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Does anyone use an incentive program in their department?
We have been working on stepping up our training and participation the past couple years and have seen a good increase and dedication but we are looking to still take this to another level.
What our department is considering is initiating some sort of points system where our members start earning points for each call they are on, each training session they attend, each special event (i.e. fundraising, breakfasts, fire prevention). At the end of the year we would tally everyone's points and award special prizes, gifts or recognition.
If your department does something like this, please post how it is administered and the criteria you use. Also, tell us if it has worked and what results you have seen with it.
As all volunteer departments know, getting members to give up valuable time is getting harder and harder to do. We want to be able to dangle a small carrot in front of them to help keep them motivated and instill a sense of healthy competition in them to strive to get better and better.
Thanks!
John
What our department is considering is initiating some sort of points system where our members start earning points for each call they are on, each training session they attend, each special event (i.e. fundraising, breakfasts, fire prevention). At the end of the year we would tally everyone's points and award special prizes, gifts or recognition.
If your department does something like this, please post how it is administered and the criteria you use. Also, tell us if it has worked and what results you have seen with it.
As all volunteer departments know, getting members to give up valuable time is getting harder and harder to do. We want to be able to dangle a small carrot in front of them to help keep them motivated and instill a sense of healthy competition in them to strive to get better and better.
Thanks!
John
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jake Fireman on
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John your idea sounds great! Would they get "points" for making a rescue or making a CPR save or anything like that? Well maybe that part is not such a good idea.
When I worked as a reserve firefighter we had the "Reserve Firefighter of the Year"...for the most part it was for the reserve who put in the most hours. "Hours" were number of shift hours for the year, number of "extra" hours of training that were in department. i.e. If it was not your shift day and you came in to do a specific training, or held over on next shift to participate in morning training, and also if you took any additional training (other then community college hours) training.
It worked well for us and most of our reserves were active in the "hunt"!!!
Good Luck...sounds like a great idea!
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Permalink Reply by Station10Capt106 on
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We still have a fireman of the year award that our chief gives out at our Christmas party that usually goes to someone who went above and beyond or showed the most improvement throughout the year.
The way we envision this system to work is along these lines:
1 - points for every fire run you are on per hour
2 - points for every work detail you make per hour (this would include fire prevention, breakfasts)
3 - points for every training you take per hour
We want to stress the training the most. There usually isn't a problem getting people to respond to a fire. We would come up with different levels of achievement for instance:
400 points - receive a fire dept patch
500 points - receive a fire dept knife
500 points - receive a gift certificate for two to a restaurant
600 points - receive a gift certificate for dinner & a movie
700 points - receive a t-shirt & cap
800 points - receive a hooded sweat shirt
900 points - receive windbreaker jacket
1000 points - receive a carhart jacket
We are in the process of going through records from the past several years totaling up individual hours to try to determine what levels would be needed. We don't want to break the bank with giving out items, but we do want to encourage more participation. The levels would be designed so that everyone will have to reach a little bit further to achieve.
If anyone has any other ideas or suggestions please let me know. We want to make this as enjoyable for everyone as possible.
John
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Permalink Reply by Dennis Brown on
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Well Capt. we do have a point system we do calls 1point per run , 2 for meetings,2 for drills 1 special events ,if a elected officer 25 schooling 25 we work up to 100 points at years and the town puts 1,000 in a trust fund or 401k you have to invest for 5 years then after that you can do what you want with it.But you have to start over when you do that so most guys just leave it in there so if you do 20,30,50,70, years you have a nice check for your time oh and i know of another town pays 1.00 a call so if you have 1,000 calls you get the money at X-Mass time /
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Permalink Reply by John Cupps on
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John, Keep me informed on how you guy's do with this. This is a huge topic with myself and other officers on my dept. We are a small volunteer dept that always have the same 10 to 12 guy's/gals out of 32 that show up for everything! We all get paid the same, no matter what... it's just not fair to some and I'm one of those who feel that way! I agree that we are volunteer. Everyone does it for different reasons, but it would be nice to be able to hold someone accoutable and also to give a pad on the back to those who are worthy. This is a great topic!
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John,
Our dept sounds just like yours. We have about the same number on the dept and about the same number that participates in everything. Of course, I've noticed the same ratio no matter what group or organization I'm in: church, Lions, Rotary, etc.
It is hard enough to get people to volunteer and commit to something that we do want to keep and retain those that we do have. Burn-out is so easy (I had that myself after both parents past away within a year of each other back in 2002). For about a year or so I barely participated and became one of those old firemen that don't do anything and all the young bucks complain about. Looking back now, I can see that some of the complaining was justified.
Whether we admit it or not, all of us like to get some recognition and praise. It should not be the driving force behind our actions, but I believe that if applied right it can be such a strong motivator. Not only will it help with moral, but I think it will bring the guys on the department closer together if done right. Competition is good and healthy as long as it is fostered in the right spirit. We do not want to ostrecize anyone or make them feel bad for not being able to contribute as much, but we all know how important training is . . . especially on smaller departments that do not get the run volumes that others do to stay up on their skills.
John
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Permalink Reply by Kenneth Holley on
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Our department has a small incentive program that involves an award for the person who runs the most calls and one each for the firefighter and officer of the year. But the big one belongs to the state. They offer a $3000 dollar adjustment to your state taxes if you meet certain rerquirments during the year. It involves having taken certain classes(which roll over every year), call response,training hours, and you get credit for just respondin to the station and doing station duty. Although it is small it helps those of use who make less that 20k a year.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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A word of caution. Make sure you check tax laws at the state and federal level. We did a program similar to what you are describing. It worked pretty good until we got letters from the state and feds stating to the effect, that the department was purchasing these items and not being used by the department, as a consequence there were taxes owed. I cannot recall exactly what statutes were in question, but I remember the department having to pay some back taxes and sales taxes to the state.
We now have a "reimbursement" program of about $35 for each night shift a member spends at the station. This reimburses the members for the meal, linen cleaning, gas, etc. In order to qualify, the member reports in at 1800 and leaves at 0600 when the day crew comes on. We are usually able to man one station during the week 24/7. Hopefully we can attract members to enable us to staff one station at each end of our district at night during the week.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Simpson on
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we tried the point system to get people to due more training and try to make the numbers have more comradery. we gave points for meeting,training,outside classes.years served ect, and time served. the biggest thing that our membership ended up wanting, was for it rank them in the membership. it work for about 2 years, but after that people just went back to the norm for usand it ended up causing people to get mad because they had people higher than they was. we have quit this system due to all of that but i hope you the best of luck. please let us know if it works for yall, so maybe we can figure out where we went wrong with it. lets be safe out there
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Permalink Reply by Padre Pete on
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Captain, At our annual banquet, last night, we did what we've been doing since the early 70s. We give awards for, at least, all the following:
Years of service. Specific plaques for each five year interval and restrnt gift certificates of graduating values. ($25-$50)
Career alarm responses, " " 1,000 accumulated " " We run 700+/yr)
Yrs. Top and Top Ten Responders (To alarms) A standard plaque. Top this yr. was 479 + "
Yrs. Top and Top Ten Drill Attendees " (54-58 regularly sceduled /yr) " Top this yr. was 49
Aknowledging anyone newly certified or promoted in EMS, Fire, Rescue, County or State level participation.
There seems always to be a certian competition among some and not everyone even cares, but we all look forward to the recognition.
I get to say grace. Keep The Faith.
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Permalink Reply by Marc Hansen on
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We are looking at starting a training points program that goes like this:
1 point for every hour of training(inhouse,outside, fire, rescue, or ems) 2 points equal a dollar. When we buy PPE we buy basic 1010's and pull on boots. All members can use accumulated training points to upgrade PPE to what the want (provided it meets NFPA and Dept specs) instead of cash from their pockets. We offer on average 60 hours of in house training per year and have sent people up to 300 miles away for training that we could use but cant find locally. It takes a couple of years but the leather then becomes free to member and doesnt cost the department anymore then a 1010.
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Permalink Reply by Truckie Jay on
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Capt,
My last dept did a training bonus. We have 3 trainings a month, station, district and apparatus check/station maintenance night. If you attended 2/3rd of the trainings in the year you received a training bonus at Xmas time. Then every training over the 2/3 you received x amount of money. For example, for 2/3 training attendance you received $500 check two weeks before Xmas. Then $20 for each training over the 2/3. If you attend all trainings in the year, your check was $720. I don't know what your budget is so you would have to reconfigure those amounts to what you had.
A friend of mine, his dept does this. At the end of the year all remaining money was placed into a pool and a point system similiar to what you described was used. That point system was used to distribute the money in the pool to all eligible firefighters at Xmas time.
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