Department of Rapid Intervention - Case Study Example

Department of Rapid Intervention TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Abstract…………………………………………………3.0 2. Introduction…………………………………………….3.0 3. An analysis of the role of individuals and teams within organization…………………………………………….4.0 3.1 Individuals within the organization…………….4.0 3.1 (a) Learning…………………………………..4.0 3.2 (b) Personality………………………………..5.0 3.3 (c) Communication………………………......5.0 3.4 (d) Perception………………………………...6.0 3.5 (e) Motivation………………………………...6.0 3.2 Teams within the organization……………………….7.0 4. Role Definition in the organization…………………...9.0 5. Organization process and development………………10.0 5.1 Organizational Culture…………………………….11.0 6. Organization Management………………………….....11.0 7. Conclusion……………………………………………...12.0 8. Bibliography……………………………………………13.0 ABSTRACT Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service (LBFRS, 2008) is the case study which is selected for the fire and rescue management perspective in order to deal with the major organizational issues such as the working of the individuals within the organization, the impact of their personality, attitude and behaviour at the workplace, significance of the group and the organizational structure, culture and management This report deals with the rapid intervention by LBFRS for the safety and rescue of the needy. INTRODUCTION Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Services a public organization, provides a wide- ranging and broad network of fire safety and rescue operations services to a number of people, providing ample training courses moving from the basic awareness sessions to the emergency firefighting processes. At present they are running 36 Local fire stations, with its Headquarters located in Edinburgh. They serve almost 9,00,000 people in the South East of Scotland and have a current employment of almost 1,300 all cross their fire units at different places, for various functions with 794 whole time firefighters, 310 retained firefighters and 30 control staff. AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS WITHIN ORGANIZATION The support staff members which total up to 160 in number have been allocated with various roles within the organization to fulfill the emergency and basic needs of the people. The roles have been classified into diversified areas of human resource management, finance, payroll, IT, administration, communications, health and safety, vehicle maintenance, catering, clothing, inventory etc. INDIVIDUALS WITHIN ORGANISATON Individuals have varied roles to play within an organization; here different aspects help them to groom themselves into better and responsible Homo sapiens such as: ‘Learning’ (Smith, M. K, 1999) is the attainment and development of positive behaviour, attitude, skill and knowledge, experience; Learning can be through formal procedures or through natural daily experiences of an individual as well. In LBFRS employees undergo through a constant learning process to upgrade and advance. LBFRS supported the John B Watson (1913) behaviorist model of learning who introduced the stimulus response model supporting the assumptions of observable behaviour, contiguity and role of environment in molding one’s behaviour however some researcher’s do believe in the cognitive approach to learning like James Hartley, 1998 who has structured the cognitive principles of learning which identify that Instructions should be well organized, Instructions should be clearly structured etc .Through Learning , the behaviour of the staff can be changed by channelizing the thought process of the people towards constructive regions, motivating them by introducing positive reinforcement such as encouraging them, giving them challenging tasks and restricting them from unwanted behaviour by imposing negative reinforcement such as retrenchment, firing, demoting etc. ‘Personality’ focuses on the unique and distinctive characteristic of an individual which affect the behaviour and influence his actions and reactions to the changing environmental situations and conditions. Depending on the personality, an individual reflects his mood, values, behaviour and attitude which in turn has a deep impact on his performance. LBFRS exercises various methods to measure personality for instance, Rating Method, Situational test which are very important to measure the patience, presence of mind, alertness level of employees. A special form of personality test, the ‘Stress Test’ was introduced by LBFRS in 2004.   This kind of personality assessment helped the firm to reduce the sickness absence rate, gaining the optimum costs benefits in terms of resources employed and increased staff efficiency. ‘Communication’ is the transfer of ideas, thoughts, information and suggestions from the sender to the receiver via a suitable medium. It can be both verbal and written. Effective communication is vital for an organization who deals with the fire and rescue operations as any barrier to the communication in form of language, listening, understanding, perception, can lead to disastrous results. Communication can be made more effective by providing timely, accurate and specific relevant information at the right time and right place.LBFRS works in unison to impart the most effective and accurate information to all its staff and concerned people through seminars, e-mails etc. In order to overcome the Stress stigma a wide campaign was organized to communicate to its employees about the major issues of the work related stress and their remedies. Through a proper communication back up an effective coordinated procedure is maintained to control the incidents and provide expert advice at the times of emergency and critical situations. ‘Perception’ defines the relationship between the physical stimuli and the opinions or the viewpoint perceived by the individuals (Wikipedia, 2008) according to the Weber-Fechner law, Perception amends the concept what humans , for individuals reality is what they feel is correct hence they contemplate only what they are exposed to, beyond which the mind cannot comprehend the facts and factual thus, perception plays a crucial role in understanding of the information. In forms like LBFRS what people perceive in emergency situations lead to the decision making which if not correct might lead to devastating consequences. ‘Motivation’ influences people to identify their general goals such as safety, achievement or any other desired state which they are aiming for. Motivation helps to instill or drive a person towards his goals. It is important because it helps in defining the basic strivings, identifying the goal objects and influencing the choice criteria which a person is exposed to. In LBFRS what instigates the employees to really work hard is the feeling of being valued and appreciated by others, seeing the other people develop and grow, being a part of the motivated team itself boosts up their morale. The Maslow’s need Hierarchy theory (David L, Loudon and Albert J. Della Bitta, 2004) suggested the degree to which each employee could be influenced to change his behaviour for positive results. He propounded five groups which are arranged in ascending order with Physiological group motive occupying the first position, second being the Safety needs, then the need for Belongingness and Love, Esteem and finally the Self actualization need. The workers at LBFRS as already mentioned are motivated in different ways , their safety needs are more important , the love and affection they receive from the people , sense of achievement, prestige and confidence they derive from saving the lives of many trigger their motivational level to a great extent. TEAMS WITHIN ORGANIZATION A group is a collection of individual who have a sense of association through interaction with one another. Formal groups takes shape due to the interpersonal relationships , sharing the same norms such as family, work group, recreational groups etc whereas secondary or informal groups include all such groups where no face-to face relationship occurs but are more professional and lack intimacy of personal involvement. Status, setting of the team goals (Mitchell & Silver, 1990; Weingart, 1992) is the factor which leads to group formation, however conflicting decisions, need for power, group diversity tenure diversity, individual needs are the major issues to be tackled when working in a group. Role is a dynamic aspect and fluctuates in regard to attitudes, behaviour and values. Employees working for LBFRS have to enact many roles, they are trained to adapt to the changing environment and play a new role as per the need. As per the Team Role Theory, the LBFRS has an impact on both team and individual performance, through the three key factors of Adaptation, Synchronization and Stretch. The LBFRS hold on to the team theory which has incorporated ‘Adaptation’ is an important factor for enhancing high performance. Synchronization used to enables a team to make rapid progress is effectively done and Stretch which is the difference between one preferences and behavior is well judged area in LBFRS. ROLE DEFINITION IN ORGANIZATION There are different types of organization management, centralized management where the decision making power is vested in the hands of the top management, or decentralized management where each and every individual is free to put up their suggestions and be a part of the decision making process. In LBFRS a three tier management structure has been incorporated for a smooth functioning of the organization where the prime responsibility for deciding the company policies and their implementation lies with the corporate group. The Functional management lies with the Management group who provide the other staff members their expertise and knowledge and advice them how to incorporate the policy in the procedures defined thereafter. The management for the service delivery lies with the Service Delivery Group, hence it can be said that the LBFRS works on a matrix forms or organizational structure where all the roles are defined and channelized to appropriate departments. The organizational strategy affects the structure as each area of work is represented by its respective head based on which further sub-divisions are made in order to assign the specific areas of responsibility. ORGANISATION PROCESSES AND DEVELOPMENT Organizational development is a continuous process where one can implement new processes and changes in an organization. It deals with the needs of the employees and the success of the organization. Organizational development can be effectively applied in real terms if the firm implements strategies which can be used to help employees and staff become more dedicated, devoted and more adaptable and flexible towards their approach. This process in initiated, when there is a resistance to change from the top management or at the operational level, however to overcome the problem of resistance consultants, experts and experienced personalities can be employed to bridge the gap and effectively organize or direct the action plans. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Culture is a socially learned attribute which is shared and adopted by the member’s of a particular society. In terms of an organizational it is the entire personality on which the organization is looked at. It comprises of the values, beliefs, norms, ethics, principles, rules which the organizations wants its members to imbibe. Ted Nellen (1997) has identified three levels of organizational cultures, artifacts and behaviours which are easy to observe and where one applies his sensory organs of sight. Here problems are classified and emphasis is given on visible products, smell, touch, espoused values which are affected by the group learning and the group leaders. Third level is the assumption which defines LBFRS’s culture. ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT Leadership is the process through which an individual is able to influence or motivate another to accomplish the pre defined goals of the organization. A leader’s belief, attitude, character, personality influences its followers to adhere to his directions and commands. An individual may portray different styles to lead its group; it may be authoritative, participative or delegative style depending upon the situation. As per the case of LBFRS when an employee is new , an authoritative leadership style is recommended, whereas for the group who is familiar with the job a participative kind of leadership is preferred while employees who are better known for a job than the leader fit into a delegative style. As it has been already mentioned above the decision making power of the organization LBFRS has been diversified into a three tier system where the corporate, functional and service sectors have been assigned there individual roles and decision making areas. In an organization conflicts arise whenever there is any disparity or incompatibility with one another in terms of conceptual conflict, conflict of interests or controversy. Even in this organization conflicts do arise but conflicts can be resolved among groups and employees through proper counseling and guidance keeping the viewpoints of all the parties concerned intact, without harming anybody’s sentiments and feelings. Every organization suffers through the politics and misuse of power but the power can be restricted and curbed if misused. CONCLUSION It can be concluded that the LBFRS is surely implying the best organizational practices of the industry for the development and prosperity of its staff, the various sorts of training provided to its employees enhances the efficiency and helps in the risk assessment. Alertness, flexibility, patience, passion, intelligence are all few silks where the employees of LBFRS show a high rate of excellence. BIBLIOGRAPHY David L, Loudon and Albert J. Della Bitta, 2004, Consumer Behaviour, Motivation, pp 344 , Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi, 4th Edition Nellen T , Oct 1997, Organizational Culture & Leadership by Edgar Schein , Viewed on 17thMay,2008, http://www.tnellen.com/ted/tc/schein.html Fiona Robb, Robert Myatt, What really motivates people at work? Kaisen Consulting Ltd, Viewed on 17th May, 2008, http://www.kaisen.co.uk/pdf/what-really-motivates-people-at-work.pdf Hartley, J. (1998), Learning and Studying. A research perspective, London: Routledge. Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service, 2008, modified on 8th April, 2008, Viewed on 17th May, 2008, Mitchell, T. R., & Silver, W. S. (1990). Individual and group goals when workers are interdependent: Effects on task strategies and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75(2), 185-193. Perception, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Wikipedia Foundation Inc, Modified on 14th May, 2008, viewed on 17th May, 2008, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception Smith, M. K. (1999) 'Learning theory', the encyclopedia of informal education, Modified on April 11, 2008 Watson, J. B. (1913), pg 158, 'Psychology as the behaviorist views it', Psychological review 20 Read More