Management of the Resources in Kent Fire and Rescue Service Company - Case Study Example

Kent Fire and Rescue Service Company This is a company that deals with delivering fire and rescue services to its customers who live in Kent and Medway area. The numbers of people that receive the company services are over 1.6 million people. It is located over 225 kilometers or 139 miles of the coastline, inland waterways and the busiest sea channel in the world. Kent and Medway areas are industrial areas since there are different kinds of factories and businesses that take place there. The factories and businesses include; papermaking factories, processing plants, nuclear power generators and other hazardous businesses. The management of the company works together with the human resource Coastguard and the Royal Air-force so as to offer its services during the period when the off-shore ship fires occur and it rescues people who may be experiencing problems when accidents occur. It operates under the rules and regulations that are stipulated by the Kent Fire and Rescue Service Authority. Kent Fire and Rescue Service Company are regarded as one of the largest non-metropolitan fire and rescue services and it consists of over 66 fire stations. It has over 2000 employees who are charged with the responsibility of running its operations of its different departments. The major objective of the company involves investing in the activities that are geared towards preventing fires and accidents from occurring, responding quickly to incidents and accidents that they are called upon to control and ensuring that the staff is well trained in dealing with the major accidents arising from their areas of operation. In the year 2005, a comprehensive performance assessment was conducted and it showed that the company had excelled better than other fire and rescue services in the country (Hughes, Mardon, and Meakins, 2005:96). The officers of this company face major challenges of running its operations while crossing through the White Cliffs at Dover when they are called upon to rescue people who may have been stuck in the hazardous and dangerous zones in that area. Principles of resource management Resources refer to the economic and productive factors that are needed by any management of an organization in ensuring that its activities are undertaken in the right way. The resources may run out, become polluted and degraded while being used, thus, it is important to ensure that they are properly managed. They can be managed by being distributed equally and conserved for future use. The management of the resources requires coordinating and overseeing the application of tools, processes and systems needed by a manager to deliver resources within a specified period of time. The management of the company has recently adopted the health and safety electronic program whereby, the global electronic producers produce learning materials that are used. The data interactive system and the health and safety management systems assist the staff in carrying out their tasks in the right way. The facilities are used by the management to address issues that relate to safety issues for the first response units while dealing with fire and ambulance services. The fire fighters and ambulance crew use the electronic materials in enlightening them on how they should carry out their activities efficiently and effectively. The management of the company has recently established a solutions training venture that is aimed at developing and delivering electronic learning materials for its client. The staffs have gained skills and knowledge on how to protect themselves against risks while handling any incidents that have occurred (Wallington, 2009:55). There has been recent implementation of other systems within the organization that are aimed at enhancing quick delivery of services for its clients the systems include agresso. The agresso system has been assisting the management in reducing the cost of undertaking its administration tasks and it also reduces the amount of duplicated data for their organization. Through this strategy, the company has been in a position to increase the number of people who run its operations in the right way. The Electronic business functionality together with the agresso has also been implemented with the aim of increasing the savings of the organization. This is done by making electronic mail remittances using the advice notes and making payments by using the BASC method rather than using the posting method that is more cost effective. This method has also been used to consolidate multiple invoices from a supplier into a single monthly payment (Barr, and Eversole, 2003:42). Human resource management in the fire and rescue services Personnel management involves the process of staffing, paying of workers' salaries giving benefits to employees, training, keeping of records and administering discipline to the staff. Human resources department cultivates positive communication culture between the staffs that are working within their organizations in order to ensure they improve on the performance of the company. An area manger of a company is charged with the responsibility of managing the operational activity in the company .He ensures that all activities of the company are managed properly. The issue involves delivery of services in fire services to the community safety operational areas. He is also expected to develop and implement corporate policies and strategies that are suitable for the organization. A manager is expected to have good communication skills and experience that are meant to manage complex projects and making relevant useful changes within their organizations. Firefighters are the persons who are charged with the responsibility of tackling emergency situations as they occur within a specified period of time. The type of emergency situations that are tackled include controlling of fires, floods and earthquakes, rescuing people from burning buildings, dealing with chemical incidences and road traffic collisions. It also involves shifting persons from accidents areas to safer places such as the hospitals. The process of recruiting new employees involves placing job advertisements, networking and maintaining a database of those interested in joining the fire service department. The applications are received and reviewed by finding out the potentials and physical capabilitities of the applicants. The candidates go through both a practical and written exam usually done by a group of experts. Once a candidate has been chosen, the individual goes through an extensive training program that enables him get the necessary skills and knowledge about the operations of the department (Grant, and Hoover, 1993: 101). Due to the nature of work involved in the fire department, employees working at the fire department of Kent Fire and Rescue Services Company are prone to high stress levels. Stress usually occurs out of dealing with emergencies, increased workloads and conflicts while at work. To be able to reduce these stress levels, the company has come up with counseling sessions that help the employees deal with the impacts of the incidents. The human resource department has also been accredited in providing a good salary program that provides an analysis of the job, job evaluation, job pricing, determination of salary increments and how frequent the salaries can be adjusted and the administration of various fringe benefits to its employees. Management of the financial and physical resources in Kent fire and rescue service The financial department is a useful department amongst all the departments within an organization. This department deals with the issues that relate acquisitions and allocation of financial resources for various department of an organization. Departmental managers therefore prepare budgets every year so as to estimate the revenue that will be generated and the kind of expenses that will be incurred within the financial year of the company. To be able to come up with a budget, the company first of all gathers information by coming up coming up with a strategic plan for the department, by putting into consideration the needs of the society and any contributions made by their members of staff, evaluating the past performance of the company and conducts a technical analysis of the company. The importance of managing financial resources is to ensure that employees are paid at the right time. Funds are also used in ensuring that facilities being used by the company are well maintained and in good working condition. In case additional facilities are required, then, the organization is called upon to purchase supplies that are essential for them from the funds allocated to them (Grant, and Hoover, 1993: 101). Kent Fire and rescue service has adopted a new customer relationship management system which is referred to us the Microsoft dynamics customer relationship management .It was customized by a consultant that was known as Optevia.The usefulness of the system was to improve on the quality of the data recorded, enhance the effectiveness of the Home Safety visit (HSV} and to assist in establishing the fire risk profiling in the specific geographical areas where activities of the company are being carried out. The importance of the facilities is to enable the managers to be in a position to make estimates concerning issues that relate to the proactive safety initiatives for people in the community that are adversely affected by disasters. The adoption of the new customer relationship management system has made the management of the company employ more people who can handle their operations in the right way. The system has made the company to centralize its operations at the headquarters level and it has led to the production of consistent and accurate data. The customer relationship management system has enabled the organization make proper filling of the Integrated Risk management Plan (IRMP) return records. It is usually sent to the Communities Local Government (CLG). IRMP is a plan that is used to chart the way forward on how the fire service company can meet its goals and objectives through saving the lives of the people and reducing risks that may be occurring. In the past, sensitive personal data was not always accurate or the data could have been collected but some information concerning incidents was not being reported. This system has currently been in a position to inform the callers about the company's services while the staff has been in a position to offer quality services to the customers. The staffs of the company are trained in all procedures that are useful and helpful in maintaining their equipment and resources. With proper knowledge of how to maintain the equipment, this has saved the company from many problems such as a decreased lifespan and loss of equipment. The availability of ambulances that work for the company has assisted the company in its operations. The ambulances ensure that they reach to the geographically challenged areas that have poor terrain to offer their services. These ambulances are operated on a 24-hour basis so that they can be on time to offer the required help (Carter, and Rausch, 2006: 309). Communication The Kent fire brigade is charged with the responsibility of delivery of fire and rescue services to its customers. The company uses the Thales information systems, mobilizing system and a human resource management system to assist in communication while they deliver their services. These systems ensure that emergency calls are well coordinated and the resources are appropriately allocated so that the incidents that have occurred can be handled well. The company has been involved in upgrading this hardware's to more sophisticated systems such as the Sun Microsystems platform. The company has also been involved in purchasing of modern communication and detection equipments such as air and gas sampling equipments and cellular phones with an aim of serving the community more efficiently. Procurement processes in fire and rescue services Procurement refers to the process of acquiring goods and services from the supplier's at the best price possible in the right quantity, quality and at the right time. The fire officers in this department are required to know what the actual requirements for this department are. An individual officer is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the required resources are adequate. Inventory records are kept so that the process of ordering, requisition, delivering and checking the physical stocks is appropriately done (Carter, and Rausch, 2006: 309). Agresso system has assisted the management of the company in streaming the business processes and the workflows at the configuration stage. The system has effectively been implemented by ensuring opportunities are taken so as to enhance proper delivery of its services in the right way. Budgets managers make orders through the agresso system so that they can be approved and make commitments on the expenditure for their organizations. The implementation of web requisitioning processes has enabled the company to make direct purchases from the approved suppliers and set up well-defined contracts that are desirable for them. The organization has also been in a position to report the events taking place within the organization through providing an accurate, real time data that is being used by the budget managers through using web screens that are cost effective to enhance delivery of services to their customers. By using the web requisition method, the company has been able to get supplies from suppliers who offer them discounts. The company has also been able to improve on the way it records its transactions to produce accurate data, it controls procedures and as result, the operations of the organizations have generally improved. Aggresso system has instilled discipline into the procurement process by having checks embedded in the workflows and also making any corrections on any errors that have been done in the accounting system. The auditors of the company at one time made a report that the procurement process of the company is good but it can be improved by integrating the procurement division with the stores department. Principles of operational assurance and evaluation Operational assurance and evaluation is usually done in fire departments to ensure that all the operations of the department are of very high standard. Assessments have to be done on a continuous basis to ensure that the Department operates as per the set rules and regulations. The company undergoes an assessment process known as the Comprehensive Performance assessment (CPA) that is meant to determine how it responds to the fire incidents. The assessment basically involves finding out how effective the fire department is in reducing fire incidents. The assessment includes self-assessment, peer review, and intensive review by external assessors who find out whether the company adheres to the laid rules and regulations outlined in the Fires and Rescue services Act. A report released by Kent performance indicated that the company has set out its goals and objectives clearly, they have good management policies, they have employees who are properly skilled and with proper knowledge and that they work effectively with their partners in discharging their duties and obligations. The report indicated that the performance of the company had actually improved and that the management of the company encouraged, supported innovation strategies and they had a very positive attitude towards their employee's .In order to continue improving on their services, the company has come up with different strategies. These approaches in their management include the best value approach and an approach that serves to deliver services to their customers in the most efficient way. The company has also implemented the software known as Sophos that is aimed at protecting the computer systems from getting infections from viruses. The software provides automatic updates and thus reduces viral infections that would crush the computers. The software is meant to protect all the departments of the company that are likely to halt down as a result of the computers breaking down. Due to the company's many operations, the system can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the operations of the company. The system has also been able to assist the management in various areas such as reducing costs of operations, offering after sales support services and the ability to assist multiple systems without failure. Conclusion. Management of all the resources within Kent Fire and Rescue Company must be done so that all the resources are available to efficiently manage the operations of the company. The human resources, financial, physical resources and the procurement must all be efficiently handled so that the company can be in a position to meet all its set goals and objectives. The company must be able to set standards that act as a benchmark so that it can be able to evaluate whether its offering quality services and standard operations to its customers. Due to the ever-changing nature of accidents occurring, the company must also come up with new strategies to tackle the problems as when they occur. Fire services companies must be able to cultivate a positive communication culture amongst all its empoloyees. Any company must also be in a position to value the diversity of it employees so that they can deliver services to customers efficiently and effectively. The top management of the company must concern itself with the monitoring of operations and resources at the fire department. They should also keep abreast with the latest technology and update all their resources so that the operations of the company can go on efficiently. References Barr, R. C. and Eversole, J. (2003) the Fire Chief's Handbook. 6 Th ed. United States of America: Penn Well Books. Clarke. S. and Jones. S. (2007) The Naval Chronicle. United States of America: J. Gold, 1801. Carter, H. R. and Rausch, E. (2006) Management in the Fire Service.3rd ed. United States of America: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Furness, A. and Mucket, M. (2007) Introduction to Fire Safety Management. United States of America: Butterworth-Heinemann. Grand, A. F. and Wilkie, C. A.( 2000) Fire Retardancy of Polymeric Materials. United States of America: CRC Press. Grant, N. J.and Hoover, D. H. (1993) Fire Service Administration. United States of America: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. H.M. Fire Service Inspectorate (2007) Fire and Rescue Service Manual. Great Britain: The Stationery Office. Hughes, Mardon, R. C. and Meakins, J. A. (2005) Firefighting in Kent. United States of America: Jeremy Mills Publishing. Munro, S. (2008) Kent Fire & Rescue Service -Review of Fleet Maintenance. Accessed at: http://74.125.155.132/searchq=cache:eQDvo_2eb10J:www.kent.fire-uk.org/download.php%3Fid%3D2393+Kent+Fire+and+Rescue+Service+Company+Procurement+processes&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ke.Website. Retrieved on May 23 2009. Wallace,A. et al. (2004) The National Job Bank .United States of America: Adams Media. Wallington, N. (2009) One Hundred Years of the British Fire Engine. United States of America: Jeremy Mills Publishing. Walter, A. A., Rutledge, M. L. and Edgar, C. N. (2002) First Responder Handbook: Fire Service United States of America: Cengage Learning. Read More