Certification for Recruitment & Retention?

By Spencer Cheatham, International Association of Fire Chiefs

The fire service is known for its love of certificates and certifications. Nearly every firefighter with a few years in has a “love-me book,” a binder full of all their certificates. So, If that is the case, why doesn’t the fire service offer a certification for recruitment and retention? If you answered, “it does,” then you are correct and that course may soon come to your area.

In 2016, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) received a SAFER grant to develop training that helps volunteer departments with their non-operational issues. Many departments don’t have a municipal finance director or an HR specialist. Many are 501(c)(3), nonprofit organizations that need to be run as a business. The idea behind the grant was that no one wants to join a department that is failing as an organization. If you cannot pay your bills, if you have corruption in your administration or financial activities, or if you don’t know how to recruit and keep quality people, a volunteer department will never succeed. To do this, the grant built the next generation of IAFC’s Beyond Hoses & Helmets leadership class, developed an online instructor course, created ten hours of e-learning on the business of running a department (the Volunteer Administrative Leadership Series) and produced a two-day certification class, the Recruitment and Retention Coordinator Certification Course (RRCCC).

The RRCCC was rolled out in February of 2019 and continues to be a resounding success. In 2020, it was awarded two Brandon Hall Awards for Educational Excellence: “Best Blended Learning – Bronze” and “Best Certification Course – Bronze.” In addition to this recognition, the students who attend the course rate it very highly. To date:

  • 344 students have been certified;
  • Students come from 31 different states;
  • 28 classes have been delivered;
  • 100% of the students who submitted a course review strongly agree (67/69 students) or agree (2/69 students) that they would “definitely recommend the course to others”;
  • Students provided these testimonials:
    • “This is by far the best class I’ve taken.”
    • “A very fun class!”
    • “This was one of the best classes I’ve experienced, and I can’t wait to begin implementing strategies.”
    • “These guys were great. They worked together flawlessly and made this whole class a success.”
    • “An awesome experience!”
    • “Amazing course that exceeded my expectations.”
    • “The instructors were some of the best that I have worked with for any class that I have attended.”

Those are impressive stats, but sometimes a story gives a better picture. The San Juan County Fire Department in New Mexico sits on the Northern border of the state and is extremely rural. The fire department covers 3,200 square miles, protects 33,000 people and answered over 8,000 emergency calls in 2018. The county department is comprised of 10 different fire districts, each one a link to their individual community. Until recently, the county had a booming economy built on oil and natural gas resources found in the area. About five years ago, the “bubble” burst in that industry and their tax base has decreased 30% in the last few years.

In 2018, the fire department dropped from a $15 million budget to a $5 million budget. Consequently, there is no capacity to hire paid firefighters to do what their volunteers accomplish. To maintain a minimum level of emergency service capability for their citizens, they must continually work to keep the quality members they have and reach out to gain more.

Division Chief Jordan Richards, the county’s officer in charge of volunteer recruitment and retention, attended a RRCCC class in Austin, Texas. When he arrived, he was at a loss. “I know we need to recruit more people. I know we need to keep the people we have. I just don’t know where to begin and what I have tried has not been successful. Because of the distances involved in our locality, it almost seems hopeless.” When he left, he had a clear plan on how to move forward and was energized.

We contacted Chief Richards a few months later and asked how things were going. “They are going well, but it is difficult. Basically, I need someone like me at each station. Because of the distances involved, each community needs someone who is working to recruit and retain people from that area. I need to coordinate the big picture for the whole county and they need to handle the day-to-day tasks at the local level.”

Fortunately, the grant allowed us to bring the certification class to San Juan and we were able to train more people to handle recruitment and retention at their individual stations. Chief Richards came to the class and before we left, he talked to each of the new RRCs. That Sunday, while we were cleaning up from the class, they formed an unofficial committee and agreed to meet the following Tuesday in person and via Skype.

The San Juan County Volunteer Membership Committee is an official part of their department. They work together to address issues at the county level, but also to help each other solve the specific problems they face at the local level. They built a strategic plan to address their needs and pooled resources for maximum efficiency.

San Juan’s story is not a solitary one. There are many other communities across the country that are being helped by this program. It is a powerful, educational tool for positive change.

Stay tuned for more information. In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about the course, visit www.iafc.org/vals or email me at scheatham@iafc.org.

Spencer Cheatham is a program manager for the IAFC on the Volunteer Workforce Solutions team. He is the Past Chief and Past President of the West Point Volunteer Fire Department (Virginia), where he is now a Captain. He is also a previous Chief with New Kent Fire-Rescue (Virginia).