Although the London Fire Brigade (LFB) has had no shortage of applications for operational firefighter roles, it was recognised in the 1980s that the organisation, like other fire brigades, was not succeeding in recruiting a diverse workforce.
In 1999, the Home Office set ambitious targets for LFB to increase the representation of black and multi-ethnic (BME) firefighters from 4.5 per cent to 25 per cent and women from 1 per cent to 15 per cent by 2009. The need for a diverse workforce was further emphasised when in 2001 the operational role shifted from primarily reactive responses to preventative work, requiring a workforce able to interact and engage with different communities. In response to these drivers, LFB adopted a long term approach to tackling diversity issues.
Action taken
An equality and diversity team was formed to lead various recruitment and retention initiatives and address relevant issues in service delivery. At the same time, a strategic recruitment and outreach strategy was introduced to improve the representation of female and BME staff looking at:
- Attracting greater numbers of diverse candidates
- Fairer selection processes
- Improving retention
- Improving progression and development.
Investigating the barriers
The LFB used focus groups and recruitment test results to determine barriers to entry for women. Women performed well in tests provided they had physical fitness training support, but the job attraction rate for women remained consistently low, between 6 to 8 per cent: the fire service was not being seen as a career choice.
In contrast, the main barrier for BME candidates had been in the selection process, specifically performance in psychometric tests.
Breaking down the barriers
LFB drew on learning from other organisations such as the Metropolitan Police and Transport for London to design a range of initiatives to improve the perception of fire fighting jobs as a career choice, and change internal processes to better suit the needs of women and BME staff.
Targeted advertising
95 per cent of the organisation’s advertising costs are targeted at raising awareness of the Brigade as a genuine career option for women and BME communities. Targeted advertising, role models and advertorials have been used, assisted in 2006 by a government awareness campaign to attract more women firefighters.
Open days
Women only and BME targeted open days are held twice a month, giving potential candidates the opportunity to meet other BME and women firefighters, practise written tests and receive advice on expectations for application forms and physical tests. For example, women can have their upper body strength assessed, to see if they would need more preparation for the physical test for the firefighter role. To date, over 22,000 people have registered interest in attending the open days.
Selection process
In order to reduce the drop out rate of BME applicants in the selection process, the firefighter selection process was revised using knowledge gained from focus groups, community research and data analysis. A number of innovative approaches were introduced, including video-based assessment tests. In addition, a ‘challenge’ group process was established with representation from key internal stakeholders.
Physical tests were moved to the end of the selection process to give potential candidates more time to train in order to meet the physical standards required for entry.
Organisational changes
As well as increasing the number of applications to the authority, cultural and operational factors within the organisation had to be addressed. Physical changes to buildings, uniforms and equipment, and diversity training for staff were introduced. The Brigade also decided to cluster successful women applicants in watches and stations in order to remove isolation and improve retention.
Fast track and graduate schemes:
With slow turnover hampering progression of staff, LFB launched an internal fast track scheme. In addition, a graduate scheme was introduced in 2007, allowing operational firefighters to move into management roles.
Outcomes
The authority has increased the proportion of BME staff and women in operational roles.
- The number of women increased from 61 to 210 between 1999 and 2007, with 18 per cent of applications in recent campaigns being made by women.
- The graduate scheme has helped to increase the number of female applications to the authority: 42 per cent of successful applicants in the initial round were women.
- The modified selection process greatly improved the success rates of BME candidates at each stage of the selection process. For example, on the revised written tests the success rate improved from 36 per cent in 2002 to 68 per cent in 2006.
- Of the 17 firefighters selected for accelerated progression to potential management level under the LFB Targeted Development Scheme in 2006, nearly half were women and just under a third were from BME groups. Initial feedback is very positive about this group’s corporate input. By the end of 2008, the majority of this group will be applying for the Brigade’s Middle Management Assessment Centre.
- The authority’s approach has acted as an exemplar to other corporate and public sector organisations in the UK and Europe. Representatives from British Gas attended the open days and the organisation now uses a similar process to attract women engineers.
However, slow turnover in fire services makes it difficult to change the ethnic and gender profile over a short time. And more work is needed to improve applications from particular groups, such as those from Asian communities. To help address this, a specific officer is included within the outreach team to target women and Asian men. A reception has also been held for key players in the Asian communities in London to advertise careers in the service.
Resources
- These initiatives have been developed and run by the six members of staff in the Equalities and Diversity Team at LFB. Redesigning the selection process required periodic input from a range of stakeholders such as Training and Development and Equalities. Significant design work occurred within HR.
- Direct costs arose in terms of sourcing suitable external pilot samples (using a market research company) at approximately £20,000.
- Start up costs were higher and covered resources such as equipment, events, call handling and staffing. These are now reducing. For example, the Outreach Budget, which is used to fund open days and other events, has reduced from an initial £338,000 in 2003/04 to £115,000 in 2007/08.
- The current annual budget for awareness/recruitment advertising is £133,500.
- LFB spends approximately £1,533 per trainee from under-represented groups.
Learning
- Ambitious targets made it necessary to adopt a strategic approach, although targets have never been used as quotas for selection.
- Support at a senior level has been essential. Members of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority have supported and driven all initiatives. In addition, the Deputy Commissioner at LFB is the organisation’s equalities champion.
- There is a need to be open with staff and inform them why new initiatives have been introduced. If they had started their work with their current level of experience, the equalities team would have put greater emphasis on briefing staff and ensuring managers passed this information on, in order to avoid some existing staff not feeling informed.
- Equalities training for all staff is essential, covering topics from understanding the issues to experiencing and understanding behaviours.
- By learning from initiatives carried out by similar organisations, LFB has avoided having to ‘reinvent the wheel’.
- Putting diversity at the core of the organisation has clear advantages for delivering more responsive services. Minority staff are seen as an asset to service delivery, as they can improve the effectiveness of outreach and engagement activities and establish stronger links with communities.