What it means
Staff are all paid employees of the organization from the CEO to the front line. They typically make up the largest line item in a museum’s budget. Museums also have an array of other service providers, including regular vendors, contractors, and others who are all seen by visitors in the same light as paid employees and who contribute profoundly to the organization’s success. Paid employees, however, have access to different information and are held to higher standards.
How it’s used
While all members of the museum community are expected to uphold its values and serve to engage the public, it is the museum staff that are ultimately responsible for this work and are paid to represent the museum in the eyes of the public. The museum is responsible to ensure that anyone actively working with the museum conducts themselves appropriately because they are in effect representing the museum even though they may not be staff.
Staff are thought workers who help shape the direction of the organization. They are the core team that carries out the museum’s mission and activates the strategic plan. As such, they are critical to the success of the organization and are not just resources in the same vein as facilities or collections.
Note: The majority of North American museums are small museums, many of which have few or no paid staff. In those cases, the roles and responsibilities of paid employees may fall to board members and volunteers.
Why it matters
Since museums exist to serve the public, all those who interface directly with the public are critical to its purpose. Any negative experience in the museum is a threat to the brand and thus, future visitation, membership, etc.
How a museum treats its employees has a direct impact on audience experience. The health and well-being of museum employees is thus foundational to an organization’s capacity to effectively serve the broader public and fulfill its mission.
Recommends
The word “staff” is commonly used for employees who are not part of the leadership and this, in our view, is problematic because it supports a particular mental model.
As we see it, the term staff creates a false sense of separation between decision-makers or “thinkers” and “doers.” All employees should all be both decision makers and doers.
“Team members” is a better term in our view and all members of the team should be empowered to make executive decisions within their designated area of responsibility, rooted in the organization’s Core Values and also be fully empowered to carry out those decisions. “Staff” as a term interferes with this sense of agency.