Many nonprofits and ministries are realizing utilizing executive search firms is not just for large corporate companies anymore, and the rest of the nation is beginning to see its value as well. The Deseret News recently published a national feature about the use of executive search firms and its benefits for churches in particular, including comments and examples from FaithSearch Partners Senior Vice President Jeff Jernigan.
The article explains the efficiency and long-term cost savings using a search firm can bring about when hiring a new pastor, as opposed to using an internal hiring committee. An internal team can be overwhelmed by the volume of (often under-qualified) applications or distracted by other duties and therefore take much longer to arrive at a decision, but a search firm is highly focused and can cast a wider net for highly qualified candidates.
“Many times,” Jernigan says, an organization will either “find someone within three or four months that may be selected prematurely and not work out at some point, or they might take eight to 10 months to get it done because the (search) committee doesn’t have the same focus and expertise.”
He adds that for a recruiter, accurately conveying exactly what a church or organization is looking for can be very difficult. The description must of course describe the position, the congregation’s goals and its role in the community, but also allow a potential candidate to “read between the lines of who this individual needs to be in terms of their talent, skills, calling, values, maturity and character.” A search firm can help perfect this description using its combined years of experience to find the right candidate at the right time.
To read more from the article, click here.
