I have a web site devoted to this issue within emergency telecommunications, I'd love to hear from you. It is important to pay your hard working dispatchers well. It is easy to loose good dispatchers to a job at sonic as a carhop if they will pay them better. Prepare for the position. New dispatchers need to be adequately trained to handle their new responsibilities.
Seminars are great - for seasoned dispatchers.
New dispatchers need hands-on training as well as academic education. When my students graduate, they are prepared to work. I will be tracking their progress over the next few years to see if my theory is validated. We were down a total of 5 positions, for an authorized staff of 25. We also had a high fail rate during our 7 mo training program.