This weeks commentary is provided by

Deputy Chief (ret.) Paul Anderson of the Randolph Mass Fire Department.

Chief Anderson is an experienced fire service officer and a long time fire service instructor who has views on leadership in the fire service and has been generous enough to share some of those views with us this week.

Commitment

*Note: While Chief Anderson's article considers a great deal of the career fire service all of the principles and ideas certainly apply to the call / volunteer service as well.

With each step we take into examining organizational theory, one factor is reinforced over and over; People are our principle resource. It is this basic principle that good administrator focus on when they strive to surround themselves with good people. Let’s examine more closely what and how we should be looking for when selecting "good" people.

Two of the major contributing factors to the success of any fire department are the performance levels and commitment of it members. We’ll make the suggestion here that both are seldom addressed adequately, even by some of the most successful organizations, and therefore deserve some discussion. Let’s save performance levels and the selection process for another time, and concentrate on commitment.

As an introduction, look at the importance of the commitment of firefighters and officers to the mission statement of the department. Needless to say, personal goals have to be in line with organizational goals, and members at all levels have to buy into the system. Perhaps a better explanation of the need for commitment is to examine the dysfunctional organization, made up of members with "misplaced" priorities, where interests are everywhere except the fire service. We don’t need another session of Maslow or McGregor to understand we need commitment.

Can we measure commitment, and if so, how?

One of the most important qualities a good administrator looks for in people is self-motivation; measurable by the amount of time and effort he or she puts into self-improvement – trying to be the best. So first on my list is:

Training/Education. The extent to which a candidate for appointment at the entrance level, or promotion, has devoted toward self-improvement says volumes about self-motivation, but there is so much more that can be measured.

Call Back. Does your department depend heavily on call back of personnel for working fires and multiple alarms? There are a lot of issues surrounding this topic, but it still boils down to, Whom can you depend on?

Participation. Community involvement by the department contributes to public awareness and support. We only have to go back to the America Burning Report of the early 70’s to be reminded of our obligations to our customers. Who gets involved in delivering our programs and selling our image? All the way from the school education programs and talking to the elderly, to collecting for MDA and marching in the Memorial Day Parade – it’s all a necessary part of telling our story and selling ourselves. Document who can be counted on.

Sick Leave. As controversial as it may be, the sick leave abuser can be identified, and reminds us of the often repeated axiom, "IF YOUR NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION, YOU’RE PART OF THE PROBLEM. Acceptable and tolerable level of sick leave should be spelled out. If unacceptable behavior in this area cannot be modified, how can we justify recognizing it with appointment or promotion? Managerial decisions have to be based on as much fact and documentation as possible. This is an area that is easily measurable, and should be part of personnel decisions.

Commendations and Certifications. This may be closely associated with training and education, but is an indicator of another important quality of the person. Since the fire service is actively involved in diversifying to justify our existence, member also must show a willingness to branch out. EMS is an excellent example. Since over half of the runs of most, if not all fire department are EMS oriented, we tend to lean more in that direction to service our customers. How important is it in your department to have firefighters as EMT-I, or paramedic. Measure their involvement and contribution.

The key here, as with other parts of the decision making process, is that the ground rules have to be established and communicated. Just like the rules of any game, everyone has to know how to play. We begin by explaining what we’re looking for and what’s required. If your goal is to contribute to this organization, or to be promoted, you should know up front that commitment is expected, and therefore an important part of the selection process. And by the way, here’s how we measure it.

Here is a sample form that can be kept in every member’s personnel file. Credits, or points are assigned to each category in proportion to the level of importance of each category.

Certifications:

Firefighter I and II

Officer I and II

Instructor

Other

Education

Certificate courses (Local Fire Academy and/ or NFA)

Degrees (Fire Science or related subjects)

Associate Degree

Bachelors Degree

Master Degree

Years of Service:

This Department

Other Departments

Related Service

Call back: (Last five years_

Year Times requested Response %

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

Sick Leave History:

Volunteer/Programs:

Examples; Haz mat team, dive team, parades, fire prevention activities, speaking engagements.

Community involvement is sometimes also included – coaching youth sports, boy scouts, committees

Do you have something that might be added to this form?