Recruiting & Retaining Diversity in The Fire Service™: Ten 'Free' Regional
Pilot Sessions in 2010

A grant from the Motorola Foundation and support from Lion Apparel, PBI Performance Products, Scott Health & Safety and TenCate are enabling FIRE 20/20 to deliver ten regional Recruiting & Retaining Diversity in The Fire Service pilot workshops. Metro and midsized departments and fire academies around the country are hosting these pilots. Host departments are chosen because they already understand the value and benefits of diversity and inclusion. Host departments enroll other departments in their region, provide a training facility, and make arrangements for food and snacks. The purpose of these pilots is to improve, validate and finalize the content for a national launch in 2011 while ensuring participants’ satisfaction that it’s a worthwhile learning experience.

The five pilots conducted since February 4th, with a total number of 199 participants coming from 48 departments and one fire academy:

West Metro, Colorado (Denver Area) Ten departments | 48 people

West Metro Fire Rescue, Aurora Fire Department, Littleton Fire Rescue, Grand Junction Fire Department, Denver Fire Department, South Metro Fire Rescue Authority, Colorado Springs Fire Department, Boulder Fire Department, North Metro Fire Rescue District, and Cunningham Fire Protection District.

Tempe, Arizona (Phoenix Area) Ten departments | 40 people

Tempe Fire Department, the Northwest Fire District, Salt River Fire Department, Chandler Fire Department, Tolleson Fire Department, Goodyear Fire Department, Daisy Mountain Fire Department, Maricopa Fire Department, and the two tribal departments: Gila River Indian Community Fire Department and the Tohono O'odham Nation Fire Department.

Dallas, Texas (North Texas Area) Eight departments | 32 people

Dallas Fire-Rescue Department, Arlington Fire Department, Forth Worth Fire Department, DFW Airport Fire Department, Plano Fire Department, Temple Fire Department, Haltom City Fire Department, and Lancaster Fire Department.

Bates Technical College (Tacoma/Seattle) Ten departments | 34 people

Bellevue Fire Department, Kent Fire Department, Renton Fire and Emergency Services, Central Pierce Fire & Rescue, South Kitsap Fire and Rescue, Lynnwood Fire Department, Olympia Fire Department, Vancouver Fire Department, Seattle Fire Department, and South King Fire & Rescue.

Winter Park, Florida (Central Florida) Ten departments | one fire academy | 45 people

Orlando Fire Department, Sanford Fire Department, Ocoee Fire Department, Orange County Fire Rescue, Kissimmee Fire Department, Osceola County Fire Rescue, Winter Garden Fire Rescue, Winter Park Fire Rescue, Casselberry Fire Department, Seminole County Fire Department, and Central Florida Fire Academy.

The four remaining pilot workshops will be hosted before mid-November by:

• Richmond, Virginia (Southern Virginia) – June 17th
• New Britain, Connecticut (New England) – September 16th
• Columbus, Ohio (State of Ohio) – September 21st
• U.C. Davis, California (State of California) – exact date to be determined
• Alexandria, Virginia and Arlington, Virginia (Greater D.C. Area) – exact date to be determined

A New Model & How It Works

A New Model:

Key Stakeholders Work Together as a Team: Each department’s team includes the fire chief, labor leader, recruitment officer, minority group representatives, and human resources staff.

Change Starts on the Inside: The workshop focuses first on helping the teams to understand what it takes to develop and grow a department culture that is inclusive, supportive, and fosters mentoring.

Community-Based Recruitment: Community leaders are considered valuable recruitment partners. This approach provides additional recruitment resources, helps departments to better understand public safety needs in diverse communities, and offers insights about how the departments’ services are viewed and valued.

Marketing with a Fire Science Twist: The workshop provides proven marketing strategies to cost-effectively reach new markets to recruit qualified and diverse applicants.

How It Works:

1 Setting A Baseline: Each team is asked to complete a “report card” in advance of the workshop. They rate how their department is doing compared to best practices for diversity recruitment, hiring, and retention.

2 Charting A Course: Team members work together to articulate their values and vision pertaining to diversity and inclusivity, and to begin mapping benchmarks towards reaching their goals.

3 Learning New Strategies: Participants discuss new principles, strategies, and tactics aimed at supporting retention, enrolling community members as partners, and ensuring that recruitment campaigns are effective.

4 Creating An Action Plan: Utilizing Fire 2020’s 4M’s Framework (Measure, Mindset, Mentoring, Marketing), teams identify and develop one “Smart Goal” that they can implement within 30-60 days.

5 Committing To Success: Each participant commits to a personal 60-day goal. All the participants agree to attend a six-month follow-up webinar to discuss their success, their challenges, and their action plans.

For a mid-year program review—feedback, challenges, successes—see FIRE 20/20’s June newsletter issue.