Michael Schrage is a research fellow at MIT Sloan School’s Center for Digital Business who advises organizations on the economics of innovation through rapid experimentation, simulation and digital design. He recently wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review exploring an important way one can learn about organizational culture. Schrage writes:
Paying close attention to customer complaints is a leadership “best practice.” Here’s a better practice: Pay even closer attention to people’s complaints about customers. Few things say more about organizational culture and character than how employees complain about the customers and clients they serve . . . What employees say — and how they say it — when the going gets tough speaks volumes. So listen up.
So What?
Learning how to effectively leverage human resources is a growing edge for most nonprofit organizations, including churches. In most congregations, the paid staff (lay and clergy) is relatively small. It is incredibly important to understand how the personnel speak to one another about parishioners. While the occasional sharing of frustrating experiences is normative and can be both helpful and healthy, a general tendency to view parishioners negatively is problematic.
- Do the staff (lay and clergy) in your congregation talk differently about parishioners when none are present? If so, how can the appropriate body (Council, Personnel, etc.) support the primary influencer (often the Senior Pastor, but not always) in her or his quest to shift this aspect of organizational culture?
- How does your congregation invest in developing its human resources? What opportunities are staff given for study leave and professional development? Are the amounts of time and money provided adequate for achieving your desired human resources goals?