Welcome back once again to another exciting episode of the unSeminary podcast. I’m so happy to have Creative Coach and Consultant Stephen Brewster with us today.

With missionary parents, Stephen has lived all over the world and then grew up to go to six different colleges, so he’s experienced a lot of transitions. During his senior year, he left college and moved to Nashville, Tennessee to chase his music dreams. God opened doors for him in the music industry, but Stephen always had a love for the local church and so God eventually led him into creative leadership within the church.

Stephen is here today to talk with us about transitions. People are always either going into a transition, in the middle of a transition, or coming out of a transition. How should we as leaders be thinking about helping others in our organizations during transition times?

* Transitions are tough. // In the church world, we can miss the weight of what a transition really means for people. Unlike the secular workplace, transitions into and out of ministry mean uprooting individuals and families from their spiritual “home” and hub. There is loss that needs to be processed as individuals move on from a church, a pastor, a small group, or the people they’ve served with. A person’s local community can suddenly change dramatically and they can feel cut-off from relationships at a previous church. For these reasons it’s important that we on-board and off-board people well.

* Prepare new hires for success. // Hiring and firing is the most expensive thing we can do – if we don’t hire well, we’re going to end up hiring again. Take your time when it comes to hiring the right people. Think about character, competency and chemistry. Is this new person going to fit? Do they match who we are? Do they fit the values? Can they adapt to the values if they don’t? Once you hire someone, make sure you on-board well. A lot of times people are thrown into work with no preparation. What are the resources they need to read and listen to and watch before day one? Once they reach day one, have you given them a worksheet that has all of their passwords and expectations? Plan out their first week hour by hour and have them meet with HR, individuals on their team, and so on to get to know everyone. Make the process fun rather than all busy work. What 90-day goals can they be working toward to have a clear understanding of what they should be aiming for? Think about your culture – how do you make that person feel important in that culture? Set them up to thrive in and to understand that culture.

* Don’t overlook the importance of off-boarding well. // Unfortunately, we also have to let people go sometimes. When you’re letting someone go, most of the time they’re going to be surprised because if they were self-aware they would have probably fixed the problem. Even though you may have written them up before and have a paper trail, the day you let them go they probably won’t understand why. As a leader, you have to think through who this person is connected to and how it will affect the rest of the organization, as well as what your communication plan is to the organization. Who needs to know what and when? Take into consideration that it’s usually not your story to tell, it’s their story to tell. Be fully truthful but full of love in the conversations around the dismissal and never meet with them alone to remove any potential “he said/she said” conversations. It’s important to document everything in these situations, but also give them everything you can financially to help them in this transition. If possible extend counseling sessions post-employment to help them process what happened. In healthy cultures with secure leaders, you care more about the people than anything else, so you’re going to lead them through that transition well.