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Onboarding: Approval Phase

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Approval Phase@4x.png
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Once someone has passed the Screening phase, it's time to prepare them for their new role. In this next phase, we will meet with a new volunteer for an in-person Orientation, let them observe an experienced volunteer and help them get started with online training. Check out the sections below to learn how to facilitate each of these steps.

Process Queues (Approval Phase)

Check out the section below to see an overview of all the Process Queues for new volunteers and which ones are part of the Approval Phase.
Name of Process Queue
How did they end up in this Queue?
What am I supposed to do in this step?
1
Welcome Email
Someone signed up for your team online at move.sc/teams.
Send them a Welcome Email with a link to the full volunteer application.
2
2nd Follow Up
Someone has not completed their volunteer application yet.
Send them a Reminder Email with a link to complete the full application.
3
3rd Follow Up
Someone has not completed their volunteer application yet.
Shoot them a text or give them a call to see if they are still interested in joining your team. If not, remove them from the Queue.
4
Application Received
Someone has completed the full volunteer application.
Review their application to see if there are any red flags and, if not, move them to the next Queue (Reference Checks).
5
Reference Checks
Someone has completed the full volunteer application.
Look up the references they listed in their application and send them an email with a link to complete a quick Reference Check form. Once completed, review the references to see if there are any red flags and, if not, move them to the next Queue (Background Check).
6
Background Check
Someone has completed the full volunteer application.
There is a designated person at each campus who runs all background checks. Once they receive the results, they will notify you if the applicant can proceed or not.
7
Interview
Someone has been cleared through Reference Checks and a Background Check.
Send them an email inviting them to come in for an Interview. You (or a team leader) will interview the applicant to determine if they are safe and healthy.
8
Orientation
Someone has passed their Interview.
Invite them to an in person Orientation where you (or a team leader) prepares them for their new role.
9
Joined the Team
Someone has completed the onboarding process and decided to join your team.
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10
Did Not Join the Team
Someone decided not to join your team or was not approved.
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There are no rows in this table
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Facilitating an Orientation

1. Take them on a tour of the kids ministry area. There are a number of reasons why we think tours are helpful for new volunteers. For one thing, lots of people have no idea where they want to serve or what age group they like best. This is a great way to help them figure that out.
There are also plenty of people who have some sort of stereotype about what kids ministry is all about. Perhaps they expect it to be like the sunday school they grew up in. Maybe they assume they have to be an expert teacher and spend hours prepping during the week. Showing them what our team is actually like answers a lot of those questions before they even have to ask.
2. Determine which role they’re interested in. Most people have no idea what roles we have on our kids team. A big reason why people don’t sign up for kids ministry is because they can’t see themselves being a “teacher”. We want to highlight all of the different ways that they can be a part of our team. They may even be surprised to find that there’s something they like more than their original preference. Ultimately, we want each person who joins our team to find their sweet spot.
Now that we’ve shared with them about all of the roles on our team, they should probably have a decent idea which one they would fit best in. Use the
Role Description Sheet
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for the role they have chosen to explain the expectations and responsibilities.
3. Walk them through our safety guidelines. We have created a compact version of our Volunteer Handbooks and listed all of the must-know things on
a single page
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. It is absolutely critical that we cover each and every policy/procedure listed on this sheet. We have boiled all of our handbooks down to the most crucial pieces, so keep in mind that everything on that sheet is important.
PRO TIP: We have created the safety guidelines to be general enough that it could apply to all of our campuses. If there is additional information about your campus or team that team members must know, this is your chance to share it with them.
4. Have them sign the Volunteer Agreement. Once you’ve talked through their role and covered policies, invite them to sign the
Volunteer Agreement
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. This outlines all of the expectations we have for the members of our kids ministry team.
5. Explain their next steps for Online Training. Finally, help the new volunteer get started with Basic Training. Invite them to go to sandalskids.com/basictraining to get started. Explain which track they should go to based on the role they’re interested in.
Once they’ve finished their Orientation, invite them back the following week to observe the role they are interested in.

Facilitating an Observation

1. Give them a chance to observe the role they’re interested in. By now the volunteer should have identified the role they’re interested in and the age group that most excites them. Find a volunteer that you trust who is serving in the role the new volunteer is interested in and allow them to observe what it’s actually like. Give them an
Observation Sheet
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so they have an idea what to look for.
2. Follow up after their observation. Invite them to come find you after service so that they can drop off their sheet and debrief how things went. If for some reason they can’t find you, let them know to drop it off at the check-in desk before they leave and assure them that you’ll give them a call during the week to ask how things went.
PRO TIP: If after their observation they are still uncertain about the role, give them a chance to observe somewhere else the following week. It’s ok if they need more than one week to find out. Ultimately, our goal is to help them find their sweet spot.
3. Place them in a role. Once they’ve completed their observation, assign them to the role and service time that’s the best fit.

Welcoming a New Team Member

While it may not seem like such a big deal to us, the first day for a new volunteer is a special moment. We want them to feel comfortable, noticed and prepared. More than anything though, we want to make it a memorable day. Here are some of the things that you'll want to do to set them up for success on day one:
Give them their shirt and name tag.
Give them a small welcome gift.
Example: Have a stock of chocolate-y (e.g. Snickers) and fruity candy (e.g. Skittles) on hand. Check their Fun Facts sheet to see what they like most and give it to them with their shirt/name tag.
Give them a shoutout in 30B4.
Example: "Hey everybody! This is Taylor and today is her first day on our team, so make sure you say 'hello' and welcome her before you head to your groups."
Introduce them to their team leader.
Introduce them to the volunteers in their room and/or small group, if applicable.
Touch base with them before they leave to hear how their first day was.

PRO TIP #1
Create a "welcome bag" that can hold all of the things they need on their first day:
volunteer shirt
name tag
welcome gift
hand-written note from you

PRO TIP #2
If you're in an Elementary environment, it can be fun to give the new volunteer a shoutout during Large Group. You can play a stage game where the new leader gets to participate. Some people don't like being the center of attention though, so use good judgment to avoid putting someone in an uncomfortable position on their first day.

Online Training

Once a new volunteer has made it through the screening phase (background check, reference check and interview), we will direct them to sandalskids.com/basictraining to complete the online training for the role they signed up for. See the full list of tracks below:
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Nursery Track
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: For anyone who serves with babies and toddlers from 0 to 24 months.
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Early Childhood Track
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: For anyone who serves with kids from 2 to 5 years old.
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Elementary Track
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: For anyone who serves with kids from Kindergarten to 6th Grade.
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Host Track
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: For anyone who leads Large Group.
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Worship Track
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: For anyone who leads worship during Large Group.
Real Friends Track (coming soon): For anyone who serves with special needs children.
Check-in Track (coming soon): For anyone who serves on the check-in team.

As part of your new hire training, it’s important that you take each of the online courses listed above so that you can see how we operate as a ministry and gain an understanding of how we prepare new volunteers for their roles. (Feel free to skip ahead if you have already covered one of the topics in a previous track.)
HOW TO TRACK THEIR PROGRESS
You can check on someone’s progress by going to the main Course page. There will be a tab on the left that says “Members”. If you click on that, it will show the full list of people who are enrolled in that course. Underneath each person's name there will be a percentage that shows how much of the course they have completed.
Go to the next section:
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Managing Your Team
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