What aren't we doing when it comes to firefighter retention?

As our journey in the Brotherhood Academy Radio podcast continues on, we are seeing more and more stories and articles about fire departments struggling to recruit new members. All throughout the United States and Canada it is becoming a common topic of discussion. Recruitment is lacking, people don’t want to become involved in their local fire department. People don’t have the time to dedicate to their community.

As important as it is to work hard and diligently on recruiting new members into our fire departments, one thing that I think is being looked over is retention. We absolutely need to be working to recruit. We should be out there in the public attracting new members. We should be researching new ways to get people through the door.

However, maybe something that is just as important, if not more important than recruitment is retention. Retention should come first. You already have a membership. Whether it is a small membership or a large membership, you have one. So we should first be focusing our energy on keeping those members active and fulfilled in our organization.

When we don’t have a salary, benefits and a pension keeping our members active, we need to think outside the box. What are some areas where we may be lacking with retention? I have come up with a few and thought I should share them with you all. These may not all apply to you, but some may. Have a look.

We aren’t getting to know our members personally. We should be getting to know everything about their families, their hobbies, passions, pets, jobs and so on. There is nothing wrong with the Chief of the Department inviting new members over for a cookout or a casual night of conversation at home. In the volunteer or on-call world, it is important for the leadership to become friends with the members. It’s showing empathy and letting them know you have an interest in their lives.
We aren’t giving our members enough to do. I don’t mean we aren’t giving them enough calls, because we don’t have any control over that. At least, we shouldn’t have any control over that. But we are neglecting to give our membership some responsibilities. Members what to feel like they are involved, like they have some sort of buy-in. The only way to create buy-in with your membership is to empower them to make decisions and take on tasks and projects.
We aren’t listening to our members’ concerns. It is very easy to ignore or brush off concerns and complains our members present. After all, firefighters are natural complainers. I’m sure you can all agree with me there. But often the complaints are signals, or hints, that maybe our membership is looking for a little change within the organization. It would do us all a good deed to listen to the concerns of our members and act on them.
We aren’t including our members on big changes or decisions. The fire service is always evolving. There is nothing we can do about that. Change is the ultimate constant, but as our department changes, it’s only fair that our membership has some sort of knowledge or involvement in the change. It is proven that if your members have some sort of contribution to upcoming changes, they will buy into it much easier than if it was sprung on them. This also applies to equipment purchases. Allow your members to give some input on the equipment they will be using. After all, most of the time the Chiefs aren’t the ones driving the trucks or using the nozzles, tools and SCBA. We are a team organization so we need to be sure to progress as a team.
We aren’t showing enough appreciation. After a call, before everyone goes home, let’s all start thanking our members for showing up. After a long day fundraising or training, let’s be sure to thank the members for their hard work. A little appreciation goes a long way.
We aren’t encouraging our members to participate in any outside training. I know this can be a challenge when you don’t have much of a training budget, but there are many smaller training companies and fire service fraternities out there that don’t charge much money for some quality training. Our members need to be exposed to outside opinions, theories and tactics. When they can be sent somewhere and bring some sort of nugget back to the other members, they will feel like they have made a difference and contributed to the better of the organization.
We aren’t paying attention to our members’ physical and mental health. It’s time we all step up and develop programs to put our members first. Our members see and do some crazy things that the normal every day person does not. Seek out mental health programs and physical fitness programs for your members.
We aren’t letting our members know that as Volunteers or On-Call firefighters, they are just as good as any career firefighter. Often there comes a time when it is necessary to add some full time staff to our fire department to answer the calls that we struggle to staff. But when that happens we see all the attention being put on those career members. Responsibility, duties and praise tend to not be spread out evenly among both career and volunteer members. Once the attention goes away from the volunteer members, they will fade out.
We aren’t recognizing our members for their good deeds and tenure. Not enough agencies out there are hosting award ceremonies or annual dinners for their members and their families. Hosting an awards night gives the members the opportunity to dress nice, enjoy some time with everyone and be recognized for the time they have been on the department and the great work they have done. Recognition also should be done publicly through social media, newspapers and at town meetings. Give them all a little love once in a while to make them feel like they are worth anything.
We aren’t letting our members get a fair chance at advancing to an officer status. Many departments are still voting in their officers and chiefs. Instead, why not select your officers based on experience, knowledge, skill and test scores. Promoting the ones that score the highest in the process makes much more sense than basing it on a popularity vote.

These are just a few of the things we have all seen that are happening all around the continent. Let’s focus on the members we already have before we lose them. Read up on the current trends in the fire service and in the leadership world. There are plenty of leadership books and podcasts out there to coach you into becoming a great leader that people want to work under.

If you haven’t listened to the podcast, I ask that you go over to the Podcast link and listen to some of our shows. Give us a try and if you find a show that gives you at least one piece of content that moves you, we ask you to share it on social media. We are building a community to tackle the leadership, retention, recruitment and training problems we all face every day in the fire service.

If you got any value at all from this article, please be sure to share it on your social media accounts.

Also, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Spotify and Google.

Please share this content