Attracting and recruiting firefighters is only the first step in ensuring a capable workforce. Along with recruiting for workforce Diversity, which include the attraction of young people, appropriate workplace policies and practices and retention strategies are crucial for long term sustainability. Measurement of the performance, both collective and individual, or the workforce is also a key factor in ensuring a workforce with capacity and capability.

Workforce recruitment, both paid and volunteer, forms a major part of an overall resourcing strategy for an association's Leadership – strategies that identify and secure people needed for an organisation to succeed. Environment and demographics play a significant role in determining resourcing strategies. Attraction and recruitment activities must respond to the ever-increasing competitive market and to secure qualified recruits at all levels.

Volunteering

A volunteering workforce requires specific understanding to effectively manage. Research into areas such as motivations to volunteer, reasons for leaving and retention of volunteers are covered in the research below. Specific challenges need to be recognised when it comes to the attraction, recruitment and retention of volunteers. It is important to understand and recognise both the value of a volunteer's contribution as well as the contribution of a volunteer’s employer.

Australian Community Safety relies on the 260,000+ volunteers in the fire and emergency services sector for their protection. The more that is understood about why individuals volunteer and, more importantly, why they do not, the more we are able to ensure long term sustainability of Public Safety Agencies. Managing an operation that is highly dependent upon volunteer response often needs specific plans and strategies.

In some rural communities and other Hard to Reach Groups, economic and demographic factors have influenced an overall decline and ageing of populations. This effect has significant impact on the volunteer workforce. Strategic Industry Positions and Policy development focusing on recruitment and retention of volunteers is critical.