Anyone who works in or has been around the fire service has noticed that attracting and retaining firefighters has become one of the biggest challenges in the field today.
In 1995, when I first exited the fire academy and started testing for career jobs, it was normal to find hundreds, if not thousands, of candidates testing for the same few positions.
In fact, the average time frame to get a career job in the Southeast Michigan area was approximately two years. Those numbers held true for me and most of the fire academy graduates in my class.
Once you finally achieved that career position, retention was not much of an issue, as most firefighters remained within the same agency for the duration of their careers.
However, a lot has changed over the years, and this is no longer true in most areas.
Today’s Challenges
According to a recent survey, the most critical issues facing the fire service today are securing funding and retention, ensuring firefighter safety, enhancing department communications, coordinating agency resources, and fair compensation (Segal, 2022).
The issues of funding and retention were identified in a national survey by Rave Mobile Safety in January 2022. According to the survey, 72% of public safety professionals believe that hiring and staffing are the greatest challenges.
Therefore, it is critical to understand why firefighters are leaving their departments and/or positions and to determine practices that could help improve hiring and retention.
As of June 2023, there were 62,000 open state and local government jobs, and there is a trend in the U.S. where fewer people want to work in state or local government (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023).
Why Are Firefighters Leaving?
The first topic we will explore is why firefighters are leaving the profession. The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) has conducted research on recruitment and retention issues within the volunteer fire service, but there is not much national-level research on the issue within the career fire service.
One of the most insightful pieces of research on this issue was based on the fire service in South Carolina and could offer recommendations for the rest of the country.
According to research conducted by Bootle (2022), “pay and morale were statistically significant independent variables influencing South Carolina professional firefighter turnover within ten years of hire at a South Carolina career fire department” (p. 103).
The researcher used participant surveys to support the findings, indicating “pay inadequacy” as the most frequent reason for leaving employment. Although the data showed that firefighters in South Carolina do not believe they are compensated fairly and are battling poor morale, the most common reason for firefighters staying in their careers for more than ten years was “love of the job.”
The research also uncovered that another unexpected reason for firefighters leaving their careers was due to discrimination. This aligns with the concept that high turnover is often a sign of an organization that maintains a poor work environment with inadequate compensation and poor supervision (Bootle, 2022).
This research in South Carolina provides a snapshot of what is happening in one section of the country. It is important to look at the bigger picture and determine if there are any common correlations between industries or around the world.
Love of the job is something that most firefighters have in common, but is there a limit to where love of the job is not enough anymore?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023), more than four million workers left their jobs in the United States voluntarily every month since June 2017.
This workplace trend does not just impact one industry and appears to indicate a shift throughout the nationwide workforce.
As the research in South Carolina indicates, keeping workers satisfied and compensating them within an acceptable range is important.
However, is there a threshold at which employees with high job satisfaction would leave their current positions? Research has indicated that employees will leave their organizations if offered an increase in compensation of 20% or more. Those workers that are the least satisfied would consider changing jobs for a lower amount of money (Ratican, 2023).
Improving Retention
The next issue to address is improving employee retention rates. The turnover of employees is costly to an organization, but in the fire service, the loss of high-performing firefighters can disrupt services and be detrimental to safety.
Based on a literature review published in the “FAIMA Business and Management Journal,” the top method of employee retention is to provide competitive compensation and benefits. This is closely followed by creating a positive work environment, which includes such items as work-life balance, rewarding employees, and fostering a culture of collaboration and teamwork.
The next item identified was investing in employee development. Providing employees with adequate training can produce happier and more engaged employees. Additional items noted include career advancement opportunities, improving communications, and fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion (Popescu & Ciorei, 2023).
A research study on the impact of workplace well-being factors on employee retention determined that organizational commitment affects the intention to quit.
When organizational commitment changes, the intention to resign changes. The researchers found the most critical variables affecting workforce retention were benefits, promotion, communication, nature of work, coworkers, and normative commitment. The results suggest that employers should pay attention to these key factors when developing their retention strategy (Popescu & Ciorei, 2023).
Although government jobs have some of the lowest employee turnover rates (18%), compared to the overall average rate of 47%, the loss of employees can be just as impactful.
Four Steps to Better Retention
The 2022 overall cost of employee turnover amounted to more than $1 trillion. The average cost to replace a salaried employee is six to nine months of their salary. Most agencies do not account for this or the cost to hire a replacement, onboarding, and lost productivity (Ariella, 2023). These numbers do little to demonstrate the negative impact that losing good employees will have on an organization. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to create an organizational employee retention plan to address the following key issues:
1. Ensure competitive compensation and benefits: Providing top-tier wages may not be possible for every agency. However, if other agencies in the area are offering wages and benefits that are 20% higher, this could spell trouble. Some alternative benefits that could be offered to remain competitive without breaking the bank include offering a better work-life balance, wellness, and career development. One of the common benefits employees are looking for is a better work-life balance. The fire service offers a unique schedule option for job seekers but may not appeal to everyone. Labor and management working together could help resolve this issue and create a balance that keeps employees happy, and if they create something that no other department offers, it will minimize the desire for employees to look elsewhere.
2. Make improvements in morale a necessity: At one point in my career, I had a boss who stated, “Morale is not my job.” Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, morale is everyone’s job, from the new employee all the way up the chain of command. The goal should be to get firefighters to “love their job.” During the economic downturn of 2008, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) started publishing different staffing studies across the country. I had the opportunity to sit through one of their presentations, and it had a negative impact on the morale of my agency. The presenter’s title slide was a picture of a fire station with a recliner out to the trash. This was a presentation given to law enforcement and fire departments around the country. Educating city management and elected officials on fire service practices can help change public perception, which can translate to additional support instead of negative perceptions. It is all about teamwork and working together.
3. Foster an atmosphere of diversity and inclusion: Every study researched for this article points to the negative implications of not creating a culture that accepts and promotes diversity and inclusion. Based on the research from South Carolina, more than 44% of respondents agreed they experienced discrimination in the workplace, and 58% have witnessed it happen in the workplace. Every agency should have policies in place to address issues of discrimination, and every agency should receive training on the subject so they are aware of what is unacceptable in the workplace.
4. Establish a strong career advancement program: Another common reason for employees leaving the workplace is due to no room or no clear path for advancement. By establishing a more robust promotional system, an agency can help provide the opportunity for advancement that employees are looking for. An example of this in a small department could be the creation of a sergeant rank. The department could also create a station officer or apparatus officer. The creation of these positions and titles helps to provide opportunities for advancement. I remember starting out in my department, and there was only one captain and one lieutenant. I clearly recall thinking that there was little room for any promotional opportunity. Over the years, we have created additional positions, and there are more opportunities available now.
The process of employee retention will be a continuing issue moving into the future. However, with creativity and a culture of working together, we can create an environment where our personnel love their jobs and do not want to leave for greener pastures.
References
Ariella, S. (2023, February 7). 27 US employee turnover statistics (2023). Retrieved from Zippa: https://www.zippia.com/advice/employee-turnover-statistics/
Bootle, S. (2022). Professional firefighter retention in South Carolina. Retrieved from ProQuest: https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/professional-firefighter-retention-south-carolina/docview/2746076575/se-2
Gelencser, M., Szabo-Szentgroti, G., Komuves, Z., & Hollosy-Vadasz, G. (2023). The holistic model of labour retention: The impact of workplace wellbieng factors on employee retention. Administrative Sciences, 13(5). doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci13050121
Popescu, M. A., & Ciorei, M. A. (2023). State of the art in employee retention. FAIMA Business & Management Journal, 11(2).
Ratican, S. (2023). Exploring monetary quit thresholds of satisfied workers: How much money will it take to lure away happy employees? Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 24(2).
Segal, E. (2022, January 18). Public Safety Personnel Face Challenges Responding To Crisis Situations: Report. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2022/01/18/public-safety-personnel-face-challenges-responding-to-crisis-situations-report/?sh=3b4799d23f13
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023, August 1). Job openings and labor turnover summary. Retrieved from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
Philip Duczyminski is a 28-year fire service veteran, a captain, and the head of the Training Division of the Novi (MI) Fire Department. He has served with the Western Wayne County Haz-Mat Team and MI-TF1. A graduate of the School of Fire Staff and Command at Eastern Michigan University, Duczyminski is a certified Michigan fire instructor and an EMS instructor coordinator. He is pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration, a Master of Business Administration/Public Administration, and a bachelor’s degree in Fire Science.
