APCO Posts 2nd Staffing Study Results

The nation’s public safety comm centers are losing dispatchers at nearly the same rate as 2005, according to a second staffing study by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) released today. A Jan.-June 2008 survey of 626 comm center employees found that turn-over is now 19%, three percentage points higher than when the association’s Project RETAINS studied the problem of staffing in 2005. The group did find better news–comm centers that used APCO’s toolkit of solutions reported significantly higher retention rates than those that didn’t. More small centers reported full staffing during the previous year (49%), while medium-sized (19%) and large (9%) reported had more difficulty keeping all positions filled. Center directors universally reported a lack of qualified candidates in the community, making it difficult to hire even with a strong recruitment program. APCO released a 110-page report on the project’s latest survey, which was performed and analyzed by George Mason University (Virg.). The report also painted an operational picture of the nation’s comm centers, including that even small center served an average of 11 agencies, 70% of centers now have Phase II wireless E911 service, and 42% of dispatchers are unionized. You can download (pdf) a copy of the report here (reg. required).

The survey found 32% of dispatchers had a college degree, while another 41% had some college.

Demographics on the sex of comm center employees was cloudy–the survey didn’t ask for a employee-specific census of employees. Rather, the survey asked for the respondent’s sex, and then asked about percentage ranges for men vs. women. Among respondents, mangers and directors were 40% female, but women made up 74% of other respondents, nearly identical to the 2005 study. To the second question, 45% of respondents said that women made up 75% or more of their calltakers and dispatchers, and 31% said women comprised from 50% to 75% of their staff.

Average base pay at small centers was $32,000, less than medium-sized ($43,000) and large ($45,000) comm centers.

Forty percent of respondents feel their work isn’t appreciated by the public. At the other end of the scale, just 10% of respondents strongly agreed that their work is appreciated by the public, while 51% agreed.

Those survey also didn’t feel good about their chances for advancement in the next couple of years–63% disagreed, and only 36% agreed.

The George Mason research team used the survey to create a prediction model of retention, and found that hourly pay directly affects keeping employees: an additional $2 per hour would increase retention by 3-1/2 percentage points. Secondly, retention is directly affected by overtime: where OT is a frequent necessity, retention is an average of 13% lower than other centers. Thirdly, retention improves when part-time employees are used. Lastly, a good management-employee relationship improves retention rates.

Employee commitment was highest in small and large comm centers, and respondents expressed a surprisingly high level of pride and loyalty, despite the strenuous job requirements. For example, over half the respondents said they’d turn down another job with better pay to stay with their comm center. And over 60% said they anticipated spending the rest of their career at the comm center.

The research team came up with a list of nine distinct factors that affect organization commitment, including supportive supervision, opportunity for promotion, coping resources and flexible work arrangements.

The survey also included seven questions on psychological distress, and found that perceived recognition played a significant factor in the results.