Fire department recruitment: The real reason your agency is struggling

As public safety agencies grapple with the ongoing challenge of recruiting and retention, many are searching for answers regarding how we got to this point. Regardless of the reasons, lots of agencies are having trouble getting people to join their teams.

While this is truly an issue throughout public safety, it is no more prevalent and critical than in the fire service. This is because fire departments rely heavily on volunteers to provide much of the community fire protection across the country.

The struggle is real

Over the past several years, there has been a lot of dialogue, conversation and ideas thrown around trying to figure out why public safety agencies are struggling to recruit and retain personnel. Explanations range from pay and benefits to shift schedules, available time and so on. Others blame generational differences, saying the current generation we are recruiting is selfish and doesn’t care about helping others. Many are saying this out loud, where Gen Zers can hear us too!

This baffles me. Why would anyone want to be part of any organization that doesn’t want them? Until we change our attitudes toward future candidates and generations, this issue will continue to contribute significantly to the overall problem.

While these are contributing factors, the elephant in the room still is not being addressed. And that is: Why should I join your organization? If I do not understand the opportunities for me, then I’m not motivated to join you — career, volunteer, combination, whatever. And to be clear, this isn’t a question of “What’s in it for me?” which is why many believe the current generation is selfish. Not at all. If potential recruits don’t see a benefit, they simply won’t join up.

Invitations and information

Allow me to paint a mental picture for you. I am getting ready do something fun and recreational. The activity can be whatever you enjoy — fishing, skiing, skydiving or whatever you consider fun. Fishing is relatable for many, so stick with me on that journey for a moment.

If I invite you to go fishing with me but I don’t provide any details on when, where and what we are fishing for, how likely are you to join me on the trip? What if we were going skydiving? If I asked you to go with me, you would have many questions I must answer before you’d be willing to put on a jumpsuit. Why? Because terminal velocity is a genuine concern.

In the same way, a potential firefighter candidate may have some serious questions about the possibility of running into a burning building when everyone else is running out. Let’s face it, that’s the impression many potential recruits will get from the messaging we all put out. But that’s a different blog topic for another time. Make sure your message represents what the job actually is! (More to come on this later.)

Many of us fail to remember our journey into the fire service. While some recruits initially become interested in the fire service through a flyer or video, I wasn’t really “hooked” until I stepped across the threshold to the fire station, rode on the truck and experienced the environment firsthand. I think that’s a very common experience among veteran firefighters.

So, when I invited you to go fishing, if I told you what time to meet me, provided you with tackle and gear, and made sure you caught fish when we went, you would be much more likely to come fishing with me again. And if you had a great time, you would be much more willing to tell others about our amazing fishing trip. You might even invite others to join!

Lessons to learn

This idea suggests two fundamental things for recruiting and retention:

1. Good teams attract good recruits. It’s important to do your due diligence to ensure your “fire service boat” isn’t leaking. If you’re having trouble keeping good people, you need to figure out why. Focus on providing an environment and culture where your current staff is a happy, high-functioning team who enjoys their work. If we fail there, it doesn’t matter how much we recruit; we will lose them as fast or faster than we can recruit them.
2. Send out the welcome wagon. When anyone shows interest in joining you, roll out the red carpet and get them involved in what we do as quickly as possible. The sooner you can get them “hooked,” the better. Also, every person you recruit likely has many friends and family members who might be interested, too. Referrals have always been the secret to a successful recruiting campaign for any organization.

I do not want to underemphasize the other concerns I raised earlier. Considerations like wages, benefits and so on must be addressed to remain competitive in today’s job market. With so few people available to work, we have to attract applicants with a competitive job opportunity or we won’t convince them to join our teams.

While these factors are important, I will always argue that the financial benefits of the job are only part of the equation. The fire service provides an environment that encourages initial participation and keeps people for the duration of their time or career with us. In a very big way, the job can be its own reward.

Getting out the message

We all need to remember that if we want people to go fishing with us or jump out of a perfectly good airplane with us, we must make an effective case regarding why they should. Once we have explained the rewards, we must allow them to experience the fire service themselves so they can see the opportunity is as good as we say it is. If we fail to accomplish this, people will stay in the airplane or on the dock and never join us.

The sooner we commit to messaging effectively about the benefits and rewards of the fire service, the more people we’ll have joining us in the boat. And of course, being fully staffed means we have the help we need to better serve our communities.

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