Think Tank: Prioritizing Employee Retention During a Staffing Crisis

Presentation Description: Staffing continues to be an issue at the forefront of emergency communications centers. The most recent RETAINS study, commissioned by APCO, asked ECC directors to evaluate their staffing levels and fewer than 30 percent reported their ECC was fully staffed the previous year. There are many factors to consider when thinking about why your ECC is not fully staffed. But what about maintaining the current staff? Retention of current, qualified staff is often overlooked. This presentation will specifically address effective practices for retention and employee satisfaction as they relate to the most recent research.

Detailed Description: If you have ever thought to yourself, “I really can't remember the last time our ECC was fully staffed", you are not alone. In fact, APCO has commissioned three studies and published reports to address this important issue within ECCs. The 2018 study asked ECC directors to evaluate their staffing levels and fewer than 30 percent reported their ECC was fully staffed the previous year, and only 28.7 percent of ECCs were able to maintain staffing levels for the entire year.
Effective management of staffing levels is directly related to the ability of the ECC to handle the emergency and non-emergency workload and provide quality service to its stakeholders. It is the inability to meet those quality expectations that all too often results in negative outcomes and places additional liability on the ECC.
There are many factors to consider when thinking about why your ECC is not fully staffed. Usually, we consider hiring more staff to fix the problem, which is likely a needed step. Hiring more staff leads to other considerations such as attracting qualified applicants, ensuring the hiring process is effective and initial training for public safety telecommunicators (PSTs) is successful. All of these are important factors when evaluating the hiring process in your ECC and gaining more qualified PSTs. But what about maintaining the current staff?
Often overlooked, but equally as important as hiring, is retaining the qualified staff currently working in the ECC. In the 2018 Study, employees reported an average of nine years at their current ECC. These are the people who are probably working overtime and extra shifts to cover the staffing shortage. Their commitment to the ECC, the jurisdiction, the field responders and the public cannot be overstated. According to the 2018 Study, “Retention of productive employees is a major concern of HR professionals and business executives. It is more efficient to retain a quality employee than to recruit, train and orient a replacement employee of the same quality." While pay and benefits are important, it is not the money that keeps good employees. In fact, the majority of respondents to the 2018 survey indicated they would turn down another job for more pay in order to stay with their ECC. The average retention rate shows the percentage of employees retained each year. The 2018 Report found an average retention rate of 71%, which is a sharp decline from previous studies. In 2005 the national average retention rate for ECCs was 83 percent. The second study in 2005 found that larger centers had slightly higher retention rates, with an average of 85 percent. 2009 research found an average retention rate of 81 percent. This new research also suggests a possible relationship between ECC size and retention rates. Medium ECCs have the lowest retention rate (76.8%), followed by small ECCs (67.3%) and large ECCs have the lowest retention (58.7%). Overall, employee survey respondents in the 2018 study answered that they are proud of their jobs and their ECCs, and express overwhelming interest in maintaining their employment long-term at their ECCs. The 2018 Report found the following nine factors can determine an employee’s commitment to the organization:
• Supportive supervision
• Co-worker support
• Opportunity for promotion
• job complexity
• Perceived recognition
• Exposure to emotional strain
• Coping resources
• Flexible work arrangements
• Closeness of supervision
"Supportive supervision, co-worker support, and perceived recognition from the public emerged as key factors predicting employee commitment to their ECCs. Proactive supervisors and inter-employee cooperation create a supportive environment that energizes workers and helps lead to the successful operations of ECCs.
Co-worker support is also an important factor in reducing psychological distress at ECCs. Given the nature of public safety communications work, ECC employees are particularly likely to be exposed to emotional and traumatic events. While most ECCs provide critical incident stress management (CISM), employee assistance programs (EAP), or both, the interpersonal support from co-workers appears to have a unique effect on employees' ability to effectively cope with difficult workplace situations.
Additionally, opportunities for promotion and flexible work arrangements are found to be valued by employees.
While a majority of ECC employees feel that the public appreciates their work, a strong majority disagree that the media appreciates their work. These findings underline the importance of adequate support and recognition. Management would do well to evaluate its own internal human resource practices (e.g., through supervisor training or through employee recognition programs), but should also explore ways of connecting employees with the public whom they serve." Effective Practices for Retention • Know your numbers: If you are not already doing so, start keeping data on the number of recruits who leave during the probationary period and the number of employees who leave after probation for any reason. It is useful to know whether you are losing employees in the early stages of employment or after they have been with the ECC for a while. If you lose employees in the probationary period, it may indicate a problem with recruiting, screening and selection, or training. lf you are losing them after several years with the ECC, it may be an issue related to pay, benefits, schedules, or other workplace issues.

• Keep the staff you have: Use effective management practices to provide direction and support for employees. Pay attention to why people leave, gather data on what makes them dissatisfied, and respond accordingly. For example, if salaries are not competitive, or not aligned with other public safety personnel, conduct a benchmarking exercise. Collect relevant data, do a comparative analysis based not only on call load but on other factors such as work environment, promotion opportunity, and training opportunities.
By creating a full picture and using solid evidence as to why your center is not competitive with others on the salary front, you can better prepare a logical and fiscally responsible request. As part of that request, create a sense for decision makers that this is an important issue not only for your department, but for the safety of the community and responders.
• Determine if turnover I retention affects ECC staffing: Measure ECC performance and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to determine if the level of service provided by the ECC is adequate. Evaluate staff scheduling to find out if frequent overtime is needed to maintain minimum staffing levels, staff are being denied time off, and/or unscheduled leave (e.g., calling in sick) is being abused. APCO has recently published a related ANSI Standard to assist in developing KPI for Public Safety Communications Personnel.
• Consider turnover when calculating staffing needs: Historical trends in turnover are the best indicator of average turnover in the ECC. Evaluate these trends and include an allowance for turnover in staffing calculations.
• Establish a plan of action: When significant issues are found, create a plan and take action to improve the situation.
• Implement a retention plan: Identify what motivates your staff. Create a plan that improves overall job satisfaction, recognition, growth or advancement opportunities, and positive relationships with peers and managers.
• Evaluate results: Is retention improving? Assess the effectiveness of the plan and refine the plan for better results as needed.
• Conduct "stay" interviews: In addition to exit interviews for employees that leave, survey current staff to discover what is working well and what is not. Detecting problems before employees leave provides an opportunity to make corrections and retain your staff.
• Provide a supportive environment: Establish clear organizational values, foster collaboration and communication between management and staff. Create an inclusive atmosphere where individual differences are welcome and accepted.
• Consider establishing a career ladder: Opportunities for promotion in public safety communications are rare. Create advancement options with a career ladder. Different levels of PSTs, such as PST 1, PST 2, Lead PST, etc. give staff something to strive for.
• Establish a recognition program: Recognize good work, extra effort, team players, etc. Create programs for employee service awards, employee of the month and/or peer reward systems. Awards do not necessarily need a monetary component. Be creative!
• Provide resources for coping with emotional strain/stress: The role of a PST is challenging, providing a comfortable and productive work environment is essential. Offer programs such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing/ Management (CISD/M) to help PSTs deal with stress.
• Offer as much flexibility as possible: Providing an established procedure for time off requests and "shift swapping’ when there is a special occasion is important. Offering legitimate processes for getting time off minimizes surprise absenteeism and makes it easier for managers and employees to plan ahead. Use a schedule, shift staffing structure, and an assignment process that fits the needs of the ECC and its employees.
The RETAINS Toolkit 3.0 includes three tools: staffing, retention and the employee satisfaction survey. In addition, the Toolkit can create a customized report detailing estimated staffing needs. The Toolkit also includes the dispatcher guidelines functions within the staffing tool. This capability will generate a report based upon information provided by the user and compare it to data collected in the RETAINS study. This tool is intended to help educate and be used as a starting point when considering dispatcher staffing levels and workload.
The employee satisfaction survey within the Toolkit will assist managers in identifying areas that may need further evaluation and/or changes that can be made or implemented to increase satisfaction within the ECC. The survey is completely anonymous and is completed electronically through the Toolkit.
We are in trying times in public safety. From a pandemic to civil unrest, the demands of this profession are more stressful than ever. Technology, facilities, and equipment play an important role in our mission, but it is the people of an ECC that make it successful. Finding and keeping the right personnel is one of the most important things any leader can, and must,do.