When is being a volunteer just too much hassle? When the paperwork gets too heavy? When your duties get in the way of what you want to do? That's a hassle. Have you heard the phrase “give me a break” around the company more than three times in the last 30 days? If so, the “hassle factor” may be growing in your department.

So what is the hassle factor? For firefighters, it can best be described as a feeling where things are just more trouble than they are worth. It's having to fill out forms that no one looks at to get a new pair of gloves; it's being watched and micromanaged instead of trusted to do everyday assignments. It's a feeling where firefighters are just sick and tired of all the hassle and challenges it takes to get even the simplest thing accomplished. It comes about when the firefighters and other members just want to say to heck with all this foolishness and chuck their gear into the front door of the station and quit.

The level of the hassle factor is very important. In surveys taken around the United States, the leading issue for most volunteer fire departments is recruitment and retention. Getting good people to join and keeping those people are identified as the largest and most prevalent issues facing fire department leadership.

Do you think you are creating a significant hassle factor for your members? Think about it. One of two things is most likely true. The first may be that you are doing a great job and your members have excellent and open communications with you and your officers. Your retention rate is more than 95% and your members are happy and respond regularly to calls. I hope this is your department.

The second situation may be more realistic. Your retention rate is between 30% to 70%. Your experienced members seem to quit or move to other departments just about the time you are hoping to promote them. You lose 10% to 25% of your members every year for no apparent reason. Your response to emergency calls is the same three to five people every time. You feel like you are always training new people in the basics and can't ever get around to advanced training.

Maybe it's time to ask yourself some hard and often difficult questions about the leadership and management of your department.

Here are some commonly perceived hassle factors in departments.

1. No chance for promotion

   Have the same people been officers in your department for the last several years? Do all the officers and the chief have the same family name? Do your members have the opportunity to get promoted and reach for new experiences? Some departments are guilty of nepotism and favoritism by always making the same people officers and not giving others a chance to learn new positions.

2. Boring training

   Has training become worse than watching paint dry? If the training is so basic and so routine that you can take the classes in your sleep, or it is so impractical and out of touch that the members just skip training nights altogether, there's something wrong. When was the last time you had an outside instructor? When was the last hands-on drill? When was the last time everyone absolutely loved the training class?

3. No shared responsibility

   Do firefighters have responsibility and accountability for important tasks, or is everything in the department controlled by the chief with an iron hand? Do you delegate duties and the appropriate powers to your members to allow them to get their jobs done?

4. Slow acquisition of basic items

   Do the simplest things seem to take an act of Congress? Do firefighters have to fill out forms in triplicate and submit a detailed report stating why and when gloves became old and ragged? Is the paperwork more important than taking care of business and the firefighters?

5. Too many or too few calls

   Are firefighters tired of responding to a repeated false alarm or an injured toe? Or is the opposite true, where there just aren't any calls anymore? Hopefully this is a good thing and your fire education efforts are paying off.

6. Boring meetings

   Was the last business meeting spent arguing for three hours whether the department was going to buy a new floor buffer for the station only to have it voted down. Did a recent meeting last forever and nothing was decided? Do you have meetings to set more meetings? Does your board meet once every month, regardless of whether it needs to?

7. The level of bull has passed the eyeballs

   I guess I don't need to explain this one too much. When you can no longer stand the smell or the taste of things, it's time to move on.

8. Too much risk-taking

   Are the last three safety officers no longer with the department? Are safety suggestions frowned on, ridiculed or simply ignored?

9. Supported bad behavior

   Do some members drive to every call like NASCAR racers headed for the checkered flag?

10. Small things blown out of proportion

    Are firefighters chewed up and spit out over not parking the truck straight in the bay? Do you tell firefighters they can't come to the fire station unless they are on official business?

11. Everyone thinks they can be fire chief and do a better job

    All firefighters think they can be chief and do it better, but when the newest rookie begins to tell everyone how he or she can do it better and faster, then this has become a serious problem. You must always expect criticism, but when the members begin to lose respect for you and your position, it may be time to take some action. But don't forget, respect is a two-way street. You have to earn respect from your firefighters by respecting them as well.

How many of these situations apply to your company? How many does it take for a member to quit? The truth is that it takes only one. Work hard to reduce these hassles in any way you can in your department. Try to make your company a safe and happy home for your members.

Take some time to look and listen and feel what's going on in your agency. There's good rule of thumb you can use for making things work better. I call it the Three F Rule:

Family

Firefighters should be allowed to place their families first, and so should you. As important as the fire department is to the community, and as good as it makes you feel to help your fellow citizens out during their time of need, please place your family first. Go to your kid's softball game, take your spouse for a getaway weekend and spend some quality time with your family members. The fire department will always be there and will always need your help.

Fun

When things stop being fun around the station and on calls, we all need to make some changes for the better.

Fair

The rules should be reasonable and fair. The rules should be applied equally and fairly to all members at all times.

Hopefully you now have some insight into yourself and your department and that this enables your department to perform its critical task at a more safe and efficient level.

Ken Farmer is the president of Capitol Safety Systems, which provides consultant services in management, leadership, sales and course development. He's also a volunteer firefighter with the Fuquay-Varina (N.C.) Fire Department, where he previously served as chief. He has a bachelor's degree in political science from North Carolina State University and is a graduate of the National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer Program in political science.