Why would I Leave?

Why would I leave?

Providing a climate for provider satisfaction and community pride

By Alan Perry
July 21, 2018

Whether you are managing a volunteer, career, or combination workforce, you must recognize that your human assets are the life and future of your organization. It is easy to be distracted by your daily operations, organization goals, projects, politics and public relations and forget the needs of the front-line providers. The expectations you have of them may be reasonable, but what are their expectations of you?

Stressors, the hidden cost

Public safety is a difficult industry to work in, not everyone is cut out for it. Some cave under the stress of the public interaction, for others it is the structure of the job itself, long hours and difficult schedules. A lack of adequate physical resources, good equipment and working infrastructure, inadequate educational and emotional support, little sense of ownership, poor communication and ineffective processes, are all negative forces. Reducing or eliminating these additional, not-inherent stressors for your people can help provide you with a more engaged and effective workforce that has high job satisfaction which the public can see and feel.

Benefit v. Costs

If you are tasked with the responsibilities of workforce morale, productivity, or recruitment and retention, start making a list of these stressors so you can systematically begin the process of reducing or eliminating them. For most people it’s not just about the reward they find in a job, and for any reward there will be a cost point at which it will no longer be attractive or beneficial. Losing people that you have invested time and treasure into because the costs of these non-inherent stressors is too high and should be unacceptable.

Mitigating non-inherent stressors

Communication- When things go wrong this is frequently the culprit, the reciprocal is also true, effective, timely and appropriate information keeps everyone on the same page, reduces rumors, incorrect conclusions and reduces stress while improving performance and agility for the organization.

Scheduling- Schedules are necessary, when system utilization increases however, shifts exceeding 8 hours can produce greater stress among providers with increased errors, poor customer service and accidents being the symptoms of the stress they experience. Even shorter shifts between 4-8 hours and strategic power shifts, can give your providers, especially volunteers, more opportunities to participate on terms that are less stressful, yet still meet the needs of the system.

Work environment- Going to work should never be something you are fearful, apprehensive or resentful of. Does your organization welcome and nurture its own? Or do you eat them? Does your inner circle represent your membership? The community? Are fairness and ethics part of your regular discussion? Are planning and decision-making processes open and inclusive? It is a challenge to gauge the health of the organizations climate from within, I am certain a new member will be able to give you an objective size-up. You should also have some sort of exit interview or survey to determine honestly why someone is leaving and what, if anything, the organizations climate had to do with it. Do you have a process to get rid of dead wood, laggards and mean people? Failing to confront personnel issues can create a hostile environment for everyone.

Training- Failing to train is training to fail. Aside from initial certification training, your organization should support re-certification and organization specific training that is genuinely useful and appropriate for your providers. Simply going through the motions and having providers sit in a chair for the required hours serves no purpose and has no benefit to the provider or the organization. Wasting time, or the appearance thereof, creates stress and shows contempt for other’s time. Provide a career development program for operational, administrative and logistical functions so everyone has an opportunity to expand their abilities. Consider adding "skills drills" and other hands-on experiences for providers to practice perishable skills in a non-punitive, competitive environment.

Physical Resources- The quality of the work environment, the physical facility, its condition and amenities, help convey the members value to the organization. It should be pleasant and accommodating, with enough room for resting, working and taking care of the necessities of life. It also includes infrastructure, computer/communication equipment in sufficient quantity and quality for all scheduled personnel to accomplish required and routine communications, and documentation tasks. Your providers spend a significant portion of their shifts in your apparatus, it must be safe, reliable, comfortable and properly and consistently equipped. Persistent equipment and/or vehicle problems are great stressors and potentially affect the reliability of the organization.

Logistical Support- It’s not just EMS supplies and toilet paper, it should be an accessible, dependable system. The system should work seamlessly in the background keeping primary and reserve units clean, stocked and serviced to minimize unit and crew down-time due to lack of readiness. In busy systems this may require a team approach to maintain consistency and continuity across multiple shifts/stations. You may even consider staffing a logistical support unit to assist your crews in returning to service at the hospitals when the poo hits the fan.

Adding value for the organization and community

Administrative functions- Not everyone in your community may be ready to jump into a public safety role, giving these souls an outlet to explore the profession, serve the community and get comfortable with its role, and their capabilities, will enhance the organizations relationship with the public it serves and get some key functional roles filled. It will also serve as a conduit for bringing in new operational members. To be clear, I’m not just talking about desk jobs or bake sales, your organization can benefit by placing them in logistical roles, facility & equipment maintenance, housekeeping, marketing, recruitment and retention.

Public education- Does your organization take an active role in public education, school demonstrations, home safety inspections or CPR/Stop-the bleed programs? These are all excellent opportunities to improve your community ties and recruit new members. Partnering with a local Scout organization, school club or religious group can produce similar benefits. In many cases you can partner with other like-minded groups and use this as part of your marketing program as well. Develop speaking points so that anyone from your organization speaking at an event can deliver a consistent and useful  message. The more the public knows about you and the organization the better they will be prepared to react in an emergency. 

Bottom line

Keep your workforce happy by providing the best resources you can for them, and provide the best asset possible for your community as both a service and a source of community pride. You may need to take a fresh approach by looking at everything you do to determine what value it provides and how it helps you achieve your mission. If you don’t already, start using data to identify what the needs of the community and the organization are and take meaning steps to address them and document your progress. Not every idea will be a good one, but working with outdated management styles and artificial barriers to progress is a sure recipe for disaster.       

Be Safe,

Alan