I’ve been involved with Teen Challenge, officially and unofficially, since 1978, and one thing is certain: we need to keep growing and adjusting. Today’s students are vastly different from those who came through our doors in the 60s or 90s and we need to understand them in order to better serve them. One of the ways we do this is by listening to them.
There are several ways to accomplish this. Here are a few ideas that I would encourage you to try:
- Have students complete anonymous, random, and regular staff evaluations. This is a highly effective instrument to measure how your students perceive and experience your staff. It also reveals areas where staff need to make changes, exposes problems, and identifies positive aspects of staff-student interactions.
- Keep track of each staff member’s student completion rate. Every few months, review those completion rates with the staff. This will create an ongoing dialogue between you to set benchmarks of job performance, identify strengths, weaknesses, and resources to facilitate continued personal and professional growth.
- Conduct Exit Interviews with every student who leaves your program whether it is because of completion, voluntary exit, or dismissal. While it may be uncomfortable to read through angry and inflammatory comments, there is something to be learned. When you begin to notice a repetition of themes, you can either cultivate what is working, or modify what needs to improve.
Even if you are a Teen Challenge graduate, times have changed since you went through the program and our students can be our teachers when we value their insights and perspectives. Right now, Teen Challenge has an average completion rate of 23%. That’s not bad, but I believe we can do better.
Someone once told me that the “seven last words” of the church are “we have never done it that way,” and that could also be said of Teen Challenge.
Listen to your students and study their perspectives. Use those lessons to encourage staff growth and develop more effective ways of helping our students grow in Christ and find freedom from life-controlling problems.
