REWARDING VOLUNTEERS
BY JOHN M. BUCKMAN
Today, providing incentives for volunteer firefighters is a challenge. The rewards must be tailored to the specific firefighters, who are of differing age groups. Personal recognition, however, is the single most important incentive, and some of the most effective forms of employee recognition cost nothing. As an example, you can acknowledge peers and subordinates who have helped you at meetings or bring up the outstanding work or an idea of a volunteer during a monthly business meeting or at the beginning of a training session.
A sincere word of thanks from the right person at the right time can mean more than a raise, a formal award, or a whole wall of certificates or plaques. Part of the power of such rewards comes from knowing that someone took the time to notice the achievement, seek out the volunteer responsible, and personally deliver praise in a timely manner.
Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson in The One-Minute Manager (New York: Morrow, 1982) suggest some methods motivators can use to motivate their employees:
Tell people up front that you are going to let them know how they are doing.
Praise people immediately.
Tell people what they did right–be specific.
Tell people how good you feel about what they did right and how it helps the organization and the other people who work there.
Encourage them to do more of the same.
LOW-COST REWARDS
Examples of low-cost rewards include the following:
Create a hall of fame with wall photos of outstanding firefighters.
Take a photo of an individual being congratulated by the fire chief. Frame the photo. Display photographs of top performers in the fire station.
Create a photo collage with the theme of a successful program or project. Show the people who worked on it. Include photos depicting its stages of development, completion, and presentation.
Conduct a behind-the-scenes award specifically for individuals whose actions are not usually in the limelight.
Thank your fire chief, officers, and volunteers when they perform a task well or do something to help you.
Continuous, supportive communication from officers, supervisors, and peers is too often underemphasized, yet it is a major motivator.
Many effective forms of recognition are one-time events that celebrate a significant achievement or milestone. Such activities need to be planned so that they are timely and pertinent to the situation and the person being recognized. Recognition activities contribute significantly to volunteers` job satisfaction. It is the commodity nearest to compensation a fire chief can give to volunteers.
Volunteers want to do a good, creative job. When provided with the proper environment, they will perform in the way you expect. Most volunteers hunger for someone to simply look them in the eye and say, “I like the way you do that.”
We lead by being human, not by being corporate, professional, or pro-institution. All fire chiefs have a fire chief persona–the way they want to be perceived. A follower should be able to look on a leader as an individual who is approachable and can be challenged as long as the follower is respectful of the leader and the position. Leaders do not have all the answers, nor do they know all or see all.
TACTICS
The correct approach to an employee recognition program is as important as it is to an emergency incident response plan. The following “tactics” will help to ensure success:
#1. Timing is crucial. Recognize contributions throughout a project. Present the reward close to the time the achievement is realized. Time delays weaken the impact of most rewards.
#2. Strive for a clear, unambiguous, and well-communicated connection between accomplishments and rewards. Be sure people understand why they receive awards and the criteria on which they are based.
#3. Tailor the rewards and recognition mechanisms to the unique needs of the individuals. Having a variety of recognition and reward options will enable you to better customize the awards to the particulars of the situation.
#4. Emphasize success, not failure. If you are busily searching for the negatives, you will miss the positives.
#5. Deliver recognition and rewards in an open and public way, or much of the impact and benefits will be lost.
#6. Recognize recognition–that is, recognize people who recognize others for doing what is best for the department. Don`t forget to recognize your leaders, who often are doing the thanking but do not get any thanks in return.
#7. Deliver recognition in a personal and honest manner. Don`t overdo it. Keep it in proportion to the achievement being recognized. n
JOHN M. BUCKMAN has served 20 years as chief of the German Township (IN) Volunteer Fire Department. He was instrumental in forming the Volunteer Chief Officers Sections of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, is international representative to the IAFC Board of Directors, and will be a candidate for second vice president of the IAFC in 1999. Buckman is an adjunct faculty member in the National Fire Academy residence program and is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering.
