recuriment & retention

[medic327]

Hello all,

I was wondering if anybody had any ideas on keeping people you have work for you and how to get more to come on board. We are ambulance service of appx. 200 empolyees made up of multiple jobs between EMD,Paramedic,EMTs,and etc. Our biggest promblems trying to get paramedics. We are currently doing a recuriment drive and looking at a rotating schudule. Any other ideas would be great thanks

[paramedicmike]

Gotta offer the green stuff (no no...the paper green stuff the Treasury puts out...not *that* green stuff!).

Signing bonuses, retention bonuses after set amounts of time, vacation/holiday time etc...

If you pay them well, people will come.

Good luck.

-be safe.

[GAmedic1506]

That last post is dead wrong. Money is the solution when, and only when you have failed to build the best service you can. If you look to whoever is the highest paying service in your state, you will see that they also have retention issues. What you need to do actually costs very little. Ask yourself, if i could create the perfect EMS system, what characteristics would it have ? Then incorporate as many of those improvements as you can at your service. Employees want to work for the best service, regardless of pay. But look around, the only difference between most services is the color of the truck and the uniform. Here are ten suggestions, I have several more:

1. Your employees need to have a meaningful voice in the daily operations. The more an employee is involved in the service, the happier they will be. I have found that committees dont work, so I assign meaningful tasks to individual employees, and try to balance so that all get to play. I have yet to be able to present a problem or task that they couldnt handle (although you will have to be a facilitator when you first start, because employees are not use to being trusted with the responsibility). If you have happy employees they will recruit for you.

2. Have cutting-edge protocols -- medics are type-A, and want to work where they can use their skills. There should be no reason to call for orders.

3. Let employees try equipment out prior to purchase, and let them choose what is purchased.

4. Have a real training program, not pencil-whipped paperwork that is a waste of time. Employees want to improve their skills. Also have management training for those who might want to pursue a management career. If people feel they can grow, they will stay. When you stagnate, they get bored, and look for the first service that will pay one penny above what you are paying.

5. Say thank you to alteast one employee every day. We forget to do that as supervisors.

6. Enforce the rules fairly. have some rules.

7. Dont hire warm-bodies, hire only the best. No one wants to work at a place that will employ anyone, and will not have standards that get-rid of problem employees. It means the white shirts have to work on the truck alot, but it is worth it.

8. Dont shuffle your problem employees around to whoever will work with them, solve the problem, or fire the employee.

9. You will get what you reward. Brag on the medic with the cleanest truck, you will see others start cleaning their truck.

10. Spend time with your superstar and reward him/her. Every service has a superstar, but do they get treated like one ? Give them the truck, station, schedule, that they want -- reward them.

[EMS49393]

GAmedic, obviously you really don't know what it's like to eat ramen noodles three meals a day because your employer pays you less then welfare wages. All of that fluff and flutter sounds so great, but in reality I don't see my supervisors enough to care. I want the green. I want merit raises, decent benefits, and my recert CEU's paid for. Heck, if you want me to have ITLS, PALS, ACLS, etc., then you should offer and/or pay for the courses. Don't shower me with praise, praise doesn't pay my bills. SHOW ME THE MONEY!!

[EMT-B 55]

In regards to these threads, how do you convince a County board, hiring more EMS staff will actually save them money because more calls can be responded to?

they only see the upfront costs.

[Ridryder 911]

I agree with GAmedic. It has been proved over and over money is only a short term solution. Yes, comparable and competitive wages should be definitely expected, but everyone uses fiances as an excuse to gripe.

As GA describes, safe and working equipment, participating in decision making for the company, having a company that involves participation from employees in policy making, and growth. Benefits, and career ladder options.

Unfortunately most medics are not financially savvy and only see short term solutions. I was talking to some EMT students and we were discussing career options. I asked which would rather have an higher payed EMT position, with little or no benefits or one that was moderate pay and loads of benefits, you guessed it higher pay!...? Again, usually because of lack life experience and maturity, as well most have only short term goals.

I suggest a doing a good comparison of other EMS services, with potential benefits such as career ladder movements, education reimbursement, promotions, etc. Stay away from sign on bonuses! It has been proved they do not attract the type of personnel that is serious in career retainment, that is why more and more nursing jobs have eliminated these promotions. Place that money on retainment funding and reward those that stay. Introduce mentoring strategies, where employees that mentor new people and help retain these people are rewarded, everyone wins.

R/r 911

[GAmedic1506]

It is the trained response. It is the American way. Its just like when you are in an exit interview and the boss asks why you are leaving, you dont want to burn the bridge, so you dont say its because you are an incompetent manager, you say its because of money and benefits. Here is another test for you, of all the people who left your organization in the past year for "better pay", how many of them would have stayed if you matched or beat the higher pay offer ? Some would, but the fact of the matter is that most had quit months before the day they put in their resignation. They searched for something better, but in most states, there isnt much of a difference, so they went with highest pay out of default. The trick is not to lose them to the point that they start looking; once they disengage, the battle is lost. And at no time did I advise that you should be non-competitive with your wages/benefits. But the truth of the matter is, that in every state, there is a service that is the top payor, with the top benefits, and the usually have the worst retention percentage (throwing money alone at the problem isnt enough, although it will attract more applicants initially). With that being said, todays applicant has seen corporations that were disloyal to their employees during the 80s-90s (maybe saw their dad being downsized), so they are less loyal to the company And to ramen noodle man --- I got into EMS 22 years ago, for $12,000/year working 24 on and 24 off (with alternating wkends off -- thats right 24/24, not 24/48). I didnt have a retirment, and the health insurance was a joke. I am not trying to minimize your sacrifice, but at what-ever pay rate you earn you today, 99% of EMS employees atleast have paid time off, health insurance, and a retirement plan. So you might not want to be so quick to judge the next time. Actually it is common among mine and your generation to blame the company for our plight instead of looking in the mirror. Our generations choose not to live within our means, with one or two $400.00/month car payments, boats, 4-wheelers, a huge house/apartment, and credit-card balances out the wazoo. Your parents probably didnt own a home or a new car until they were in their 30s, but we have to have it now. When ever I hear someone gripe about EMS pay, I have to ask, what would you be making (at your current education level) if it werent for EMS. Think of it this way, if you were a starting accountant, you might make in the high 20s low 30s to start, and would work a mon-fri schedule, with the weekend off. If you worked a part-time job, you might make $40k. Most medics are earning 40-80k with two days off per week. Which isnt to say we shouldnt strive for more, but I would hardly say that the current pay and benefits of most employers are slave or sweat-shop wages. Finally, I would ask, if its all about high pay, how do the many volunteer organizations that still operate in the US get employees ? But you can learn something from the high payors, as stated in my first post, they chose to set themselves out, away from the pack (they just did it with cash). The organizations that set high standards, have fair pay, good management, dedicated employees (employees and managment both live the mission statement) will not have retention problems. But in most organizations, you cant find an employee or a supervisor that can even recite the mission statement -- so you have to ask, what mission are they following ?

[medic327]

thanks GAmedic i will bring this up in our next management meeting. paramedic mike just so you know we pay for there cme,ceu, offer a stratification raise for your certification and we also pay for you to better your self with education cost. i.e. pay for EMT,paramedic,pa nursing or any other education that has some remote ems affiliation. we also offer free self and family medical insurance with a no referral. so as you can see it not just about the green stuff thanks again GAmedic

[GAmedic1506]

You are quite welcome, and I should also tell you that this is a topic that i have researched thoroughly, it is not so off-the-hip comments of someone who has been in the business a couple of years. I would recommend that you buy/check-out a book that I believe is entitled "Keeping Good People" by Herman. It is a very good, in-depth look, at why companies lose employees. Something else to consider, that is unique to EMS, is that our managers are often very undertrained. Imagine trying to be a great paramedic without ever taking a PALS, ACLS, or a BTLS/PHTLS course; it would be very difficult. Yet most EMS managers have not taken a single management course before becomming a supervisor. This means that they often just model the supervisors that they have had over the years, which could be a good or bad thing. The para-military style of management (Fire and PD) is most often used, and may be the worst to employ for our current work-force. The absolute best advice that I can give you is:

1. Manage individuals. Most supervisors manage crews, trucks, or shifts, but not the individual. You should be able to go down your employee list and tell me what motivates and demotivates every individual employee on your list. If you dont know, then find out. Then you should be able to tell me how each employee is connected to the company, if you took away EMS calls (what other job functions do they have). The employees that are "unconnected" are the ones who will be the first to leave. Even the malcontent that no one can work with, can be turned around if you make an effort to get him connected.

2. Require management training for your supervisors -- if they do not model the ethic of wanting to learn and be better, how can you ask your paramedics to pick-up a book.

3. Find someway to be noticeable different in your EMS community. Start with your mission statement -- Are you living it; -- probably not as fully as you could. You might need to rewrite it, but every activity you perform should be linked to that mission statement. I gave you several examples of how to be different earlier. Dont fall into the trap of catch-phrases, committees, and empty promises. Start small, fix the easy potholes first, and work then work your way up to the most difficult. Be principled, and stick to your guns. Your employees will be skeptical at first, but as results begin to occur, they will come around.

Please feel free to ask any specific question that you have, and I will answer as best I can.

[JChernov1977]

While money is a good help in getting people in, however the trick to keeping and getting people in the door is to treat your people right. The trick to keeping employees is to giving them a reason to stay. Companies in Arizona have a mentality of Ruling by Fear.

This is one of the thing that I found that no matter what type of positions you offer, and how much money you are paying. It is also going to come down to how the employees feel that they are being treated as employees. Do you allow the employees to voice their opinions and so forth with out feeling like that they are going to be terminated for doing so?

There is also the fact that maybe a lot of people don't know about your services. Maybe advertising on websites such as this or other free sites might help. Also have you thought about offering people such as myself who want to get out of the state their in a relocation bonus, or something such as helping with paramedic school.

That's my two cents... I would be interested in finding out what you could offer to get me to come out there. I have always wanted to try living in another state... Arizona is to hot feel free to email or message me at anytime.