Recruitment and retention toolkit for emergency volunteer leaders (invite only)

In partnership with Curtin University, the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) WA, the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC hosted an online showcase to showcase the new recruitment and retention toolkit for emergency volunteer leaders.

At the showcase, the research teams at Curtin University and UWA, and members of DFES, shared details about a new toolkit of resources designed to support emergency services brigades, groups and units (BGU) leaders with their volunteer management practices. The toolkit covers recruiting, onboarding and leading volunteers, and volunteer succession planning.

Access the toolkit here: bit.ly/esvtoolkit

Date: 9 October 2020
Time: 1pm AEDT, 12:30pm ACDT, 12pm AEST, 11:30am ACST, 10am AWST
Duration: 2 hours

This online showcase was the product of extensive research by A/Prof Patrick Dunlop, Prof Marylene Gagne, Prof Alex Luksyte, Dr Darja Kragt, Dr Djurre Holtrop, and Hawa Muhammad Farid from Curtin University and UWA, in partnership with DFES and the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. Their research explored ways that emergency services can improve and tailor their practices to better recruit, support, manage and, most importantly, retain current and future volunteers in their BGUs.

The recording of this showcase can be seen above or via the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC's Hazard Channel. 

For those who attended the showcase, there is a short survey available to gather feedback about how the toolkit can be approved. Access the survey here. 

The presentations from this showcase can be found in the 'Resources' tab below. 

Together with Jennifer Pidgeon and Kate White from DFES, Patrick and Hawa guided the audience through some exciting tools that were developed to help emergency services agencies, including:

• Recruiting Volunteers for the Emergency Services – A resource to support BGU volunteer recruitment.  
• Supporting New Volunteers – A resource on how to successfully on-board and socialise new emergency service volunteers.
• Volunteer Management Toolkit – A resource on how to motivate and manage emergency service volunteers effectively.
• The Emergency Volunteer Recruitment Messaging Toolkit – A practical tool to assist in tailoring recruitment messages for volunteer recruitment campaigns.
• Volunteer Succession Planning (currently under development) – A resource to support the identification and development of new leaders, as well as support the transitioning of experienced leaders into supporting roles in volunteer BGUs.