Case Study: Repositioning a Fire District’s Total Rewards Strategy to Increase Trust and Market Competitiveness

The situation: A growing fire district was experiencing persistent recruitment and retention challenges. Compensation lagged the market, and no one knew if the agency's benefits were competitive. Turnover was frequent at the 1-3 year range, and the organization was increasingly viewed as a stepping stone agency rather than a long-term employer.

The Fire Chief understood pay was part of the issue, but previous adjustments had been incremental, one-size-fits-all, and reactive, without a clear philosophy or strategy to support them.

The constraint: Several realities shaped the work:

• Compensation sat near the 10th percentile, limiting competitiveness

• Any changes required board approval and public defensibility

• The district needed to remain financially sustainable long-term

• Equity and internal alignment mattered just as much as external market pressure

The risk wasn’t just underpaying; it was making changes that couldn’t be explained, sustained, or trusted.

The decision point: The core question wasn’t:

“How much do we need to raise pay?”

It was:

“What total rewards philosophy should guide this organization, and how do we align market competitiveness, internal equity, and fiscal responsibility in a way leadership and the public can stand behind?”

Tradeoffs considered: The work required weighing several options:

• Minimal pay and benefit adjustments

  • Lower cost

  • Continued recruitment and retention risk

• Targeted increases without a philosophy

  • Faster relief

  • High risk of future misalignment and repeated pressure

• A full total rewards redesign anchored in a clear pay philosophy

  • Higher upfront effort

  • Long-term clarity, defensibility, and stability

Leadership chose the third path.

Directional results

• Employee pay moved from approximately the 10th percentile to the 70th percentile

• Paid time off was increased above the market median, and data supported that other benefits were market competitive

• Non-operational roles were appropriately benchmarked externally, resulting in role-specific pay adjustments for the first time

• The district successfully gained board approval for the new total rewards strategy and philosophy

• Recruitment pipelines were strengthened immediately

• The organization shifted from a stepping-stone department to a competitive regional player

• This work created an environment where the agency could attract Lateral Firefighters and successfully hired 4 lateral firefighters from a large competitive metro agency

Just as important, leadership gained a framework they could use for future decisions, not just a one-time fix. This increased trust from employees all the way to the Board of Directors.

How I think: Compensation problems in fire districts aren’t just about numbers; they’re about trust, sustainability, and public accountability. My role is to help leaders make total rewards decisions that are competitive and explainable, so they don’t have to revisit the same debate every year.