Human Resources / Mission Communications

Human Resources/Mission Communications Sha Farley, Chief Human Resources Officer

A fundamental premise behind all we do in Communications and Human Resources is that robust, sustainable mission growth — more kids experiencing and responding to the love of Christ — begins with our most valuable resource: our people. To that end, our team is committed to supporting staff in their personal and professional lives and enhancing systems and resources that enable them to focus on their primary ministry roles.

Blessing Those Who Bless Kids

Every four years, a team from across the mission that includes staff from Communications Services, led by Vice President of Communications Terry Swenson, helps create an experience for Young Life staff and spouses that mirrors what they offer young people every day: an opportunity to learn, worship, play and know how deeply the Lord loves them. As with past celebrations, YL2020 was a chance to stretch and learn as we created everything from 5,500 personalized registration packets to stunning digital materials to a giant 3D conference logo. In the process, we learn new techniques and technologies that enable our team to support the field, camping and senior leadership in their design, video and communication needs.

Healthy Things Grow

It has been said healthy people grow healthy ministries. To that end, Ann Shackelton, vice president of Mission Care and Enrichment, has created and led a “Personal Health in Ministry” class in partnership with Dr. Jaco Hamman, director of the

Program in Theology and Practice at Vanderbilt Divinity School, for 10 years running. This offering focuses on the interior personal health of the pastoral leader in Young Life. Topics included are inner space and capacity; loss, grief and shame; lament; the value of a playful life; healthy use of technology; and healthy listening and offering counsel. We continue to see welcomed receptivity on the part of our staff.

After offering this experience to senior leadership in Communications and Human Resources, we’re encouraged to elevate this training to more senior leadership teams to contribute to the overall health and functioning of Young Life, because healthy things grow.

Total Care for Those Who Care for Kids

This year, the Total Rewards team, led by Vice President of Total Rewards Troy Mulder, is working to fuel ministry growth by enhancing dated HR and benefits practices to free staff to work on reaching and teaching more kids. Recent strides include automation of our excellent health coverage offerings via online enrollment participation (physical well-being), simplification of, and earlier enrollment into, our generous retirement plan (financial health for the future), and continued enhancements to our medical and non-medical benefits plans at the best possible cost available.

On the retirement front, a new task force has begun to assist staff with pre-retirement planning, and the response has been positive! We provide world-class benefits and service which we believe assures our staff, and their families, that we care deeply and want the best for them.

Kingdom Leadership

Vice President for Talent Management and Mission Capabilities Jane Renken and a crossfunctional team of mission leaders have been working to enhance key phases of staff selection and development.

Focusing first on improved senior leader hiring practices, we’ve integrated behavioralbased questions into our interview processes. These questions align to four core principles: self-awareness, courage, collaboration and developing others.

Looking next at ways to support staff and their supervisors in conversations and decisions about career paths, we’ve implemented additional practices to assist with talent planning. These disciplines enable us to support our leaders in their growth and leadership journey.

Finally, we’re investing in senior leadership with the launch of Developing Kingdom Leaders (DKL). DKL will bring learning and development cohorts of 20 leaders together twice annually over a period of two years to build capability in our four core principles. The first two cohorts will start in May and June of 2020, and will include senior leadership from across the global mission.

A Bigger and More Inclusive Leadership Table

Our efforts toward creating more leadership opportunities for women and people of color are bearing fruit. Missionwide, the percentage of staff of color at the vice president tier increased from 19% to 27% over the last year. Internationally, women are being promoted into leadership roles, with the number of female area or regional directors increasing by almost 12% during the same period. You can learn more about our work in the report (p. 61) by Arthur Satterwhite, vice president of Multiethnic Ministries, Diversity and Belonging, whose efforts are integrated with the work of our team.

We pray our work supports our desire of becoming a mission that more closely resembles the communities and kids we serve. As we continue toward GROWTH TOGETHER, we are confident that the excellent benefits and the enrichment and leadership opportunities will encourage and sustain ministry today and into the future.

OPERATIONS

Thank the Lord for Mrs. Clara Frasher and her small group in Texas who prayed for the kids at Gainesville High School for six years! God continues to use their seeds of faith, sowed in the 1930s, to sprout new growth today! — Chad Sievert