The Training for the Fire Services - Case Study Example

THE TRAINING FOR THE FIRE SERVICES TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………2 2. INTRODUCTION / SUMMARY…………………………………………….2 3. DEVELOPMENT/APPLICATION………………………………………….3 3.1 NEED FOR TRAINING FOR THE FIRE SERVICES 3.2 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES……………………….3 3.3 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR IN NZFS…………………..4 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………..8 RECOMMENDATION………………………………………………………….9 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….10 ABSTRACT The New Zealand Fire Services (Neon, 2006) is a case study selected from a fire and rescue service management context to analyze the organizational behavior issues within the firm and to bring out the basic needs, importance, and pros and cons of the fire fighting services which are essential for the public welfare and security. Fire related issues which in fatal accidents can be prevented by providing adequate training. Such training issues would be dealt in the case study so as to reduce the causality rate. National Fire Protection Association [NFPA], 2000; Proulx, 2003) have laid down the need for the fire safety training for public awareness. INTRODUCTION Training is the action that leads to an increase in the knowledge and skills of an employee for a particular job. It enhances the attitudes, skills and the abilities of the people to perform a certain task even if it’s for the sake of fire fighting services provided for the safety and well being of the people as in the case of the ‘New Zealand Fire Service (NZFS)’ which is incorporated under the ‘Fire Service Act 1975’ which promotes the use of best firefighting services. The use of different fire safety training methods have been researched by McConnell, Leeming and Dwyer (1996) special emphasis is given to impart training to the kids as well. NZFS believes that if workers and individuals from a wider perspective are provided adequate training facilities then the risk or damage caused by the disaster could be minimized to a much larger extent. DEVELOPMENT/APPLICATION NEED FOR TRAINING FOR THE FIRE SERVICES The fire training needs become very essential from various viewpoints such as Arson Awareness, Basic Firefighting skills as it is of vital importance for a new firefighter to be aware of all the prerequisite skills required in case of an emergency. The crew leader course, use of emergency vehicle operations, fire fighter self survival skills all are mandatory for learning. The three main areas where a fire fighter must be well trained are Fire prevention, Fire protection and Fire fighting techniques. In the NZFS the manpower is trained with the latest tools and equipments such as Firex and Rosen Bauer pumps, DCP tailors, Rosenbauer trailer pump etc. The officers appointed are professionally qualified, undergone with the rigorous training procedures. Apart from extinguishing fires, firefighting people are also required to save lives, property, and the environment. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES The training to the fire fighters help in increasing their performance and productivity levels, improved organizational climate, reduced rate of stress, fulfillment of the personnel’s requirements, less operational mistakes improves quality which can be achieved through training. Even the health and safety measures can prevent accidents imparted through training measures. Personal growth, enlarged skill, enlightened altruistic philosophy, obsolescence prevention all can be achieved through proper training measures. NZFS observes the above mentioned advantages as well as a greater flexibility and better use of resources however training proves to be a failure when the governance body is not clear with the aims and objectives to be achieved, improper plans and budgeting, untimely information, limited counseling and consultancy services can be the disadvantages or the causes for the failure of the training procedure. Skills required The personal skills which can be polished and refined by training provided to a fire fighter include confidence, pliability, buoyancy, adaptability, strong communication skills, veracity, honesty, and have a commitment to diversity. Organizational Behaviour in NZFS The firm aims to minimize the occurrences of the fire instances and provide rescue services at times of need. It has a well coordinated structure, with it’s headquarter situated in Wellington, involving a team work of 2,100 employees set up across 436 fire stations. The governance body consists of the NZFS Commission and the Chief Executive holding the authoritative position and the chief commander of all operations. The power to take decisions is invested in the hands of the governance body for a smooth and well organized, professional working environment. The organization displays a well knit team of workers engrossed in the application of public safety and fire prevention communicative functions. The firm itself works on the ground of promoting a team spirit and united effort in supporting the welfare operations. They even run the fire protection awareness camps in different communities where they themselves are a part of it. The organizational structure encompasses the qualities of a good constitution where an administrative fairness is personalized to all the levels of hierarchy. Just and impartial role by the managers and executives at all levels for appointments, recruitment, promotion, pay relativities, redundancy is expected and a rational approach is imbibed by personnel of different departments in their decision making process. There prime aim or objective lies in developing a workforce which is blended and amalgamated to manifest it’s reflective and receptive attitude towards the society and the people around. The firm is able to maintain such a cordial atmosphere by providing a fair and equal chance for every employee to grow and excel in their areas of specialization. They have a well framed training and development system which takes care to provide equitable and fair chance of growth to all the operating personnel. It is mandatory for every employed candidate to go through the induction process and the preliminary training sessions of 11 weeks provided to make the person familiar about the working environment and the essentials of the job. They hold an annual EEO Programme and generate a report programmes achievements, comparing the pre-determined standards with the actual achieved ones, locating the variances and deviations and chalking out a remedial plans to overcome all deficiencies and weaknesses. They have a regular annual attitude survey to monitor the satisfaction of the employees and control or rectify any grievances or problems faced by the employees. As far as the communication practices are concerned the firm has a board consisting of member’s representatives from the senior staff, employees from target groups, unions and associations. They prefer the participation from the employees at all fronts applying the roster system and continuous rotation system of the employees. They have a flexible approach of working where people can even work on part time basis or from home. Approach to a healthy working environment enables the staff to render improved and efficient Fire Service commitments around their other personal priorities. There have sound consultative practices through which, their unions and associations interact directly with the people, welcoming all sorts of suggestions and criticisms to re-modify or change their personnel policies for betterment of both the employees and the firm. They have a centralized Intranet system to have an open and effective communication and two way dialogue. Each and every employee is free to clear his queries or qualms and can even approach the Chief Executive directly when the need may arise, through a special program called “Rumour Mill” and receive either a confidential reply or an open response depending upon the question solicited. The employees are constantly motivated through the promotion and transfer applied by the organization. The staff is free to contradict and pose up their confrontations if any regarding the policies, if any kind of malpractice or unfair decision is taken, such issues can also be dealt with firmly. The firm is thoughtful and gives due consideration to the social and family issues in approving transfers and promotions. They also take care to retain their employees, enhancing the employee satisfaction to the optimum level and monitoring the cause of the employee turnover and closely scrutinizing the reasons for the employee resignation and conducting a systematic exit interview processes. The people working in the organization are highly satisfied with the company policies such as diversity index which was created in 2005 to measure the diversity capability of the employees.( Loden and Rosener,1991) in regard to gender, ethnicity, cultural difference etc in terms of three dimensions , Primary including age ,Gender, race etc, secondary dimension including family, language, work experience, income, religion, style, organization’s role etc and thirdly the tertiary dimension including motivation, values, beliefs, intellectual ability etc. NZFR incorporated all the three dimensions in a well defined format, widely accepted by its employees .It is the best place for the employees to work as it provides n environment which includes a sense of ownership and identity, appropriate pay package, fun and learning together, clear values, participation in the firm’s decision making policies, uniqueness and autonomy and above all equal employment and growth opportunities. The NZFS is embedded under the Crown Entities Act, 2004(Crown Entity, Wikipedia, 2008). The firm has a strong belief in diversity training and development as it certainly increases the personnel’s personal and professional role and helps in changing oneself with the social and demographic changes. (Morrison, 1996). The famous Mc Gregor X and Y theory, (Wikipedia, 2008) can be aptly applied in this case study as the main aim of the NZFS is to incorporate the spirit of team work. The company policies believe in applying the theory Y which states that A Theory Y manager believes that if the right conditions are provided to the employees, most of them would like to work more creatively Acc to the theory the employee satisfaction is due to the strong motivation which he derives from the work, NZFS tries to offer all kinds of motivational techniques which lead to its employee satisfaction enhancement. Theory Y tries to remove all kinds of obstacles that prevent workers from excelling through proper communication as in this case where even the CEO is easily approachable. There crystal clear goals and a transparent career graph help in the employee motivation to a large extent. The stress management busters programme, leave benefits such as sick leave, leave without pay, maternity, paternity leave, rehabilitation camps and programs, good pay structure, child care facility and many more perks and amenities provided by the firm help the employees to sustain themselves longer and exhilarates the pace of motivation. They have also promoted the Fire Service as a career option to the target groups and helped the other agencies such as polytechnics to augment and boost up the morale and required standards demanded by the firefighting agencies. They have special training classes on different languages to help them in their firefighting work as well. . Employees are also benefited from the health and safety from local stations through to the National Health and Safety Committee. Regular health screening programmes, investigation into the cancer causes and mortality rates have also polished the firm’s image among the people at large. From the cultural perspective the employees of NZFS were transformed into a cultural competent staff, training the managers to lead in a diversified workforce and teach their sub-ordinates to work in coordination and in team or group with “others” (Carter & Spence, 1996; Cox, 2001;Gutierrez, Kruzich, Jones & Coronado, 2000). CONCLUSION It can be concluded that the NZFS is surely implying the best organizational practices of the industry for the development and prosperity of its staff, the various sorts of training provided certainly enhances the efficiency and reduces the risk rate. Especially the most prominent area of search and rescue, the lost man procedures, skills used for Hi- pressure ventilation, thermal imaging, high rise building fires etc all are dealt with extreme care and diligence. Alertness, flexibility, patience, passion, intelligence are all few silks where the employees of NZFS show a high rate of excellence. Risc&Disaster Mgt. Special Tasks Live Fire Training Decontamination RECOMMENDATION The NZFS apart from its good organizational structural patterns could try to apply common construction methods involving fire growth and fire spread structures. Specific training objectives should be outlined on the basis of the performance required to achieve organizational aims and goals. The trainee should be helped to discover the rewards, monetary or non-monetary that might be available to him through changes in behaviour. It should be recognized that all the trainees are not competent; hence flexibility should be allowed in judging the rates of progress in the training programme. If necessary, a combination of training methods should be selected. The role of the firefighter is becoming extremely dynamic in nature, use of latest techniques and equipment make him more vulnerable to the changing conditions and responding to emergencies. More empathy towards the community is required. BIBLIOGRAPHY Carter, R., & Spence, M. M. (1996). Pp 35-39. Cultural Diversity Process Improves Organizational Community in Urban Teaching Medical Center. Journal of Cultural Diversity. Cox, T. (2001). Creating the Multicultural Organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Crown Entity, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Wikipedia Foundation Inc, modified on 30 March 2008, viewed on 9th May, 2008, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_entities> Gutierrez, L., Kruzich T., Jones, T., & Coronado, N (2000).pp 53-70. Identifying goals and outcomes for diversity training: A multi-dimensional framework for decision-making. Administration in Social Work. Loden, M., & Rosener, J. B. (1991), Workforce America! Managing employee diversity as a vital resource. Homewood, IL: Business One Irwin. McConell, CF Leeming, FC & Dwyer, WO 1996, pp. 213-227.‘Evaluation of a fire safety-training program for preschool children,’ Journal of Community Psychology, vol. 24, no. 3. Morrison, A. (1996). The new leaders: Leadership diversity in America. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. NEON (National equal opportunities network),2006, Case Study 4: New Zealand Fire Service, Read More