Every day we read about the staffing shortage in EMS. There are meetings, web-trainings, and gurus with ‘secret techniques’ to recruit and retain staff, yet the situation appears to remain.

I agree that there may be fewer people entering the field, but as leaders, we are using the same old methods to recruit them into our agencies and are not being smart about how we treat the people that we have.

In looking at an agency with high turnover, or with a lack of applicants, it’s almost always a safe bet that the agency’s culture and reputation are a top cause.  The grapevine does a great job of luring your staff to better employment options, and it equally identifies your agency as a toxic place to work if the culture sucks.

Before you begin a recruiting process, there are several things you should do before you ever place an ad or put a listing on Indeed.  You need to make sure the welcome mat is out.

1. Look in the mirror.  Why are people leaving?  Where are they going? What can you do about it?
2. Look at your agency as a prospective team member.  If you were an EMT or medic, would you want to work for you?   If not, why not?   Fix the issues.
3. Who exactly are you looking for? Are schedule formats and staffing patterns optimized?      Can you change staffing or deployment patterns or shift hours to attract a different type of team member?
4. Do you have field training officers (FTOs) or preceptors ready to meet, greet and make new hires feel welcome?
5. Is your orientation program designed for candidate success, or is it a gauntlet set up to fail all but the strongest (the Darwin-istic system where only the strong survive)?

New team members arrive wanting to succeed. If the orientation program or those administering it are set up to crush a newbie’s spirit, they will leave.

When an organization’s culture is strong, your team members feel that they are listened to and are part of something bigger than themselves and that their efforts are appreciated, people want to work there even if the pay and benefits are not the highest in the area.  If the work schedule, culture, and salary are all sub-par, you have no chance of recruiting or retaining quality people.

Before you recruit, take a long, hard and honest look at your organization and make the changes necessary to make the workplace inviting, challenging in a positive way and truly embrace creating a culture of excellence (more on that in my next post).  Prospective team members will notice, and the current ones will become ambassadors for your agency.