Attracting and hiring the right candidates is an uphill battle in today’s job market, especially in emergency communications where small candidate pools were already the norm. From employees working hard to woo employers with their qualifications and skills, employers are now the ones trying to impress potential candidates with what their organization has to offer. Halcyon Frank shares tried-and-true methods to attract and recruit your organization’s desired candidates.
Halcyon Frank is a full-time dispatcher for a county agency dispatching law, fire, and EMS and an active member of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). She is also the Founder of The Dispatch Lab – a dispatch training and support organization – and presents at dispatch conferences across the country.
Specifics discussed in the webinar include:
- The staffing challenges being experienced by the public safety profession including emergency communication centers and law enforcement.
- The shift in terms of how employers and potential employees interact with each other and the change in approach warranted from the agencies in response to this shift in dynamics.
- Recognizing the greater risk and responsibility and consequentially increased emotional and mental toll that comes with a career in public safety.
- Factors outside of monetary compensation that job seekers consider when deciding which job to accept that employers must likewise take into account, demonstrate, and provide candidates with as options.
- A rundown of the hiring obstacles agencies are facing that looks into the length of the hiring process, the appeal of the industry, the lack of candidates, background checks and screeners, and shift work.
- The reality that people are no longer looking for a decades-long career, and what ultimately decides whether they stay in an organization is the culture and the people they work with.
- The places where potential candidates tend to first hear about job opportunities.
- The importance of networking and proactively reaching out to the community to attract candidates.
- Taking care of both current and new employees to foster positive work culture and employee satisfaction to increase the likelihood of recommending your organization as a workplace to people they know.
- Examples of additional non-traditional benefits that may be used to attract candidates.
- Effective in-person and online recruitment channels, approaches, activities, and initiatives.
- Ways to reduce, if not remove, the common barriers keeping potential candidates from sending their applications and going through the entire hiring process.
- The inherently stressful nature of a job in public safety and what agencies can do to relieve candidates of the stress and anxiety that they may feel as they join the profession.
- Things that influence recruitment and hiring which looks into HR communication and coordination, the hiring process itself, and other external factors.
- Understanding and being aware of implicit biases that decision-makers may inadvertently commit as they screen and choose which candidates are chosen to fill their vacancies.
Points covered during the Q&A are about:
- What to do when organizations can’t compete on salary.
- Selling a career in public safety to candidates who have never considered a career in the profession.
- Reaching out to high schools and colleges to get students interested in a career in public safety.
- Coordinating with HR to address hiring and onboarding issues and delays.
- Easing off on traditionally exclusionary hiring criteria where applicable.
- Attracting candidates from other industries or agencies who might be looking for a change in their career path.
Other Webinars with this Speaker
- April 19: Building Your Team (this webinar)
- June 21: Leading from All Levels
Resources and Handouts
- Handout: 3rd Party QA Services
- Handout: Denise Amber Lee Foundation
- Handout: Training Courses
Audience Comments
- “Halycon Frank is the best presenter I’ve ever witnessed and had a great opportunity to be a part of! 🙂 She speaks wonders and volumes, and what a subject matter expert in her field! Everything she discussed was so relevant in regard to “Building Your Team,” and I’ve already signed up for more of her upcoming classes. I took a few of her previous webinars, she’s amazing. I enjoyed all her insights and loved how she conveyed the materials, her approach, and captivating us audience members.” 🙂 — Nicole
- “There are no secret weapons that other people are using to get employees, it all just comes down to likability and that employee (seems like all employers are having the same issues b/c the applicant pool is just so limited).” — Jan
- “Other ways to interview and attract applicants other than the normal application process.” — Kimberly
- “Fantastic presentation! Thank you so much. All the information was valuable.” — Kim
- “Tips and Tricks from the presenters are why I join, but also hearing others provide feedback and ask questions is always good because it provides the attendees with something else to think about.” — Kevin
- “Loved the ideas shared about reaching/talking to the potential new hires and staff. Enjoyed the quick clip that Cuban shared about listening/talking and being available to staff – for retention, sustaining staff and supporting the business.” — Melissa
