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By JODI MAGALLANES that the most common firehouse complaints •The station's organizational vision
The Municipal haven't changed much over the last 50 •A mission statement
years. Take away the challenge of fighting
Is it the physical challenges? The instantaneous, amateur, www. coverage • The station's goals, both professional
danger? No. The biggest frustrations and commentary about fire service calls, and internal
volunteer firefighters encounter involve and it's the same six issues that have been •Objectives
interpersonal relations. chipping away at departments'morale and • Additional policies as demanded by
In April, Municipal Fire Protection effectiveness for two generations. unique situations
Consultant Harry Carter polled several As a former career, military and
dozen volunteer firefighters from around volunteer firefighter, Carter has seen "Lead them there," Carter said. "But,
the country who gathered in Indianapolis problematic situations of those ilks, and remember that Moses didn't go into the
for FDIC. During a leadership seminar for others — including the "do it all" type of Promised Land. But you can create a
volunteer departments, the fire officers leader who ultimately gets overwhelmed framework that ensures stability for the
shared their top irritations,which were: and winds up leaving things undone; and future."
• Lack of people what he called the "closed club crew,"that He suggests p p ggests establishing a vision
makes sure anyone who's not like them of the station's identity and what its staff
• Laziness doesn't feel comfortable on the job.
perceives its role to be — as well as
• Low pay Like most organizations, volunteer fire what the leadership wants it to become.
• Inexperienced officers departments find success in consistency. Focus groups can contribute to a
• Dumb people A written definition of the organization's comprehensiveness and durability of that
mission and of the role of management vision and give firefighters ownership of
•Harassment is the place to start, because an effective the vision, if they're composed of a cross-
•Social media organization manages expectations from section of members and not a group
the top down.The checklist of policies that of buddies. The mission statement, he
After listening and agreeing with all of should be included in a station's personnel continued, should explicitly and concisely
them, he gave a not-so-startling judgment: manual are: re-state the station's reason for
26 • THE MUNICIPAL • JULY 2012 •
k T 11 "�; X ,4'_e s 2. E>;
. existence.
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Where firehouses lose the most men though, is in the lack of
'� ' • r -; % clear goals. Without a plan for the future, members of the team
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.°•4" ar, : 'i;a � _,L =sr , �l '.. don't know what they should be working toward: Turning out
-- - -- .„ ,,L - a A,., " . i faster? Knowing the district? Faster response? Improving public
° i ' -- ' safety and education?
-,_:« s. e_ it ` r "If you don't know where you're going, how are you going to
- as ` .y., get there?" he asked.
_! To achieve the established goals, install guidelines under
the "policies" banner to give personnel a plan they can follow. All
'-- Au. - -1r is-An policies should direct staff to the goals set by the organization,
and without exception should be treated as mandatory.
x I--c- ; ' : u XI: ',.: "You might say that all firefighters must be certified as Certified t-
„ r - Firefighter Two personnel before being allowed to perform interior
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'r ";'- . structural firefighting operations, or that all officer candidates
1 must complete Firefighter One training before any appointment
s or election," he said. "Or say that you're going to repay people for
. k xxXioi their training expenses. Just put it in writing, and stick to it." Input
from the roster can give the leadership and focus groups direction
Establishing guidelines for promotion that include specific training that keeps the rules from being too numerous or from being simply
requirements will reduce friction among the rank and file because the
process to that goal is fixed and equitable.Here,firefighters demon- ridiculous.
strate a car fire training procedure at FDIC.(Photo by Jodi Magallanes) Lastly, don't forget to develop a mechanism for evaluating
'. ;.. how well the goals have been met.
-`-� Carter also encourages chiefs to "go where the knowledge
,' is"about any given issue,even if it comes in the form of a younger
or atypical-looking recruit.
Organizationally, firehouses are no different than other
organizations looking to improve the quality of their volunteers and
- `' fs.v, ..
z° � ; the value of the service they perform.The universal principles of
` organization remain:
•Give clear responsibilities.
-g it' - •Give staff enough authority to do their jobs.
• Have each person report to a single supervisor so people
know to whom they're responsible.
--s„ nix •Provide sufficient staff resources.
• Don't give one supervisor more people than he (or she)can
handle.
Applying the principles lessens the impact of change, solves
t problems before they become debilitating burdens and levels the
playing field for recruits whose talents might be more valuable
According to Municipal Fire Protection Consultant Harry Carter,applying than the"old boys"think.
v the pdnciples of organization leadership lessens the impact of change and
"You secure the future of the department when you're
Wets the playing field for recruits whose talents might be more valuable organized, because the new blood knows where to go and what
than what the old boys club might think(Shutterstodr.com)
.-, a to do," he said. "They'll feel like a part of the team in no time."•
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28 • THE MUNICIPAL • JULY 2012 •