Leaderboard

Thanks for your replies everyone. @Evarni, I hand pick my staff based on activity and helpfulness etc. If people ask to become staff, they are immediately removed from the list of people who I may consider. I only pick from existing members also, only ones which have been members for a considerable amount of time. -T

The question is this: Were they really active before you made them staff? If so, the best thing to do is communicate with them (like you did) and ask if they plan on being active again. Wait a reasonable time for their answer, and make a decision based on that. I am not saying this is what you did, but always avoid "hiring" staff in the following two scenarios: [*]Posting on another website advertising you're looking for staff. Basically, this is just a crap-shoot and you're likely to get someone who just wants a moderator title, but isn't willing to put any work into your site. They may be active for a few days, then they just tend to fall off the face of the earth. Frankly speaking, they are probably applying for moderation positions at numerous sites and are not reliable at all. [*]Anyone who asks to become a moderator. When someone pm's you at your site asking you to become a moderator . . most of the times it is a terrible idea. You should select your moderators based on their activity at your site. It is extremely rare that someone who wants to be a moderator will have substantial activity. Again, they just want the title, and in the end will be pretty unreliable.