Our Checklist For Success
Our Checklist for Success are the basic elements every volunteer Fire Department should be following to successfully retain your membership. I will be adding to the check list as time goes on, since we all know the Fire Service is constantly changing.
Good Public Service and Public Image
Presenting a good public image through public service may help you increase your membership. When you show the public that your organization is professional, educated, trained and top-notch, perspective members will want to be a part of it. Nobody wants to be a part of an organization that has black marks on their reputation, whether is is bad press because of illegal activity among members, poor training or “CB radio talk” on your radio frequency. Keeping a good image and reputation for your department is vital. Remember, someone looking to join up may be watching how you act on incident scenes and how you come across on the radio. If I were going to join somewhere, I’d be watching and listening! Know what you are doing on scene, act professional on the radio and keep out of any bad press.
Leadership from Top to Bottom
Without leadership throughout your Fire Department, you will find your organization slowly spinning down the drain. The leadership must be passed down the chain of command, while avoiding any micromanaging. Firefighters can, and should be encouraged to, lead just as much as the Company Officers and Chiefs.
Trust the Membership
Chiefs, trust your Company Officers. Company Officers, trust your Firefighters. Chiefs, make sure your entire membership trusts you. Nobody wants to be second guessed and micromanaged on the firegound.
Empower your Members
Give your members the chance to make decisions through empowerment. When you empower a member to complete a project, you are giving that member the ability determine the outcome from the start to the end, giving them a sense of involvement and ownership to the Fire Department. Encourage your members to come up with ideas, projects and initiatives on their own.
Breed Self Starters
Self Starters take a lot of the work off of the Chief and the Fire Officer’s shoulders. Encourage your members to be self starters. Shooting down or ignoring their ideas could discourage your members.
Show Appreciation
Believe it or not, there are Chiefs out there who feel that appreciation is assumed. Thinking this is surely going to send you into membership retention failure. Thank your members after every call. Tell them they did a good job, and if they didn’t, talk it over.
Remove “Clicks”
It’s easy for clicks to form within your Fire Department. The “A Team” or the “Cool Kids” attitude should be thrown right out the door. Everyone has their place in the fire service based on their niche, capabilities and experience, but clicks should never be formed. They are noticed right away and when someone isn’t included in that click, they will slowly remove themselves from the Fire Department entirely.
