in ministry with you.  At this meeting, in a loving way, let them know that their behavior and actions are not appropriate for the leadership position they are in.  Then try to come to a joint conclusion on some actions steps to resolve the situation.  If a resolution can come about and this leader can continue to serve in your ministry, great!  Make the changes and move forward together as a team (skip the last step).

However, if it is not possible for your “working” relationship to continue, then a change needs to happen. That is when the last step has to take place.  That would be to end the working relationship. As with most things, this is not ideal, but if no resolution can come about in a productive way, it would be best to end the ministry relationship.  If you know that this step is a very likely conclusion before the meeting happens with this leader then it would be best to have your supervisor with you as a 3rd party.  That way you will have support and validation of what was said and how it happened (just in case this leader becomes more disgruntled and starts saying things to others that are not true).

In the past when I have had to let go of a leader, where I got myself into trouble was not being completely straightforward with people and “letting them off easy”. That enabled them to continue to bring down the group more, just in a different way. Speaking the truth to them in love is needed, just as long as the truth comes out.

Thoughts?  Questions?  Comments?  Experiences?  TAKE A MINUTE and share so that we can all benefit and learn from this tough action to take.