Retention and Recruitment for the Volunteer Emergency Services

Retention & Recruitment for the Volunteer Emergency Services: Challenges & Solutions 7
A number of volunteers feel that a chief should have at least a 3-year tenure. Not only can it
take a year to learn the job, it also can take years to implement new ideas, and turn around
a department headed in the wrong direction. Many departments have a 1-year term for the
chief position, but will reelect a chief for many years if the members are satisfied. Rapid
turnover is a key concern, and rarely benefits anyone, especially in the area of recruitment.
Some argue that the chief position should rotate frequently to allow for promotion, but the
overriding concern should be achieving good leadership over the long haul.
selection and tenure of officers
While good leadership by the chief is paramount, retention is influenced by the quality of
the other officers. In most fire departments, career and volunteer, the quality of officers is
the weak link. The most common quality problems are the lack of essential administrative,
communication, personnel management, and technical skills.
In selecting volunteer officers, both their technical and management skills need to be
considered. Some departments use the same standards for promoting volunteer officers
as career officers (i.e., a civil service exam or assessment center and interviews). Technical
prowess is important because it gives the officer respect. However, to be effective an officer
also needs to know how to deal with personnel issues such as discipline, supervisory, or
personal problems. Volunteering is often an escape from other life pressures; a volunteer
environment where people are not managed properly and problems are not resolved
correctly will increase pressure, and hurt retention. See Appendix E for samples of an officer
promotional process and officer evaluation forms.
Some departments allow their officers to be re-elected after 1- to 3-year terms; however
they are not locked in the position, and can return to being a basic member for their own
peace of mind or for the good of the department. This allows other members to compete
for the positions, encourages officers to keep current, and keeps the officers on their toes.
Other departments automatically rotate officers after 3 years, so no one person is stuck
indefinitely with the extra duties required of an officer. Also some departments require that
officers be re-tested every 3 years to ensure their competency. Those who do not have the
will to maintain their expertise are dropped. These different policies toward officer tenure
all have the same goal: keeping the quality of officers high, retaining the good people who
serve as officers, and giving members a fair shot at becoming an officer.
training of the chief and officers
Inadequate training for volunteer chiefs and officers is a common problem. Officer
training must be affordable, accessible in the field, scheduled on nights and weekends,
and conducted in a time span “that works.” Many departments now require officers to
have completed an Officer I course as recommended by the NFPA officer standard. Chief