Why Your Staff Handbook Doesn’t Belong on a Shelf

We talk to churches every day about how to care for their staff well. Our number one recommendation for clearly and compliantly communicating to your staff: a Staff Handbook. 

A Staff Handbook might feel like a really boring to-do that you simply cross off your list and put up on a shelf to collect dust until you need it, but it actually requires and deserves a little more attention than that. Here are two things you need to do every year to keep your Staff Handbook compliant and useful:

1. Make Sure It’s Up To Date.
   A good Staff Handbook guides your team and creates clear expectations. When was the last time you read it to make sure it’s still accurate and up to date? Does it reference positions that no longer exist? Have you updated pre-  or post-COVID-19 policies that are no longer relevant? Have you checked to make sure your state laws haven’t changed? (PRO TIP: Download our state-specific Labor Law Cheat Sheet as an easy reference!) Laws and culture changes and incompliance could cost you more than you think.
   
   

2. Review It With Your Staff.
   Your Staff Handbook doesn’t actually serve its purpose sitting in a dusty drawer (or Dropbox). Distribute your Staff Handbooks to new employees and review it regularly with your staff. We recommend going through the key policies at least once a year (try a policy or section each week during staff meetings). This gives you an opportunity to draw attention to any changes in policies or procedures and keeps expectations top of mind for your team.

You may get to this point and feel a little overwhelmed because the layer of dust on your current Staff Handbook is thicker than the sludge on the bottom of the break room coffee pot. You might even be panicking because actually writing a Staff Handbook is so overwhelming you have never even attempted it. Don’t sweat it.

We are the church HR experts. We can help you create or update your fully customized and compliant Custom Staff Handbook in five easy steps (and it will cost less than the hours you’d put in yourself!). Listen to our own church and ministry HR experts dive deeper into the importance of Staff Handbooks in our webinar, Why NOT Having a Staff Handbook Could Cripple Your Ministry. Find out why staff handbooks are non-negotiable and the risks of not having one, what is (and isn’t) included in a staff handbook, and how to implement your Custom Staff Handbook well. Click below to watch!