Delivering the Message to Success: Diversity Recruitment

The New York City Fire Department’s (FDNY) mission is to protect the lives and property of New York City residents and visitors. Implicit within the department’s values of service, bravery, safety, honor, dedication, and preparedness, is a commitment to have its workforce reflect the diverse population of residents it serves to protect. The FDNY charged the Capstone team with two major objectives: 1) developing improved messaging aimed at attracting minorities to the FDNY, and 2) understanding causes of FDNY candidate attrition between registering and completing the firefighting exam. The team conducted a thorough review of previous assessments of FDNY messaging, five focus groups of minority firefighters, interviewed key staff, and administered several surveys in order to identify existing problems and develop effective messaging solutions.