In March 2021, Church Council approved the formation of a Compensation Task Force to create comprehensive compensation guidelines, including a total compensation philosophy, and strategies for future procedures to determine UCG staff compensation. Members include Karen Archer (Board of Business), Tim Martin (Congregation Ministry Review Board), Hannah Norton (Board of Parish Ministry), Maureen Killoran (at-large), Marianne Schmink (at-large), Karen Johnson (Chair), and Bromleigh McCleneghan (staff).
The Task Force began its work by conducting one-on-one interviews with 8 salaried staff members, 2 current clergy and 2 former clergy, and 11 lay leaders with experience serving on the Compensation Committee or other board that makes decisions about salaries.
In general, the eight staff members reported feeling that they are compensated fairly, and they were articulate about how their work contributes to UCG’s mission. Lay members felt that there is general goodwill and desire to do the best for employees that we can afford, and that people do a good job of balancing heart and mind in the compensation process.
Nonetheless, frustration was expressed by lay members about the lack of objective standards for determining compensation, resulting in an ad hoc approach, with some distinct anomalies in individual contracts. There is a strong need for data on compensation for comparable positions in our recruiting market. To address this need, the Church Council recently authorized the Compensation Task Force to hire a local Certified Compensation Professional, to do a market salary and benefit survey for many of our staff positions. This fall, the Compensation Task Force will be focusing our efforts on the market survey.
Other problems noted by our survey respondents included a lack of clarity as to how performance relates to compensation, lack of comprehensive consideration of both cash and non-cash compensation, and the need for more continuity on the compensation committee. We expect to begin work on these and other questions in January.