You cannot deliver an exceptional student experience through faculty and staff who feel ignored, confused, overextended, or disconnected from the mission.
Christian colleges need to pay attention to this.
When I was chief innovation officer at George Fox University, I also oversaw human resources. Sometimes it felt like working in the principal’s office. Every bad personnel issue eventually landed there.
But we had a vision to make the university a great place to work. That required helping people understand what we were building and how their work contributed to it.
That’s why Starbucks’s turnaround effort caught my attention.
Brian Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” strategy includes investments in staffing, scheduling, and employee support. The premise is pretty straightforward: A better customer experience depends on giving employees what they need to succeed.
The same is true for Christian colleges. And that often starts with the fundamentals.
At George Fox, we held regular all-campus meetings with really good food and beverages. Creating an environment where people want to spend time together matters.
We began with shoutouts recognizing employees who were doing exceptional work delivering the “Be Known” promise we made to students.
Recognition not only makes someone feel appreciated, it shows everyone what success looks like, what matters most, and how their work contributes to the mission. We also held Q-and-As, listened to employees’ needs, and created opportunities to hear directly from leadership.
I hired Nichole Drew, now Vice President of People, and she took that work to the next level. George Fox is now certified as a 2026 Best Christian Workplace.
This is part of putting strategy into practice.
Strategy evolves as it unfolds. Your people need to know what has changed, what hasn’t, and what that means for their work.
Most employees want to be good at their jobs. They want their work to matter and to trust the people they work for and with.
That requires consistent communication and time together because things can get busy.
Three or four months pass without meaningful engagement. Questions go unanswered. People fill in the blanks. Confusion and mistrust begin to change the culture.
Eventually, students feel it through skeptical comments, frustrated employees, and conflicting answers.
The promise you make in your marketing gets harder to deliver when the people responsible don’t feel heard, informed, or appreciated.
A great student experience requires a great employee experience. Leaders have to make time for both.
Is your team equipped and aligned to deliver the promise you make to students? TG Three helps Christian colleges turn strategy into shared purpose and coordinated action. Let’s talk about aligning your people with your strategy.