Management and Leadership in Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Management Leadership Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Lancashire fire and rescue service Introduction Lancashire fire and rescue service has been in operation for the last 50 years serving the people of Lancashire and assisting in making the community of Lancashire safe. From responding to fires to carrying out school visits and giving fire safety tips in homes, the service has succeeded due to its hard work in its operations, control and support of its staff. The service has succeeded in reducing deaths and injuries resulting from accidental dwelling by half starting from the year 2003/2004. Deliberate fires have also reduced by almost 30% while in 2007/08 the service recorded the lowest ever casualty figures and the trend of reduction have continued. The best way to safe guard life is to avert a fire from happening in the first instance and the emphasis of the fire and rescue service in fire prevention (CFO, 2009). In the past one year, the service has carried out almost 40,000 Home Fire safety Checks which is a free service whereby the crew members visits homes and provides advice on fire safety as well as installing a free smoke alarm where it is found necessary. As a management strategy, the service works closely with the police, local authorities and the local NHS Trusts to carry out its mandates in the most effective method. This includes being a rescue partner for the Princes Trust Program in Lancashire to employ and empower the local youth. Every year the service visits almost 50,000 Year 2 and Year 6 students as part of its widespread Child safe fire safety educational procedures. Management in the service Lancashire fire and rescue service is managed by several managers who have different roles and responsibilities in the service. The service is headed by the chief fire officer (CFO, 2009). Chief fire officer Chief fire officer is responsible for the daily command of the fire service in all sectors. Ultimately, however major policies and procedures have to be approved and passed by the fire authority which receives all the CFO reports. The Fire Authority is a committee of locally appointed councilors. The committee’s major responsibility is to ascertain that the fire service is managed properly and responsibly. In other words the Chief Officer is directly answerable to individuals who represent the needs and requirements of the general public. The combined mandate for CFOs on policy, planning and strategy in the UK is CFOA (Chief Fire Officer Association) initially known as CACFOA, that is, Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association). The chief fire officer is responsible for the co-ordination, development, monitoring and review of road safety activity carried out to minimize the incidences and related impact upon the communities of those who get killed or injured on Lancashire’s roads (Owens, 2004). The Chief fire officer is expected to have an excellent knowledge of the existing road safety working practices and structures within the partner agencies and be capable of contributing towards developing the delivery of services in the organization. The officer must be able to formulate a broad range of procedures, practices, programs and any initiative in an effort to enhance road safety. The officer should be experienced in developing and evaluating development projects in the service which calls for expertise in the area. The officer who exhibits a good understanding of road safety matters and appropriate incident reduction measures is expected to have the necessary skills in information and technology which should enable him or her in working independently and make appropriate decisions in the service. It is the responsibility of the chief fire service to attend every meeting that concerns safety in Lancashire in order to remain updated on any unfolding issue or any development in the sector (Owens, 2004). In addition, the manager should play an active part in the setting up of strategic directives and have the ability to produce good results in the ever demanding and performance focused rescue service environment. The manager has the responsibility of taking forward any agenda geared towards delivering appropriate service improvements in the fire and rescue sector. He is also responsible for convincing other partners to participate in the process of establishing a positive relationship between every member of the service at what ever level. The manager has the role of delivering a broad range of HR services to a great and complex organization which is set within a structure of values based on openly responsible service delivery, health and safety and respects for other people. The officer has an operational role at Gold Command level. The manager should be able to organize the junior staff members and assist them in service delivery. The manger has the role of following or adhering to the set guidelines in the service and guides other members of staff in working in accordance to the guidelines (Owens, 2004). The management of fire and rescue service is structured in a hierarchical manner with several managers under the Chief Fire Officer. For instance, a Crew Manager is responsible for leading and guiding a small team which has a specific duty. The small team could for instance be in charge of managing for example three pumping devices. A Watch Manager guides larger groups of workers and in case of a Retained service the Watch Manager will be responsible in managing a fire station. A station manager is responsible for managing the activities of at least one or two fire stations and is required to ensure that all service delivery matters for the stations under their mandate. The manager also carries out specialized duties such as taking charge of an incident of up to a maximum of 6 pumps or carries out specialized roles such as supporting the people handling an incident. An area manager has the responsibility of heading a directorate in the organization. The Area Manager handles the incidents which involve a maximum of about 9 pumps or carry out specialist duties as support towards an incident (Northouse & Peter, 2009). Theory and practice of leadership styles Technical knowledge of a job does not necessarily imply that an individual will be a good manager. Appropriate management involves communicating properly with the community and also be in a capacity to realize the organization’s objectives. There are no specific guidelines of becoming a good manager while the process itself is not an exact science. Management is primarily concerned with human behaviour and since behaviour changes with time, then management also follows suit one of the main management objectives is to ensure the business or the particular organization in question is productive. I order to achieve this managers must know future circumstances and manage change appropriately. The manner in which an organization is managed largely depends on several factors such as the environment in which the organization is operating, the institute itself, the individuals involved in the management, information and the individuals involved in the management. Management has several functions including the management of people which is a separate function on its own. Increasingly public service firms and also the private ones are required to be cost-effective even if non-economic objectives are realized. For instance, community inclusion could be the intention of a public service program but that program could be non cost-effective if it can not service itself. In programs where the service is the objective, profit may not necessarily be monetary. The benefits could be considered in terms of physical, social or psychological parameters. In addition, the public sector organizations are designed in such a way benefits are evaluated in various parameters. The role of a public service manager is increasingly becoming difficult as they are required to achieve both financial and social objectives. All public services managers will need both generalist and expertise skills and also financial management skills (Northouse & Peter, 2009). Classical Approach Classical theory of management emphasizes with the design and structure of the firms and the administration of an organization. The theory which was developed by Fayol’s describes the manager’s job as that of planning, organizing, commanding, and coordinating of activities and control of performance. The manger or Chief Fire officer in the Lancashire fire and rescue service employs all the fourteen principles of management developed by Fayol. There is specialization of labour in the service in order to enhance consistent improvement in skills and methods. Each manager in the service is specialized in his/her area of operation. The crew manager, the area manager as well as the watch manager are also specialized in their areas of operations. The Chief Fire Officer gives orders to other members who then pass them to their juniors. The service is highly disciplined with each employee having a single boss. Other features exhibited by the Lancashire fire and rescue service include: unity of direction, remuneration, centralization, line of authority, order, equity, Harmony and cohesion amongst the workforce, initiative Esprit de Corps and Personnel Tenure (Chance & Edward, 2002). Criticisms of classical theory Classical theory of management is however not recommended for the administration of the service as it ignores the individuals within the workforce to a great extent. It tends to be mechanistic, bureaucratic and not flexible. Departments within an organization divided and further sub-divided with the labour being specialisms. The theory focuses much on structures and hierarchy and its main principles have had major effects on the government and the industry at large (Chance & Edward, 2002). Scientific management With the growth of the industrial revolution there arose a need to enhance working methods, quality and productivity. Adam Smith was a proponent for making work efficient by way of specialization and the splitting of work into simple duties. This is advantageous in that it assists in development of skills, saving of time and the possibility of employing specialize tools. This approach advocates for division of labour and specialization. The Lancashire fire and rescue service has also incorporated this form of leadership style into its management system. The duties are divided into smaller bits and each responsibility is given to an individual specialized in that field. For instance, a Crew Manager is responsible for leading and guiding a small team which has a specific duty. A Watch Manager guides larger groups of workers and in case of a Retained service the Watch Manager will be responsible in managing a fire station. A station manager is responsible for managing the activities of at least one or two fire stations and is required to ensure that all service delivery matters for the stations under their mandate. An area manager has the responsibility of heading a directorate in the organization (Gill, 2006). Aims of scientific Management There are four main objectives of scientific management. The improvement of a science for each factor of a person’s duty to replace the rule-of-thumb means is one of the objectives. Pay should be comparable to productivity and conversely failure to achieve the objectives should lead in loss of profits. Another objective is scientific choice, training and improvement of workers profile instead of allowing them to select their own duties and train them as far as possible. Another objective is the expansion of a co-operation between employees and administration to ensure that duties are executed in the most appropriate way. The method also seeks to ensure that division of duties between the administration and the employees is done fairly. All these are exhibited by Lancashire fire and rescue service. This approach of management is criticized for treating employees like machines. Taylor reasoned that rational beings, employees would make economic selections on the basis of financial reward and that employees were fulfilled by money alone (Corey, 2007). Bureaucratic Management Max Weber classified legitimate social authority into rational, traditional and charismatic. He developed several criteria for efficient management of an organization. Officials should be planned in a clearly defined on hierarchy manner. Candidates are appointed, not elected based on technical qualifications. This approach to management is rigid and not advocated in the fire and rescue service (Miner, 2007). Conclusion Other theories of leadership include behaviorist management, Theory X and Theory Y of management and contingency management. The common features to quality management found in the various theories of management include motivation to work, employee recognition and establishment of effective work groups. Lancashire fire and rescue service has incorporated most of the leadership styles in its management. The service focuses on division of work and specialization in its operations. For instance, a Crew Manager is responsible for leading and guiding a small team which has a specific duty. The small team could for instance be in charge of managing for example three pumping devices. A Watch Manager guides larger groups of workers and in case of a Retained service the Watch Manager will be responsible in managing a fire station. A station manager is responsible for managing the activities of at least one or two fire stations and is required to ensure that all service delivery matters for the stations under their mandate. The manager also carries out specialized duties such as taking charge of an incident of up to a maximum of 6 pumps or carries out specialized roles such as supporting the people handling an incident. An area manager has the responsibility of heading a directorate in the organization (Miner, 2007). Bibliography CFO Lancashire F& R S (2009). Fire service structure. 8th May 8, 2010. Chance, P. & Edward, W. (2002). Introduction to educational leadership & organizational behavior: Theory into practice. New York: Eye on Education. Corey, G. (2007). Theory and practice of group counseling. New York: Cengage Learning. Gill, R. (2006). Theory and practice of leadership. London: SAGE. Miner, J. (2007). Organizational behavior: From theory to practice, Volume 4. New York: M.E Sharpe. Northouse, P. & Peter, G. (2009). Leadership: Theory and Practice. London: SAGE. Owens, R. (2004). Organizational behavior in education: adaptive leadership and school reform. New York: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. Read More